Europe1 .fr with AFP 2:24 p.m., September 21, 2022
Consumers will pay more attention to their Christmas toy purchases this year due to inflation, but won't give up on indulging, according to a study by NPD.
After two years of growth, the toy market has indeed had "a good start" in 2022 but "is running out of steam somewhat.
Consumers will be more attentive to their purchases of toys for Christmas, due to inflation and the "complicated" economic context, without giving up giving pleasure, according to the firm NPD.
"Despite a complicated macroeconomic context, Christmas will indeed take place, but consumers of all ages will be on the lookout for bargains and promotional offers, and no doubt even more precise in their budgetary decisions", believes Frédérique Tutt, world analyst for NPD, quoted in the statement Wednesday.
"It's impossible to know if there will be snow, but there will always be toys under the Christmas tree! Even in the most difficult years, going back to 2008, the market has never seen a decline below the -6% mark in the fourth quarter. Something to reassure market players somewhat,” she said.
After two years of growth, the toy market had "a good start" in 2022 but "is running out of steam somewhat, posting a slight decline of -0.2% in value at the end of August, and -11%" over the three months of June, July and August, indicates NPD, a firm which is a benchmark in the toy market.
Online sales of toys down 14% compared to 2021
On the volume side, "we have seen a decline of 12% since the start of the year and -20% over the last quarter, offset by an increase in the average price, which rose from 13.03 euros to 14.69 euros in one year, i.e. +13%".
NPD believes that "the rising cost of living and the threat of an international recession are clearly affecting a large proportion of consumers".
According to a study carried out online this summer by NPD among 1,022 people residing in metropolitan France, "26% of French people questioned admit to having spent less on games and toys over the last six months of 2022 compared to the previous year, and they are only 19% to have spent more".
"Half of those questioned concede having had to make trade-offs because of the economic situation", according to this same study.
Online toy sales meanwhile fell 14% from 2021 in the first seven months of the year, now weighing in at 27% of total games and toys revenue.
"Given the difficult economic context, toy professionals are expecting a tense autumn but are preparing for the "Christmas" season, which remains "the key period for the sector which generates 50% of its turnover there. business," says NPD.