British Toy Market Driven by Early Christmas Gifts

In times when the British toy industry focussed on manufacturing, independent toy shops stocked Airfix kits, Brio wooden toys, Hornby railway, LEGO sets, Raleigh bikes, and Scalextric tracks. Toy brands that featured in our lives via well-dressed shops, tv adverts, and indeed if we were lucky, our very own toy box. All immortalized in the global Icecat content catalog.

The United Kingdom Toys and Games market is and remains one of the largest in Europe. What changed is that the market became demand-driven. Nowadays, online content, promotions, reviews, demo videos, and other messaging, are responsible for generating sales. Therefore, also the British toy industry has become deeply dependent on the quality of consumer engaging product content.

Early Christmas Records

For the United Kingdom, Nosto.com reports that orders were up by 39%, revenue by 28%, and visits by 17% on the busiest eCommerce day of the year. Furthermore, the toy market profits from Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and shoppers buying early Christmas gifts, according to NPD Group. The toy sales in the United Kingdom are up 8% in value, year-to-date till the end of November 2020. With the month of November even posting a sales hike of 11% year-on-year.

Also, the US posted records. This year, the highest revenue during an online shopping day in the history of America, according to Forbes. Black Friday and Cyber Monday peaked at 12 million dollars per minute!

During November only toys from Mattel, MGA Entertainment, Vtech, LEGO, and Spin Master populate the top 10, of which LEGO ranks highest in Icecat’s global brand ranking.

Reuben Bradshaw