Top 10 Factors People Consider Important When Buying Toys
- Toy safety
- Educational toy
- Price
- Durability of the toy
- Well designed
- Toy the child specifically wanted
- The brand/manufacturer's name as well known
- The toy was unlikely to go out of fashion in the near future
- It was a toy you could add to or buy accessories for (e.g. Lego, Barbie)
- It was a toy suitable for various age groups
Source: BMRB/Mintel
Why does a popular toy suddenly become difficult to buy at Christmas?
You may remember people queuing all night to buycertain toys in the lead up to Christmas. The toy industry can easily get its fingers burnt if it over-orders, so both suppliers and retailers are cautious. The toy fairs are in the first three months of every year, so orders are placed very far in advance. Who can be sure just how successful a product will be? Even if you are sure, just how big will BIG be - would you order 1000 items or 10,000 items? It's all a bit of a gamble!
Toy Trends
Children are getting older younger - that means they grow out of toys earlier. They also have a growing range of non-toy merchandise to choose from such as CDs, fashion trainers...even fast food competes for their pocket money!
Board games - family orientated games appear to sell best. Top sellers last year included Monopoly, Jenga, and Buckaroo.
What sells the most by volume through the year? A small tin of enamel paint for modellers is the real #1 when it comes to sales by units, according to the research company NPD. The most popular toy football figure in 1997 was Man-U's Peter Schmeichel!
