PreschoolNews talks to Vivid Toy Group about the key categories which are in high consumer demand at the moment.
As the UK enters week five of lockdown, certain categories within the toy space are continuing to see spikes in sales as parents look to entertain and educate their children.
Speaking to sister publication, LicensingSource.net, as part of a Zoom licensee roundtable last week, Emma Weber, marketing and licensing director at Vivid Toy Group acknowledged that as a business it was quite lucky as it operated in categories which are showing a high demand from consumers.
“It is like Christmas in some of our categories at the moment,” Emma commented. “There has been phenomenal demand for Crayola product, for example, and outdoor for us at the moment has been performing really well.
“There is a consumer appetite for certain products. Games, as a category for our industry, again, it’s like Christmas.
“We’re also having very positive conversations with retailers; it’s really going to be about at what level sales will happen for the second half of the year.”
While the first challenge for the company was to protect cash flow, product development is still continuing for Vivid, while previews on the outdoor category for spring/summer 21 are also going ahead with retail, albeit in a different way to normal.
“I think everyone is wanting to future proof their business and carry on as much as they can,” commented Emma.
While the toy industry isn’t seeing such strong sales of what it would normally be at this time of year – trading cards and collectables for example – Emma said that Vivid is still looking towards back to school and new brand launches for Christmas.
“Back to school will still happen – I’m a parent, I hope it will still happen! But we don’t know to what level and we don’t know how quickly retail will be able to set up for it. But we’re planning full marketing campaigns for autumn/winter for new brand launches that we’re focusing on for Christmas.”
She added: “Toys tend to be recession proof but it will be at a level.”
