Star Wars toys, droids and accessories have taken over the holiday sales and boosted them 22%. Toy sales have inked good profits as a result.
According to data from market research firm NPD Group Canada Star Wars toys have scored a whopping 244% increase of their sales for the week of December 20th to December 26th. Overall toy sales just in Canada have risen 22% for the same time period. This is now counting video games.
“Over the year, Star Wars (accounted for) about 20 per cent of the total increase in the toy industry,” Michelle Liem, director of NPD Group’s toy business, said in an interview for the Financial Post. Just in Canada, Star Wars toys have generated sales of nearly $100 million for 2015.
Everyone are happy about the great performance of the movie toys. Even big chains like Toys R Us saw their first same-store sales increase in four years. This means that people will flock to the stores when the toys are cool. Coupled with the news that sales of stuffed animals and action figures in the UK are also rising steadily, it seems that the good times for toys are slowly coming back. This is great news after a few years of dominance of video games. It seems that real toys will be able to weather the storm and will continue to be an integral part of children’s daily lives, which is great news.
And it’s not only Star Wars that attracts attention. Sales of Disney’s Frozen, which were ruling during 2013 and 2014 are still showing great results. They even rose 13% for 2015. This means that Disney is pretty much the king of the toy world at the moment holding at least two of the highest grossing toy lines.
Another reason for the jump in toy sales is innovation, Liem adds. Toy makers are incorporating more and more cool things, electronics and etc. They allow for the creation of interactive and interesting new toys. At the same time some companies have managed to draw attention to nostalgic toys with a modern touch. Nerf for example is the number 3 toy brand for 2015. Overall it is a great time to be a fan of toys as it seems the industry is just getting started with its newfound inspiration.
