Andrea Gornall, toys category manager at Shop Direct, operator of online retailer Very.co.uk, spoke to Toy World Magazine about its approach to the festive season for 2019. 

“The toy market remains challenging this, but our customers love the fact that we offer the perfect combination of must-have toys and flexible ways to pay. This approach has helped us to deliver incremental growth for both the business and the toy brands we sell. We expect this year to show another strong performance in terms of toy sales growth, and we’re excited to keep building this momentum into 2020 and beyond.

Our standout performers for 2019 are Toys by VTech, Leapfrog and Lego, which continue to be among our best-sellers, as does Barbie from Mattel. We’ve also seen new L.O.L! Surprise products from MGA Entertainment, like the 2-in-1 Glamper and Winter Chalet Doll House, go straight into our top 10 this year.

For the upcoming festive season, we think collectibles are going be huge this Christmas for Very, especially new products from brands such as L.O.L Surprise! and Barbie, as well as Funko. We’re also excited about the new licensed Disney Frozen II products, which have launched ahead of the film’s release date on 22nd November. These are likely to be among our Christmas best-sellers too.

We planned for a later surge in Christmas sales in 2018 and expect to see a similar trend this year, particularly with Black Friday being almost a week later than usual. Customer confidence in online delivery has increased in recent years and the growth opportunity in December remains huge. We’re focused on maximising that opportunity, with guaranteed delivery in time for Christmas on orders placed right up until the 23rd of December.”

To read the full interview, where Andrea reveals more about Shop Direct’s re-branding, click here.