Retail Opinion - John Ryan explores the role of the showroom model for toy retail

The trends

you must not miss

Since the ending of Covid-19 restrictions, parents in the UK have spent fewer hours online and more time with their kids - playing games and shopping with them - in recent months. As we head towards Q4 and Christmas, now more than ever, it’s important for retailers, brands, and manufacturers to have their fingers on the pulse.

Here are three play and retail trends you can’t afford to miss:

1Health benefits of play drive preference Aside from having fun, developing their children’s social skills ranks as the overall top benefit of playing for parents of one-to-five-year-olds (19%). It is clear that parents are looking for toys and games that have a positive impact on their children and that help them to develop.

Mums and dads have slightly differing demands, however. Our data shows mental wellbeing as the second-most important reason for playing among mums (16%) and creative skills as the second among dads (18%), showing how important it is to have a marketing strategy that speaks to both parents.

2Gen X drives eBay growth Over the past three months, the popularity of eBay has grown as a destination when purchasing baby products. Since May, eBay has soared in popularity as a shopping outlet by 54% among parents aged 35-55.

Gen X parents who say they tend to shop on eBay also show far more concern for the environment and climate change than the average parent, overindexing by 59%, demonstrating how they are more willing to buy secondhand items and to reuse goods. 3 Music powers a new wave of toys The kids’ entertainment ecosystem is going through an audio boom, creating exciting

opportunities for the toy “industry. Smart speakers have partly driven this trend, with over four in 10 homes in the UK now owning a device.

But toy brands are getting involved too. For parents of younger children who are not yet comfortable with the idea of a connected smart speaker in their kid’s bedroom, there are other options.

British startup Yoto, which was founded in 2017, is one example. Yoto, is a ‘carefully connected speaker’ designed to deliver music, stories, podcasts, and radio for children, without causing privacy concerns. It uses a system of physical ‘cards’ to deliver content. These include music albums as well as stories from authors such as Roald Dahl and Judith Kerr. Yoto’s competitors include Toniebox (the 11th favourite toy for children aged three to five in the UK in June), which uses physical toys - tonies - instead of cards, with Disney, Fireman Sam, and The Gruffalo among the brands involved.

It is clear that What this means for you… parents are looking Whether it is driven by an for toys and games audio boom, the continued that have a positive rise of gaming content or the rapid developments in online impact on their retail, the family ecosystem children and that help them to develop “ continues to shift. As parents and kids look forward to a much needed ‘normal’ Christmas, with shopping on the high street and family trips out, their presence across different media platforms will change. To help brands plan their Christmas and advertising media spend, The Insights Family recently released its new Media Planning Playbook, designed to provide brands with an update of the key trends and the role that insights have to play in maximising ROI this Christmas. To download The Insights Family Media Planning Playbook visit: get.theinsightsfamily.com/mediamix

As we head towards the festive season, there are three play and retail trends that the toy industry shouldn’t ignore, says Nick Richardson, founder & CEO of The Insights Family

The Insights Family specialises in kids, parents, and family market intelligence. Providing real-time data on their attitudes, behaviour, and consumption patterns, every year the company surveys more than 383,760 kids and 187,200 parents.