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US toy sales dipped in first 8 months

By Staff -- Gifts and Dec, 10/1/2009 11:54:00 AM

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y.—The NPD Group said this week that U.S. toy industry sales fell 3 percent during the 12 months ending August 2009 compared to the same point in 2008 and were off 2 percent year-to-date through the year's first eight months.

Despite the drop, the traditional toy industry’s $21.5 billion haul for the August 2008 to August 2009 period outperformed other consumer product categories like apparel, consumer technology and video game, all of which were down 5 percent or more in sales for the first half of the year, according to NPD Group analyst Anita Frazier.

The toy supercategories that saw sales gains during the 12-month tracking period were Building Sets (+21 percent), Action Figures & Accessories (+7 percent), Arts & Crafts (+4 percent), Games/Puzzles (+1 percent) and the catch-all “All Other Toys” (+3 percent). The supercategories that saw losses during the 12-month period were Vehicles (-13 percent), Plush (-9 percent), Outdoor & Sports Toys (-9 percent), Infant/Preschool (-6 percent), Dolls (-5 percent) and Youth Electronics (-4 percent).

Year-to-date through August 2009, a period in which sales slipped 2 percent to $10.28 billion, the results were similar for most toy supercategories to those for the 12-month tally, with a few exceptions.

Building Sets, Action Figures & Accessories and Arts & Crafts were again the largest gainers when tracked year-to-date (up 21, 14 and 7 percent, respectively), while growth for Games & Puzzles increased to 3 percent and two categories that were down during the 12-month period, Youth Electronics and Dolls, were actually up in the first eight months of 2009, recording gains of 5 percent and 1 percent respectively.

The supercategories running in the red year-to-date through August were Plush (-17 percent), Vehicles (-13 percent), Outdoor & Sports Toys (-9 percent) and Infant/Preschool (-5 percent).

The decline in sales of toys for infants and preschoolers may mean more trouble ahead for the US toy business considering the category is considered "the sweet spot for the toy industry.” Toys for kids ages 5 and younger accounted for 46 percent of total industry sales through August, according to NPD.

“Kids 3-5 are especially thought to represent the core toy consumer, and in fact they account for more than a quarter of total toy sales, but this age group declined 5 percent in dollar sales and comprises a smaller share of the toy industry than it did a year ago," Frazier noted.

Frazier also pointed out a precipitous decline in sales of web-connected toys, with sales off 41 percent year-to-date compared to January-August of 2008. “However,” she said, “there are some very promising new items that have recently or will soon come to market and we could see a renewed interest in this type of toy."

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