NPD Insight
Are licensed toys boosting sales? Melissa looks at the latest data for the UK toy market, with a closer look at the contribution of licensed toys to overall sales.
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year-ago, we were in the middle of the first national lockdown in the UK and the global toy market was worrying about what the future held. Twelve months later, we know that spending on toys increased, at least in the UK, even if there were fewer pocket money and impulse items sold. As the nation started to come out of the third national lock down in twelve months in March, we reached the anniversary of the value sales uplift we saw during the first lockdown. In March 2020, the UK toy market grew +12% vs. 2019 so it wouldn’t have been entirely unexpected to see that growth stall, especially with children returning to schools. Surprisingly, however, March 2021 saw the growth continue, although it did slow, with value sales up +3% vs. 2020 and volume up +3%. Overall, there were nine Supercatgeories out of eleven that were in growth or flat for the month, with only Games & Puzzles and Arts & Crafts seeing some value decline after their stellar performance in 2020. Despite this decline, both categories’ sales remain well above their 2019 performance. Outdoor and Sports Toys was the largest supercategory for the month, accounting for 17% of all sales, with volume sales increasing +24% vs. 20. This was heavily driven by Bubble Toys and Water/Sand toys, as the weather started to improve. Overall, Building Sets remains the fastest growing supercategory, while Plush was the second fastest growing with Squishmallow, Ty and Rainbocorns properties all helping to drive the growth.
Minecraft has seen a resurgence driven by Lego Building Sets, there has also been growth for the licence from Mattel’s Action Figures and Panini’s Stickers, leading to sales of over £3m so far this year. Nearly three quarters of all Action Figures sales are for licensed product; this is the category most reliant on licenses, although licensed action figures are down -1% YTD. Fortnite is the number one licence so far this year, but Batman is the fastest growing YTD, up +75% vs. last year. Batman isn’t the only growing licence in Action Figures: there has also been strong double-digit growth from Jurassic Park, Spider-Man, Pokémon and Roblox, showing that the category isn’t just about the latest cinema releases. Looking at the pre-school area, characters remain key. Peppa Pig is up +11%, while Paw Patrol has grown +16%. Both Bing and Hey Duggee also had a strong start to the year, with Bing up +59% and Hey Duggee more than doubling sales from 2020, with Plush being a key category for both licences. Plush is the second fastest growing category for licences, up +38% this year, with CoComelon Musical Bedtime JJ 10” the number one licensed plush item sold this year. CoComelon is actually the number one new licence across total toys, as it continues to perform well since its launch at
Building Sets growth in March was heavily driven by licences, which now account for 56% of all Building Sets sales. Building Sets in turn accounts for a third of all licensed toys and is only behind Action Figures in terms of licence strength within a supercategory. Within Building Sets, Star Wars remains the number one licence, but the fastest growing licence in the first quarter of 2021 is Harry Potter, up +70%. Harry Potter is also the number one licence across total toys, with Games & Puzzles also contributing to growth. While
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Melissa Symonds
Director UK Toys, EuroToys NPD the end of 2020, not only in Plush but also in Toddler Figures, where it has three of the top five best-selling lines this year. Licensed Toys has grown across the total toy market up +15% for March, growing four times faster than total toys and up +16% YTD March 21 vs. 20. With licensed toys growing for the second year in a row, even without traditional cinema releases, 2021 looks like it could be an outstanding year for licensed toys with Video Games, TV, YouTube and Movie licences all growing. At the time of writing, we’re waiting for the sales for the first week of non-essential stores reopening in the UK to see what that brings to the toy market. Based on spirit of optimism that we’ve seen from consumers and retailers since the stores reopened on 12th April, there is hope that the rest of the year for total toys can continue to build on the strong performance we’ve seen in the last year.
