Toy sales drooped into December
By Staff -- Gifts and Dec, 1/6/2010 10:44:00 AM
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y.—The US toy industry’s sales were down 2 percent through November 2009, according to The NPD Group.
The market research firm’s toy industry tally saw the US business rack up $16.03 billion in sales year to date through November, down from $16.38 billion in 2008, and $21.3 billion in sales for the preceding 12 months ended in November 2009 compared to $21.77 billion for the corresponding period of 2008.
The toy supercategories that recorded a rise in sales YTD and in the 12-month YOY period through November were: Building Sets, up 22 percent YTD to $761 million and up 25 percent YOY to $1.02 billion; Action Figures/Accessories/Role-Play, up 6 percent YTD to $1.25 billion and up 7 percent YOY to $1.62 billion; Arts & Crafts, up 4 percent YTD to $2.25 billion and up 4 percent YOY to $2.7 billion; and the catch-all All Other Toys category, up 4 percent for both measurements. Games/Puzzles sales were flat YTD through November but declined 1 percent for the 12-month period; minus puzzles, game sales rose 1 percent for both time periods.
Commenting on the possible causes of the gains, NPD toy analyst Anita Frazier said: "Building Sets and Arts & Crafts are two supercategories that have benefited from consumer value. Both supercategories include toys that provide hours of entertainment for kids, and in the case of Arts & Crafts, with many products at lower than average price points." She added that board game sales were helped by consumers “embrac[ing] evergreen brands and play patterns in difficult economic times."
Declining toy supercategories included Plush, down 13 percent YTD and 10 percent YOY; Youth Electronics, down 13 percent YTD and 11 percent YOY; Vehicles, down 9 percent for both measurements; Outdoor & Sports Toys, down 8 percent YTD and 9 percent YOY; Infant/Preschool, down 5 percent for both measurements; and Dolls, down 2 percent YTD and 1 percent YOY.
As in its prior report tracking sales through August, NPD said web-enabled toys continued to suffer in comparison to 2008, with sales down 41 percent YTD and 35 percent for the 12-month period.
The end result? More pressure on December’s sales numbers to pull the toy business back into the black for the year.
“December is key to total year industry results since roughly one quarter of total industry annual revenues are typically generated during that month alone,” note Frazier. “In fact, there is evidence that toy purchases really spike during the two weeks just prior to Christmas as indicated by our Kids Cross-Category Purchasing study, which examined spending for kids across many product categories last holiday.”
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