Preschool Head of the Class
By Staff -- Playthings, 11/1/2005
NEW YORK—The infant and preschool category continues to lead all traditional toy market sales with $2.9 billion of the $19.7 billion market, according to research by The NPD Group, Port Washington, N.Y. The category rose 8 percent from July 2004 to June 2005, usurping dolls as the top-selling category a year ago.
The doll category placed second among categories surveyed with $2.5 billion in sales despite a 9.5 percent decrease.
The largest percentage increase of any traditional market category, a market that does not include video games, was learning and exploration. This toy sector grew from $411 million to $468.5 million during the July ’04 to June ’05 survey period, an increase of 14 percent. This marks a rebound for learning and exploration, which recorded a 17.5 percent decrease from July ’03 to June ’04.
Continuing its downward spiral, plush fell from $1.3 billion to $1.1 billion, or 11.8 percent. The category lost 7.4 percent during the same year-ago period.
The outletsMass-market/discount stores continue to grab more retail toy market share. In the July ’03 to June ’04 survey, this channel accounted for 47.3 percent of toy sales and increased to 49.7 percent last year. This year’s results show mass/discounters now control more than half the dollar sales—53.2 percent—an increase of 3.5 percent. From the data, it appears there was no one single casualty, although sales at specialty stores declined the most, falling 1.1 percent.
Among customers, parents are dominant, accounting for 54.1 percent of toy buyers.
| JULY '02 - JUNE '03 DOLLARS (000) | JULY '03 - JUNE '04 DOLLARS (000) | % CHANGE | JULY '04 - JUNE '05 DOLLARS (000) | % CHANGE | |
| TOTAL TRAD. TOY MARKET | $21.1 B | $20.3 B | -3.8 | $19.7 B | -2.8 |
| SUPER CATEGORIES | |||||
| Action Figures & Accessories | $1.3 B | $1.2 B | -7.4 | $1.2 B | 2.1 |
| Arts & Crafts | $2.4 B | $2.4B | 0.6 | $2.4 B | -3.1 |
| Building Sets | $707.2 M | $628.7 M | -11.1 | $653.8 M | 4.0 |
| Dolls | $2.6 B | $2.7 B | 3.9 | $2.5 B | -9.5 |
| Games/Puzzles | $2.5 B | $2.2 B | -9.6 | $2.3 B | 1.5 |
| Infant/Preschool | $2.8 B | $2.6 B | -6.2 | $2.9 B | 8.1 |
| Learning & Exploration | $498.5 M | $411.0 M | -17.5 | $468.5 M | 14.0 |
| Outdoor & Sports Toys | $2.4 B | $2.2 B | -6.0 | $2.1 B | -3.7 |
| Plush | $1.4 B | $1.3 B | -7.4 | $1.1 B | -11.8 |
| Vehicles | $2.2 B | $2.0 B | -9.9 | $1.8 B | -10.6 |
| All Other Toys | $2.3 B | $2.5 B | 9.4 | $2.4 B | -5.9 |
