With turnover down more than 4% since the start of the year, the toy market is not in good shape. So, in view of the end-of-year holidays, professionals are organizing themselves to boost their sales.
This year, Santa may have his eyes glued to the labels. The toy market is not in good shape with turnover down more than 4% since the start of the year. The low prices, the “cry dryers” as they are called, have not been successful; Worse still, customers have shunned outdoor games, with 12% less purchases compared to last summer.
Professionals have therefore thought ahead to take care of prices, as Stéphanie Arnaud, at the management of Vulli, manufacturer of Sophie la girafe, explains: “We tried to work on products with more accessible prices, below 30 euros. From the design stage, we will try to remove a small function or two.” For example, on a toy that had 14, “we’re going to put 12,” she declares. “This does not distort the toy,” says Stéphanie Arnaud.
>> “Priority to reuse”: now regulated, the recycling of toys is organized
It’s more complicated for Made in France, facing Asian competition. For stuffed animals, you have to change your method, according to Jérôme Duchemin, boss of the SME Piu-Piu et Merveilles: “To remain ‘blue white red’, there is no secret, we will produce in one go: we work on the filling, the control, the closing, the packaging. So we manage to minimize costs in terms of energy and labor. In other times, we would have produced little by little, on demand.”
Inflation of 5%
Inflation has not spared toys: prices have increased by 5%. As a result, baskets are less full at Playmobil, analyzes Cécile L’Hermitte, consumer expert within the brand: customers who bought a house also took “a bathroom and a kitchen,“in the past. Now some will”just buy a bathroom. Behaviors that lead us to offer exactly what the public expects, for example with ranges made from old refrigerators: on the Playmobil farm, there are solar panels. In the school, we have a green roof with beehives, things that the children hear about at school and which nevertheless give us confidence for this season.”
Other brands are innovating to attract new customers. At Corolle, number one in baby dolls, there is a small revolution this year: a fashion doll – let’s say it, a rival to Barbie – presented by Fabien Ramette, marketing manager of the company: “We are going towards older children who want to play with dolls, pre-teen girls, which still represented half of the doll market.“
Usually, toy professionals achieve half of their annual turnover in the three months before Christmas.