New toy market figures from Kantar have shown that UK shoppers spent an additional £19 million on toys over the 12 weeks to 26 December 2021, with sales up 1% year on year.
Growth across the toy market was driven by physical stores, where sales rose 16%. Online revenue dropped 11% as shoppers made the most of festive shopping without the restrictions that were in place last year.
Smyths, Amazon and Argos took more than a third of the total toy market between them.
However, it was Smyths which enjoyed the strongest growth of any retailer, seeing its market share rising 1.6 percentage points to 11.3% over the 12 week period, reaping the rewards of having both a streamlined digital presence and a strong store estate. This made it second only to Amazon, Retail Gazette reported.
The fastest growing toy sectors over Christmas included creative and learning toys and vehicles.
“The toy market really gathered momentum at the end of 2021,” commented Joanna Parman, strategic insights director at Kantar. “A lockdown-free few months meant shoppers grabbed the chance to hit the shops and they spent £906 million in physical stores, £124 million more than in 2020. In-store shopping had a fantastic bounce-back in the run up to Christmas in particular.
“However, it’s important to remember that digital isn’t going anywhere. We saw this clearly in the week of Black Friday when toy sales surged by 124% compared with an average week in 2021. As usual, this was driven primarily by online shopping. Retailers who can get both channels right stand to make the most impact on shoppers.”
