Festive cheer for children as parents splurge on toys despite economic gloom

Parents are mixing well-known popular toys with educational games and family-friendly ones in this year's Christmas shopping cart.

TimesLIVE spoke to some of South Africa's biggest toy retailers who revealed many parents started Christmas shopping early this year, taking advantage of Black Friday specials to not only get great deals, but get the Christmas shopping for the children done.

The release of movies such as Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and Barbie this year also helped drive interest in their toy sections, according to retailers. 

Toys R Us confirmed they started receiving orders and purchases and had “already sourced the top toys for the season in line with global trends”.

“Children are still looking for toys and happiness and parents still want to provide joy over the festive season and bring a little magic into their lives despite tough times. We are still expecting high sales volumes as it is every year during this time,” marketing manager Catherine Jacoby said.

“Consumers  started doing their Christmas shopping on Black Friday to take advantage of special deals and we have certainly seen the sales peak in this regard.”

She said educational items, collectibles, role-playing games and family games have been a big hit as “parents want to spend time together this festive season”.

“We are not affected by the shipping backlogs before the festive season. We gear up for our peak festive season well in advance and have managed to secure stock well ahead of the festive season rush. We have also streamlined our omnichannel model to offer consumers more touchpoints in which to engage with our brands,” she said.

Some of the toys predicted to top the 2023 wish list include:

• Lego City Explorer Diving Boat 60377;
• Toyota Hilux Revo AXCR RC Car;
• Power ATV Quad Bike 12V;
• Transformers Beast Mode Bumblebee;
• Nerf Elite 2.0 Double Punch Blaster; and
• Barbie Pop Reveal, Barbie Juicy Fruit Series Assorted.

“We’re seeing children of all ages most interested in quieter and comforting toys or stress-relieving toys that transcend age. This includes Lego, dollhouses and role-playing games,” Jacoby said.

“Popular movie franchises and shows will have a benefit for the physical products in store. We can’t overlook Barbie, which has been one of the most popular, prolonged trends of the year and is showing no signs of slowing down.”

Commenting on big purchases made so far, Jacoby said Toys R Us has stocked more expensive toys as these are always in demand.

For Takealot, the festive season brings the biggest sales of the year as “almost 50% of our toy sales take place” between October and December.

The online retailer also shared their prediction for the most in-demand toys this year:

• Xiaomi Mi Electric Scooter;
• Barbie;
• Lego — gift choice for those both young & old(er);
• boardgames for children and adults — Bananagrams, 30 Seconds, Uno Flip;
• puzzles;
• Melissa & Doug; as well as
• outdoor games such as trampolines and swingball.

It also confirmed three shoppers had already spent more than R50,000 on toys, specifically electric scooters, while more than a dozen orders have been received for toys worth more than R20,000.

Massmart said it noted “an increase in the number of toys” added to customers' baskets at Game and Makro over the festive season. 

“New movie releases, such as Barbie and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as well as TV shows such as Paw Patrol, also tend to drive trends and fuel an increased interest in related toys,” Massmart's vice-president of brand marketing Katherine Madley said.

The giant retailer also released a list of its top-rated toys, which came as a result of the Top Rated by Kids campaign conducted earlier this year. Some of these are:

• Avalanche Gel Shot;
• Zing-Sling Hyperstrike Shot;
• Air Storm Z-Tek Bow;
• iPlay drifter 8-wheeler;
• iPlay Glow Pro;
• Nerf — Double Punch; and
• Goo Jit Zu Shifters.

Makro, part of Massmart, also confirmed big movie releases “resulted in increased interest in related toys and this is expected to continue to drive sales during the festive season”.

“TV shows such as Paw Patrol also continue to drive demand from shoppers,” toy buyer for Makro Eugene Harms said.

TimesLIVE