Back in July, Makro organised a group of 300 kids to get together to come and play. It was the ultimate Willy Wonka moment, with children aged four to 12 armed with clipboards, VIP tags and voting sheets heading into booths to play with toys for the day.
Their top choices formed the basis of Makro's Christmas guide.
It's a strategy Massmart's parent company, Walmart, has used for years, and the first time it's been tried in SA. Twelve of Makro's top suppliers went all out to compete with each other at the Makro Riversands store in Johannesburg and the feedback - more than 3,000 voting sheets - was then averaged to determine the top toys.
And its unsurprising that retailers take toys so seriously - according to Euromonitor, South Africans spent $552.3m on toys and games last year and are forecast to spend $598.3m this year.
Tablet at the top
The top three choices were all interactive. Toymaker Lacey's scooped the No 1 spot with its Kurio tablet, and also boasted the eighth- and 10th-most favourite toys. In second position was the Air Hogs Supernova, a "gravity-defying orb" for those aged eight and up, and third was Battle Drones by Tevo.
Eugene Harms, senior buyer at Makro for toys, luggage and baby goods, says children want interactive toys more than anything.
Traditional toy departments and stand-alone toy stores are increasingly losing out as technology customers become younger.
"People tend to buy kids cellphones and laptops earlier than they used to. We lose them to gaming, tablets and cellphones . and the more interactive digital products," says Harms.
A buyer at Pick n Pay says remote-controlled drones are becoming increasingly popular because the technology they use has dropped in price so they are getting cheaper.
Old enough to like retro
Julie-Anne Walsh, chief marketing officer at Takealot.com, says there is huge demand for "retro" gaming this festive season.
The Nintendo Classic Mini Console, with games such asSuper Mario Bros and Donkey Kong, which was released earlier this year, is popular. PlayStation Classic, which Walsh says gamers can't get enough of, was available as a pre-order until December 7 and gamers lined up to purchase it.
Movies such as Frozen and Spider-Man, and TV shows with their associated merchandise, also drive toy purchases, as do other fads such as fidget spinners and loom bands, though these are now so last season. Gloop slime is the massive trend in South African schools this summer.
Shoprite says the popularity of toys is influenced by media companies such as Nickelodeon, with popular kids' cartoon franchises, such as Peppa Pig. And, increasingly, YouTubers are influencing toy sales.
Toy empire built of plastic bricks
But some firm favourites never fade.
Harms says "our traditional toys are still growing". This might to some extent be because the company introduced baby products four years ago.
"Baby now caters from newborn to seven years old . where the toy department is from two years upwards into the interactive technological products."
Lego is still one of Makro's biggest toy suppliers, says Harms.
Other retailers also attest to the enduring popularity of brands such as Lego.
Walsh says Lego and Mattel's Barbie dolls top the list of bestselling toys without fail every year.
"These products have been firm favourites for generations of kids and while the products might differ year on year, the brands remain the same."
At Shoprite, dinosaurs or Hot Wheels, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, are perennial bestsellers, irrespective of what's trending in the media.
Educational and sensory toys such as board games, puzzles and building blocks have also become big business in recent years as some parents push back against excessive screen time.
Dolls and drones fly off the shelves
Shoprite Checkers' top toy picks for Christmas include: Radiofly Space Watcher drone; radio-controlled drifting cars; Enchantimals dolls; large, sitting plush animals; LOL Surprise series dolls; battery-operated Tyrannosaurus dinosaur; Sparkle Girlz styling head; The Fast and the Furious die-cast cars; assorted character laptops such as Peppa Pig, Little Pony, Blaze and PJ Masks; and radio-controlled Hot Wheels cars.
At Pick n Pay, popular items include the inflatable Unicorn pool toy, the Rainbocorn Sequin Surprise plush toy, and Tevo's Gloop slime and putty.
Among the bestselling toys on Takealot.com are the Jeronimo My First Sewing Machine, the Catan board game and the Nerf N-Strike Elite Disruptor gun.
shevela@sundaytimes.co.za..