NPD: 2009's toy sales slipped 0.8 percent
-- Gifts and Dec, 2/1/2010 11:48:00 AM
PORT WASHINGTON—U.S. toy business sales dipped 0.8 percent in 2009 to $21.47 billion, market research firm The NPD Group announced today.
Fourth quarter dollar sales for the year were “flat,” according to the company, despite a 4 percent gain in unit sales, a discrepancy blamed on heavy promotional activity at retail during the holiday season.
Unit sales for the year were off 0.5 percent compared to 2008.
"2009 was a remarkably uneventful year for the toy industry, but in a good way," said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group. "In a time of continued economic turmoil, toy industry revenues were very stable, and the uptick in unit sales in the four quarter is a very positive sign for the industry heading into 2010."
Looking at sales performance across super-categories, Building Sets and Arts & Crafts experienced the most significant increases in revenue, at 23 percent and 7 percent, respectively. Action Figures and Games/Puzzles saw respective revenue increases of 4 percent and 1 percent. Conversely, Youth Electronics and Plush experienced the largest sales revenue declines when compared to 2008, off 17 percent and 13 percent, respectively.
“The increase in Building Sets and Arts & Crafts speaks to the entertainment value these categories deliver," said Frazier. "Both can deliver hours of open-ended play, and Arts & Crafts in particular does so at very attractive price points.”
Among retailers, all channels experienced “flat to minimal” gains in share of dollar sales, with the most significant changes being experienced by Toy Stores, which saw a decline of 1 percent mostly due to KB Toy stores closing, and Mass Merchant/Discount experiencing an increase of 1 percent, NPD reported.
The most interesting quirks of the 2009 toy business, NPD found, were that:
• unit sales of toys price under $5 decreased, the only price range to do so, while more people opted for products in the “mid-range” between $5 and $10;
• the kids aged 9 to 12 demographic was the only age group to gain in market share and absolute dollar sales, a result thought to be related to the gain in sales of building sets, which tend to skew older.
• licensed toys represented 25 percent of total industry sales, down from 27 percent in 2008.
2009's best-selling licensed properties based on dollar sales (in alphabetical order) were: Cars: The Movie, Disney Princess, Dora the Explorer, Star Wars, and Thomas and Friends.
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