Toy Industry Grows During Pandemic

Don Tran
By Don Tran
December 19, 2020Business News
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The U.S. toy industry made huge strides in the economy compared to the last two years.

In the first three quarters of 2020, revenue in the toy industry grew by 19 percent.

It’s a comeback from 2019 and 2018, which had a 6 percent drop.

James Zahn, senior editor at The Toy Insider, said the economic boom came from parents wanting to entertain their kids while the country was under lockdown.

“Parents were going into these stores. … They were swinging by the toy department, they were picking up new toys, new games, new puzzles, and really just taking them home and finding ways to connect together,” Zahn said.

Zahn also said parents bought toys to get their kids off the screens, which they’ve spent more time with due to remote learning.

He predicts the toy industry will get a single-digit increase in revenue in 2021 because of the demand from retailers and consumers.

But he said the biggest wild card is how much people will spend as they recover from the pandemic.

“We have two very different things happening. There’s a duality between families that are cash-heavy right now, and then families that are basically have been out of work this year. So there’s cash-heavy, and then there’s folks that have been counting on those stimulus checks that we saw some months back, so that will be a little bit of a wild card as far as how folks rebound next year,” said Zahn.

For the families that are struggling financially, Zahn said they can find toys under $12 or at dollar stores that have great quality.

“Never put yourself in a position where you’re gonna hurt yourself in order to do things for your kids. It really is the thought that counts,” said Zahn.

According to the National Retail Federation, over 150 million Americans will be going to online and physical retail stores on Super Saturday.

Over 20 percent of purchases will most likely be for toys.

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