A week ago Santa Claus passed by some houses and left his respective gifts (for those who had the great fortune to receive them), most of these deliveries being toys for the “blessings of the house”. Expensive or cheap, original from an established store or, probably, pirates that, although they cannot be counted in the total sales of toys this weekend, we cannot deny that they are out there doing their big business.
And it seems that it will continue to be a great opportunity in any of its forms, just as it had been in previous years. Even with the post/during pandemic and the invasion in Ukraine, among other crises, and the supposed economic recovery (optimistically reported from the “other morning data”), attention continues to be paid to this sector, especially since it has also known join the speed of current technology and its toy development applied to gadgets.
In terms of future figures in the sector, for example, it was expected that only in the retail In the United States, the transactions for this end of the year were 30 thousand 400 million dollars, where the food and beverage divisions as well as those of articles such as clothing, toys, decoration, footwear and electronics are clear protagonists.
In particular, the toy sector maintains its growth. Based on data provided by the market research agency NPD Groupthere has been growth in the toy sector in the last two years, with almost 80% of it generated in the United States, despite the problems caused by the closure of the traditional store Toys R Us. However, they also point out that the pandemic significantly affected this industry in regions such as Latin America or Europe, mainly due to the forced closures of physical stores.
Despite this impact, according to the Retail Tracking Service From NPD, sales grew in seven countries, with the largest increases in toy sales revenue being recorded in Brazil (+23 percent) and Mexico (+13 percent), followed by Spain, Canada, the United States, Italy and Australia .
Although we continue to see our children glued / hypnotized on their consoles, tablets and cell phones, there is still some hope that they will not abandon traditional toys. Which toy categories have been successful and which have been in decline in recent months?:
Of 11 super categories tracked by NPD, six have grown compared to the same period in 2021, with Stuffed Animals being the super category that has registered the highest growth (+32 percent), followed by Action Figures & Accessories (+12 percent), Exploratory Toys and Others (+10 percent) and Construction (+5 percent). While Outdoor and Sports Toys (-7 percent) and Dolls (-8 percent), they have been the supercategories that have registered the greatest drop during 2022.
Licenses continue to lead the increase in sales globally:
The most prominent are Pokémon (the most important), followed by Star Wars, Barbie, Universe Marvel and Hot Wheels.
What can stop this optimistic vision in the toy market in Mexico?
You got it right: High prices, inflation and loss of purchasing power are above all what get Santa Claus and the Three Wise Men into trouble.
According to an analysis by El Economista, with data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi), it is shown that some of the best-known video game consoles had an average price increase of over 7%, while classic toys such as cars or fashion dolls reflect increases above 50 percent.
To these data must be added the money available for toy purchases. According to data from the Elogia consultancy, the estimated average spending for gifts this end of the year is around 2,313 pesos, which means that Mexicans will spend more than what we allocate for purchases for El Buen Fin.
Despite the economic conditions, this opportunity market in Mexico should not be neglected, much less all the marketing communication actions that must be carried out to publicize and promote toys. The data tells us for themselves:
Mexico is the 4th largest producer of toys worldwide.
The toy industry in the country represents 1.9 billion pesos annually, of which 70 percent are imports.
According to the Mexican Association of the Toy Industry (AMIJU) there are some 200 micro and small companies, workshops and artisans, mainly in Jalisco, Michoacán and Oaxaca, dedicated to making souvenir toys.
AMIJU currently includes some of the 75 most relevant medium and large companies operating in the country. Among them Bicileyca (Apache products), Fotorama from Mexico, Hasbro from Mexico, Juguetes Mi Alegría, Mattel from Mexico, Novedades Montecarlo, Prinsel and LEGO from Mexico.
The toy industry and its respective marketing can get ahead and even continue generating jobs for many people if we turn to see it as a great commercial and creative opportunity.
We’ll see how the figures for 2022 close after the arrival of the Three Kings.
But hey, just in case, I already wrote my little letter to the Kings of the East:
“Dear wise men;
I learned that in a South American country, its government distributed dolls of two superheroes to children at Christmas: “Super Mustache” and “Super Cilita”. According to what they told me, “Super Mustache”, with his red suit and blue cape, fights the United States and its allies “with his iron hand” (as his propaganda slogan says) and is accompanied by his wife, also a heroine. “Super Cilita” to help him in the fight against imperialism (a romantic and exemplary relationship something like if they were Superman and Wonder Woman, Reed Richards and Sue Storm, Antman and The Wasp or Batman and Catwoman). Please, dear Melchor, Gaspar and Baltazar, even if many of us Mexicans have not behaved well, have a little mother (or Queen Mother, as you wish) and don’t bring us a Mexican version of those dolls from Caracas, because with what we have We are not for that kind of toys”.