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Toys market set for bumper Christmas sales
[Tue 16/11/2010 03:09:13]
A strong July catalogue period and a full shopping week before Christmas Day is set to boost sales for the $2.2 billion Australian toy market.
While the market had a slow start to the year according to Michael Elam-Rye of GfK Retail and Technology Australia, since mid-year toys have performed particularly well and Christmas sales are expected to be strong.
“The interest rate rise pre-Christmas is not great news, but having said that the toys category is fairly resilient to such pressures, particularly at Christmas,” Elam-Rye says.
“Historical trends also clearly indicate that the result of the annual July toy catalogue sales is a precursor to what we can expect at Christmas.
“The mid-year toy sales did not disappoint, with value up 13.9 per cent. Given this performance we would expect a bumper Christmas season, and with Christmas Day falling on a Saturday the full shopping week will help.”
Stewart Downs, CEO of Funtastic, says business has been tough for the retail sector this year, but the quality brands are still vibrant.
“It’s the second tier and marginal products that we’ll see suffering over the Christmas sales period,” he says.
“Consumers have been making quality based choices and this has kept the toy category alive.
“Up until now price has also been a real deciding factor, but as we move into Christmas, the price of toys becomes of less importance to parents than choosing that perfect toy that will put a smile on their kids’ faces on Christmas morning,” Downs says.
Categories expected to perform strongly this year include outdoor and sports, infant and preschool, building sets, arts and crafts, and plush toys, says Elam-Rye.
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