Nuremberg Part 2: Buyers are ready to buy again

Over the course of my three days here at the Spielwarenmesse International Toy Fair I had the opportunity to speak with many exhibitors, attendees and members of the press corp. What I came away with was a sense that buyers are ready to buy again, that they want to see some exciting new merchandise and that not enough manufacturers are stepping up to the plate with innovative products.

How did this happen? Well, it seems that the buying community reacting to economic conditions seized up in the fourth quarter of 2008 and stopped buying. As a result, manufacturers heeded the message and went into 2009 with a chastened outlook. They decided to postpone some of the new products they had in the pipeline and instead lead with their tried and true backlist products. 

It seems, however, that things have changed since the 4^th quarter. Buyers have adjusted and are ready to buy. They expect retail sales in 2009, particularly the second half, to be improved.

As a result, we have manufacturers still lagging behind the retailer’s mood curve and opportunities are going to be lost. There are some manufacturers, however, who have some pretty cool new products coming out. In fact, I had one company president tell me that while everyone else was being conservative his watchword was going to be innovation. Based upon what he is showing and the reaction he is getting, it appears that he may have made the right call.

Though the mood at the show was solid (call it business as usual) it did appear like attendance was, not surprisingly, down from last year. Figures have not yet been finalized for this year but exhibitors and attendees I spoke with told me that they felt that they were seeing fewer people in the aisles. 

My take is that they are probably right.  It seemed like the many exhibition restaurants were less crowded than in past years with shorter lines and more open tables.  We will of course have to wait for the attendance figures to be finalized but some retailers may have simply chosen to cut costs this year by sending fewer representatives.

It will be interesting to see whether these patterns will be replicated next week New York. We’ll soon find out.