Melissa Symonds, director UK toys, Eurotoys NPD delves into current sales trends for the all-important Q4 selling period. 

As we reach the start of the peak season, Melissa talks through some key year-to-date data and tells Toy World that the results of a recent survey revealed that of the five EU5 countries, the UK was the only country where consumers said they would spend less on toys in the next six months. However, whilst the value of the UK toy market may be down YTD, there are areas that continue to thrive.

Licences continue to outperform the rest of the toy market, with movies and cinema re-openings and streaming content helping toy sales.

New launches in the last year now account for 28% of the market YTD with the Pre-school category having some particularly strong new entrants, which are detailed in the article.

Melissa reveals the fastest growing brand across the total Toy Market YTD, and highlights other notable areas of growth.

On the retailer side, toy specialists have performed exceptionally well this year. Overall, in-store toy sales were up +9%, while online sales have fallen to 45% of all sales.

Looking ahead to the remaining months, while there may be some challenges, Melissa believes there will also be opportunities for innovative and agile businesses.

To read the full article in October’s Toy World click here