A new, regular feature looking at potential incremental revenue streams for toy retailers
Hanging with
ith the UK catching up with the US and Europe in the wall stickers market, and the mass of licences available from posters, there couldn’t be a better time for toy retailers
to take advantage of this month’s category of choice. I spoke to some of the key players in each sub-category to fi nd out more. Valerie Salomon, marketing director at Jomoval, told me that the UK is lagging behind the European wall stickers market by several years, and around fi ve years behind the US. Jonathan Salomon, managing director at Jomoval, thinks that this is because “until the introduction of RoomMates, there was a very small choice of designs available in the UK and many of the products which were available were of poor quality. As a result, consumers (and retailers) who tried wall stickers more than three years ago were put off by their bad experiences.” However, three years on and designs have become
more inspiring, look better on the walls, and no longer damage paintwork. Jonathan told me that the company does “phenomenally well online, but some retailers can be reluctant to take them into store. It’s very diffi cult to separate cause and effect; we’re not sure if it’s either that retailers don’t want to take risks so consumers aren’t being presented with new ideas, or if it’s that UK consumers are conservative.” Seeing a gap in the market which toy retailers could take advantage of, Valerie says that she believes “the market for wall stickers in the UK can only get bigger. For us, the market is absolutely booming with growth of 70% each year over the past three years”, which seems to suggest that there is sizeable consumer demand for the product. On the posters front, Charlie Chester, managing
director and CEO of GB Eye, told me that the category remains strong, “with both a good profi t margin for retailers and very good value for money for customers. GB Eye has grown its business by 4% for the past two years.” Charlie said that this growth has been driven by GB Eye’s portfolio of licences, which includes Skylanders, Moshi, Angry Birds, Monster High, Minecraft and One Direction, alongside perennial hits such as Hello Kitty, Star Wars and Disney. Nick Morley, director at Pyramid International, tells a similar story. He said that “generally the poster market is steady at the moment. Our growth is coming from
licences; properties that are working particularly well for us include Turtles, Adventure Time, and superheroes such as Iron Man 3, Spider-Man, Superman, and Wonder Woman; characters from Marvel Comics and DC Comics are selling really well. Doctor Who is also a very popular one, because of its 50th anniversary this year; there’s a bigger focus on Doctor Who not just for the new Doctors, but for the older series, too.” Nick thinks that
in terms of trends, superheroes will continue throughout the year, with new movie releases such as Superman Man of Steel and Iron Man 3 likely to drive demand. “And it’s not just fi lm posters that are popular,” he told me. “The old-styled comic posters appeal to older children, as the artwork is not as child-like. We also recently started doing a range of 3D framed posters which are selling well; it’s making wall art out of a poster, and doing something different with it.”
Nick told me that in
the toy sector, licensed products sell very well. He said: “We especially fi nd that young adults with children, who watched programmes such as Scooby Doo when they were younger, recognise it on TV and want their kids to watch it. In terms
wall stickers and posters W
Seize a gap in the market and maximise on licences and POS solutions. In this month’s “Have You Considered…?”, Toy World looks at how toy retailers can cash in on wall stickers and posters. Kayleigh Conway reports.
Jomoval
“Although wall stickers are not toys, children love having a nice bedroom with interesting and bright designs, and they like to get involved with the
decoration of their room.” Valerie Salomon, marketing director, Jomoval
Toyworld 51
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