Toy World publisher John Baulch looks at the toy retail landscape in the UK and EMEA as we head towards peak season.
WRITTEN BY JOHN BAULCH — PUBLISHER OF TOY WORLD MAGAZINE
There is no point in pretending otherwise, the first half of 2024 has been a challenging period for the UK and EMEA toy markets. Here in the UK, following a subdued festive trading period, January got off to a reasonable start, with many kids visiting toy stores to spend money or vouchers they had received for Christmas.
However, with the exception of Easter and the May half-term holiday, toy sales have generally been lacklustre. There have been a few bright spots: Bluey continues to make great strides in the pre-school category, while MGA’s Miniverse has make a big impact since its launch last year and recent mainstays of the toy business like Lego, Squishmallows and Pokémon have continued to enjoy success.
Elsewhere, Gabby’s Dollhouse has joined Bluey in providing stiff competition to pre-school powerhouse brands like Paw Patrol and Peppa Pig, both of which are still making a valuable contribution to the category, while Disney’s Stitch is showing all the signs of being the breakout hit of the year. Wow Stuff’s Interactive Stitch has been tipped by many industry observers as being a candidate for that big ‘wow’ toy of the year, but it will face stiff competition from all the industry’s big guns, who gear their major releases to the Autumn (many are still under press embargo at this stage — including a big new launch from Moose Toys which blew people away over Toy Fair Season).
But in the short term, the lack of a major craze is evident, as is the unavoidable fact that UK consumers are facing ongoing economic pressure which is impacting discretionary spending on areas like toys. The price of essentials such as food, gas & electricity and petrol has remained stubbornly high, while mortgages and insurance are now costing families far more than a year ago.
In short, the UK toy industry has faced economic headwinds which have dampened sales. Reports from other European countries such as France, Italy and Germany suggest that mainland Europe hasn’t fared much better, with Circana data confirming that these markets are all tracking down so far this year.
That said, it is certainly not all doom and gloom — January’s London Toy Fair and the recent Toymaster May Show (which covers the specialist toy channel) were both positive events, and the announcement that we are to have a general election in July was the best possible news for a toy community fearing a November or December election, which would have potentially been disastrous for toy sales.
Because — and this is the key point above all others — toy retailers and suppliers’ fortunes are not made or broken in the first half of the year, and certainly not in the summer months (unless you are a paddling pool supplier). The last quarter remains pivotal to the toy community, and everyone is hoping that the election removes some of the political and economic uncertainty which has been holding back retail sales across the board (it is certainly not a specific toy problem) and gives us the chance of a good run through to Christmas.
We have a crop of new movie releases to look forward to, including toyetic films such as Despicable Me 4, Moana and Paddington Goes to Peru. There has also been a lot of movement at retail, especially with specialist toy chain The Entertainer taking over the toy aisles of grocer Tesco.
Not only will this mean major changes to the toy presence in Tesco (traditionally a top 5 UK toy retailer which has arguably lost its way in recent years), but it will also present opportunities to other retailers, as The Entertainer has a very specific approach to its product offering and margin requirements. Other retailers are watching what happens there with great interest.
So, the stage is set for the second half of the year (2024) to be a significant improvement on the first six months — and as ever, the toy market is looking forward to a bumper Christmas to transform the year. Here’s hoping…
This article originally appeared in Edition 10 of The Toy Universe Magazine
