While 2016 was one of the best years for toy sales ever, 2017 wasn’t. There were several issues, including fake and counterfeit toys which hampered toy sales in the UK.
Counterfeit toys had a big impact on toy sales, analyst firm NPD says to ToyNews. Overall the drop in sales is 2.8 percent.
Other problems which had an effect were under-performing licenses and Brexit. This brought the UK toy sales to 3.4 billion British Pounds.
There are some good news for the UK toy market, though. Despite the drop, it’s still the largest toy market in Europe. Analysts are also not surprised by the drop.
“We are disappointed but not surprised by the contraction of the market from 2016’s exceptional performance,” said Natasha Crookes, director of public affairs and communications for the BTHA. “The increasing breadth and depth of counterfeit toys is a real concern, with over £400m worth of sales being lost to the industry, as well as the cost to companies from the theft of innovative design.”
“2017 was also a mixed year, with disappointments in some sectors but real success stories in others. Collectables, for example, seem to be an unstoppable force within the industry.”
“After three good years of growth for the UK toy industry, 2017 saw a decline as did other territories such as France and Australia” commented Frederique Tutt, global toy analyst for the NPD Group.
“While licensed products are an integral part of the industry, across Europe it has been a sector that has under-performed – with the exception of PJ Masks, Cars 3 and Lego Batman.”
Collectables, like the Fingerlings and others, had the biggest raise in sales in 2017. They jumped with 17% and took 9% of the overall value of the market. They also have 19% of all units sold.
Other popular toys with strong sales for 2017 were doll play-sets, pre-school figures and action figures. Sadly, it seems stuffed animals weren’t able to keep their spot from 2016 when they were in the top three best selling toys. Honestly, this is surprising for us. Hopefully, this year stuffed animals will recapture the minds of fans once again.
