NPD’s Rory Partis looks at whether trends formed in 2020 look set to carry forward into 2021 and assesses how else the UK toy market might develop post-lockdown.

It has been well documented that the toy market performed well in 2020, with +5% growth in the NPD EPOS data. There have been some consistent trends, with growth in key categories like Construction, Arts & Crafts, Games & Puzzles and Outdoor toys. Generally, there was a shift to higher priced toys that had strong perceived play value and often educational content, as parents used these items to help with home schooling over the year. But were there any surprising growth areas in 2020?

In this month’s column, Rory uses NPD Consumer data to look at some of the larger shifts in trends for 2020 and look ahead to what that might mean for 2021.He examines the changing demographics of who received toys in the UK market, and reveals the two largest age groups for toys as well as the age group which added more value to the toy market in 2020 than any other.

Rory also discusses the switch to online purchasing, with online accounting for 57% of all toy sales in 2020, and the influence this has had on the toys that were purchased.

With market conditions will now reverting to a more traditional scenario, the big question is to what extent the shift the market experienced in 2020 will shape the rest of 2021.

To read the full article, which appeared in the April edition of Toy World, click here.