The Australian toy industry saw a dollar increase of 69 percent and unit sales increase of 29 percent during the last week of March, according to The NPD Group.
Last week marked the best performing week of 2020 sales. The increase in toy sales comes as schools around the world have closed and families are asked to stay indoors to help flatten the curve of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The most recent week saw a strong spike in toy sales and, in fact, is the strongest growth across all global major markets, including U.K. and U.S.A.,” says Gimantha Jayasinghe, senior vice president and deputy managing director, Asia Pacific, The NPD Group. “This was driven by promotions across a number of retailers; but there are two other factors that drove these record sales numbers: the upcoming Easter holiday, and parents’ attempt to keep their kids engaged amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Across subcategories, Australia saw increases in the toy industry. The NPD reported that five-out-of-11 toy subcategories grew in sales over the last week of March. The growth per category included the following:
- Building sets grew 155%;
- Games and puzzles grew 417%;
- All games and puzzles subclasses grew 55%; and
- Arts and crafts, outdoor and sports toys and youth electronics also grew.
Toys are joined by a slate of other product categories seeing an increase in sales due to stay-at-home measures enacted around the world. The NPD Group also recently announced that juvenile non-fiction education, reference and language books in the U.S. have risen 12 percent year-to-date versus the same period last year.
