gamesandpuzzles “
Retailers could benefit by helping Mum navigate the aisle easier by either categorising games by age appropriateness and/or genre.
and are accessible to a wide age group from small children to grandparents. It’s often the activity that all ages can play together giving children the opportunity to outshine their parents.” It’s true to say that games and puzzles are
extremely popular choices to purchase as gifts, but what is it specifically about the products that makes them so popular? Claire McCool said: “The main reasons for the category’s ever-burgeoning popularity in these recessionary times are the level of innovation, high-quality content and long-term play value now built into the top titles. This enables them, along with their variants, to keep on selling year after year. “Our number one best-selling LOGO
property is a case in point; as well as the original game, we now have three other family and adult versions in the line and have just launched a fifth: LOGO What Am I? for children. “In the mix there’s also the belief within many families that it’s never been more important to spend quality time with one’s children and teenagers, and I feel that our games are the perfect way of having multi- generational fun together.” Paul Lamond’s Richard Pain agrees:
“We may live in the digital age where computer games are the norm however there are still many parents who want to encourage their children in active play. For example, although Subbuteo is not strictly an active game, it is difficult to play sitting on the sofa and it is great for encouraging communication and social interaction.“ Our target market is ‘dads’ who will then
in turn entice their children to become involved. We feel it is more important than ever to bring families together in the home by playing games that involve action, skill, strategy thinking and participation.” So how do retailers make the most out of stocking products from this category? Jonathan Kirkley said: “From our own
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research we have found that, very often, Mums find shopping for games and puzzles a stressful experience. They often feel that the selections are very wide, and the ranging in-store can sometimes feel disorganised and confusing. Retailers could benefit by helping Mum navigate the aisle easier by either categorising games by age appropriateness and/or genre. “We have a great portfolio of games this
year from well-known brands like Scrabble, Pictionary and Uno, to some great new kid’s games with Red Rover and Chameleon Crunch as well as our great new additions with Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja and Cut the Rope. Kids’ games are performing extremely well for us with Angry Birds currently the best-selling kids game so far this year, according to NPD. We are also seeing Scrabble Original sales growing and we continue to lead in travel games. “We have an exciting new marketing campaign ‘Fun Times’ that kicks off in September, which represents a completely new approach to our games business. This will see us drive the Games category right through ‘til Christmas.” Claire McCool said: “It’s never looked better – we had our best 12 months ever during 2011, experiencing a 22% boost in
sales on the previous year - and 2012 is already shaping up well, too. We launched five new products during August, and they are all selling magnificently. Our TV advertising campaigns for all of the new titles - as well as fourteen existing titles - are already under way, and we are looking forward to an excellent Christmas season. “Our sales performance underlines the fact that we are confident there will always be a place in the UK market for both board and action games, and it is important for toy trade retailers to recognise what an impressive source of income they can be. Although this particular sector of the toy market traditionally peaks during the festive season, games should be displayed and publicised prominently all year – they make excellent, thoughtful presents and will provide many hours of entertainment for family and friends, whatever their age.” So there we have it; the Games and
Puzzles category is enduring the harder economic times because of innovation, content and play value. It’s a solid performer, and one worth investigating more. Over the following pages you can view a selection of the products from this category.
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