Parents Insights offers a look at the nuances and similarities between the UK and US when it comes to the preschool toys and games category.
By collecting data continuously, Kids Insights is able to uncover current, emerging and flash trends – as well as better understanding the attitudes, behaviours and consumption patterns of children across Europe – including the nuances and similarities between markets. The latter of which we can see when we explore some of the key areas and properties across continents. It is for this reason that global brands cannot adopt one strategy to suit all.
Firstly, when looking at the route to market in the UK and US, we can start to understand the differences in the preschool arena. In the UK, Smyths Toys remains the top high street shop for preschool aged boys (13.1%). Along with The Entertainer and toy shops, they are the combined favourite retailers for 20.6% of these boys and both retailers have seen the number of choosing them as favourite store increasing across 2018-19.
Likewise, for girls aged 3-5, Smyths Toys is also their top favourite high street shop (8.7%), 3.4 percentage points ahead of second place Primark, showcasing gender’s more pronounced appetite for fashion.
In comparison to the UK, the high street landscape in the US presents a rather different picture. As opposed to toy shops, hypermarkets Walmart and Target are the most popular stores for younger boys and girls (up to third grade) and in the world’s biggest toy market, Walmart’s popularity increased between 2018-19 to reach 16.9%.
In 2020 Kids Insights launched a new set of Global Insight Reports. Released across the year, the reports cover eight sectors, including Toys & Games, Video Games, Food & Drinks, Electronics, Health & Beauty, Clothing, Marketing Engaging Kids Executive. The reports are based on surveying 150,000 children across nine countries across four continents each year and this article is a brief snapshot specifically focusing on the Toys & Games Report 2020 and the UK and US markets specifically.
To receive further information and details of how to purchase a copy of the 60-page report, please visit https://kidsinsights.com/global-toy-report/.
