01
Toy sales increased by 20% in the whole year
Chinese and foreign toy network learned that the coverage rate of NPD group's toy sales survey in the United States is about 78%. According to the US $25.1 billion given by NPD group, it can be estimated that the size of the US toy market has actually exceeded US $30 billion, which is the first time in history.
However, it is worth noting that toy sales in the United States in 20244 are basically flat year on year, and the growth of sales is mainly driven by the growth of average unit price, with a year-on-year growth of 20%.
The novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic situation, school closure and home segregation order resulted in changes in consumption behavior, other entertainment expenditures to toys transfer, and federal government's economic stimulus allowance.
According to the sales growth curve of 2024 in the figure below, toy sales before March are almost the same as those in 2023. When the outbreak began in the United States in mid March, toy sales growth also broke out. When the government began to issue economic stimulus subsidies in April, the momentum of toy sales growth was further strengthened, reaching the peak of the whole year in May, and toy sales increased by an astonishing 38% year-on-year in that month. In the second half of the year, toy sales again ushered in the second wave of growth peak in October, with a year-on-year growth rate of 33%, which was also surprising. This is mainly due to the fact that Amazon member day and other e-commerce platforms opened the Christmas sales season in October, and the discount is very strong.
Juli lennett, vice president and industry consultant of NPD group's U.S. toy business, pointed out: "the situation in 20244 is very rare. This substantial increase also shows that parents put children's happiness first. In difficult times, parents rely on toys to make their children active and happy, which is the main reason why the toy industry remains strong and resilient in special times. In short, toys are largely equal to happiness. "
02
What are the highlights of the industry?
1) E-commerce sales surged 75% year on year
In addition to the overall growth rate, the growth of e-commerce is very prominent in the sub sectors. Due to the suspension of stores and parents' worries about physical shopping, toy sales are moving online. In the first three quarters of 2024, the market share of e-commerce channels increased by 10 points compared with 23% in the same period of 2023. The annual sales of toys on e-commerce platform increased by 75% year on year. Not only is the performance of pure online transactions outstanding, but also the sales performance of physical stores that provide online orders, store pick-up and roadside pick-up is also good.
2) 5 categories increased by more than 20%
In terms of sales growth, the top five categories are fashion dolls and accessories (56%), sports toys (31%), games (29%), matching suits (26%) and summer seasonal toys (24%), with a year-on-year growth of more than 20%.
In terms of hot selling IP, the top five are l.o.l. surprise doll, Barbie, star wars, Elven baokemeng and Marvel Universe. These five IP toys accounted for 13% of the annual sales of toys.
3) Price increment minus
Another outstanding feature of 2024 is the decrease of price increment. Among the 11 toy categories according to NPD statistics, the sales volume of 7 categories decreased year on year, while the average price of each category increased, which was mainly driven by the sales of high unit price toys. This is also the reason why the annual sales of toys in the United States increased greatly in 2024.
03
Europe: British and French markets increase and decrease
In addition, according to the news of NPD group quoted by Sino foreign toy network, toy sales in the UK will grow by 5% in 2024. Among them, the fastest growth rate was during the first round of home isolation, with a year-on-year growth rate of 22%. The annual sales volume of toys in the UK was 3.3 billion pounds (about 29.2 billion yuan), still maintaining the position of the largest toy market in Europe and the fourth largest toy market in the world (second only to the United States, China and Japan).
In addition, sales in France, another big European market, fell 1.5%. Nevertheless, the country's average unit price rose 7% year-on-year to 18 euros. Affected by the epidemic, online sales increased 27% year-on-year. In terms of categories, the top three in terms of sales growth were puzzle game toys, with an increase of 10%; primary electronic toys, with an increase of 6%; and collage toys, with an increase of 5%.
