Baby toys are one of the more stable traditional categories in the toy industry. This is because the growth and development of infants and children are very stable, and the core needs are also very stable. Therefore, the overall tone of the baby toy market has always been traditional. However, in the tradition, toy manufacturers will still fine-tune according to the changes in parents' preferences and the hot spots of the market, so the field of baby toys is a "spiral" development.
According to the estimates of a number of market research agencies, the size of the global baby toys market is between 15 billion 17.5 billion US dollars, and the compound annual growth rate of the general ** is between 4% and 5%, which indicates that although the global birth rate growth rate is slowing down, the market outlook is generally optimistic. This is mainly due to the fact that global consumers have gradually recognized the educational role of baby toys, and the demand has increased.
In terms of geographical distribution, Europe and the United States account for about three-quarters of the global share (of which the United States accounts for about half and Europe accounts for about a quarter), but with the end of the "money" stimulus during the epidemic, the stamina is obviously insufficient.
According to Circana, the sales of baby toys in the United States in 2022 were **2% year-on-year;The number of children under the age of 12 has fallen by 750,000 in the past decade in Europe's five largest economies, and the consumption of children's toys has decreased by 200 million euros since 2019.
The responsibility for the global growth engine falls to the Asia-Pacific region. According to the data of the global data resource **statista, among the top three regions in the world in terms of sales of baby toys, in addition to the United States, the second and third places are China and Japan. China will not say much here, while Japan has seen modest growth in the infant and child puzzle category in FY2022 by 35%。In addition, India, whose GDP has surpassed the United Kingdom to become the fifth largest in the world, is also a potential country for growth due to the increase in household income and the large number of babies and children.
The sales channels of baby toys are fragmented. There seems to be only one global retailer for Toys"R"Us Baby Brand. Although offline channels still account for nearly 70% of the current share, their development speed is far less than that of online channels, mainly because current and future parents are the backbone of the "Internet native" generation, who are Xi to the mode of fingertip consumption and home delivery. According to market research**wwwemergenresearch.According to com's data, from 2021 to 2030, the growth rate of infant and child monopoly channels will gradually stagnate, replaced by the rapid growth of large supermarkets and e-commerce platform channels.
The global infant and juvenile toys market channels will change dynamically from 2021 to 2030
Although the baby toy market is facing an impact, toy manufacturers, especially those in Europe and the United States, have not given up this market, but have changed their thinking, holding the mentality of "cultivating future consumer groups", and continue to strive to develop the baby market, especially the 3 6-year-old toddler market. When talking about the company's future decisions, Hasbro's senior management made it clear that although the company's current growth is driven by the big child group, babies are the big children of the future, and it is very important to cultivate a future fan base.
Many toy manufacturers choose to transform the original children's and middle-aged children's products for infants and children.
The above-mentioned Hasbro has launched a new Nerf Junior, reducing the age of the original Heat soft bullet gun suitable for 8 years and older to under 6 years old.
Its old rival Mattel was not to be outdone, and launched a fashionable Barbie (My First Barbie) suitable for 36-year-old children, filling the gap in the field of young children with only baby dolls and no fashion doll products.
In addition, board game giant Ruisi has also added a new toddler line (GR**itrax) under the popular Gravity Orbit (GR**ITRAX) brand, taking advantage of the power of the original brand to open up new areas.
Not only toy manufacturers, but also IP parties have similar thoughts, and have launched preschool education IPs for 3 to 6-year-old children on the basis of the original popular IP, seizing the market in advance.
A little further afield is 2021's Spidey and His Amazing Friends;More recently, there is "Young Jedi Adventures" (Young Jedi Adventures), which premiered in April this year, which is a children's preschool animation IP derived from the IP gold king "Star Wars";In addition, DC Comics also announced that it will cooperate with Penguin Random House to launch a preschool children's action book series "Batwheels" (Batwheels), and will simultaneously broadcast the animation of the same name on the animation cable platform (Cartoon Network).
DC Comics' new IP "Batwheels" to enter the preschool field
There are also toy manufacturers who have found a new way to pay attention to the healthy growth of marginalized groups of special children. According to a report by the United Nations Children's Association, the number of children with special needs is estimated to be around 2 worldwide400 million people, but their needs are overlooked.
As early as 1990, Japan launched the Barrier-Free Toy Movement (known as "Toys in Japanese"), and the Japan Toy Association organized a special group to study and formulate various guidelines and standards, and took the lead in promoting this concept in major toy exhibitions and seminars, so that children with special needs can also enjoy the fun of play.
Since 2021, the American Toy Council has found that manufacturers have taken into account the diversity of children's groups (including cultural and physical diversity) when releasing new products, and it will gradually become a climate in 2022 and 2023. For example, LEGO has launched Braille Lego, so that visually impaired children can Xi also learn Braille through building blocks to prepare for school and integration into society in the future.
Combined with the reports of overseas professional ** "TOY BOOK" and "TOY WORLD", as well as the author's observation, the recent hot spots of new baby toys are mainly concentrated in the following three places:
Retro. Many of today's young parents are millennials (the generation born in the late 80s and early 90s of the 20th century) with a strong nostalgia complex, and often choose toys for their babies with their own childhood imprints. Another big consumer group of baby toys is grandparents, who are also attracted by the cross-generational charm of vintage baby toys.
Fabula Toys, a start-up toy company, has seized on this point to make a fuss. According to its founder and director, Nazneen Yasin, Fabula's new products are integrated with traditional nursery rhyme elements, which can arouse the emotional resonance of elders at the same time and reduce the resistance to promotion.
This hotspot is related to social platform hotspots. It is understood that on YouTube, nearly half of the top volume is related to nursery rhymes. It helps with cognitive development while also keeping your baby happy. There is also the most popular preschool education IP "Cocomelon" on YouTube, which features nursery rhymes and nursery rhymes. Parents also expect their children to be less dependent on electronic screens, so toy manufacturers have focused on sound effects.
VTech plans to launch eight new baby series products in this autumn and winter, all of which are themed on **. Tek Jr., Fisher-Price, WOW!The new products of well-known toy manufacturers such as stuff this autumn and winter also involve the theme of **, which shows its popularity.
wow!stuff Toys for babies and children with ** elements.
Environmental protection. It is mainly reflected in three aspects: reducing or even avoiding the use of single-use plastics;Some or even all of them are made of ** materials;Directly use environmentally sustainable materials (e.g. wood from FSC-certified sustainable forest farms, plush from safety PET water bottles, etc.).
Melissa & Doug, a well-known American baby toy brand, has begun to accelerate the use of FSC forest-certified wood, and is working with relevant agencies to plant 1 million trees by 2030 to give back to the planet.
Melissa & Doug products have FSC certification on their packaging.
*: Chinese and Foreign Toy Manufacturing Magazine.