Let’s go outside D
espite often being seen as the “deciding factor”, the weather is not being looked on as the sole driver for success or failure in the Outdoor Toys category this year. It will of course have a
significant part to play, but there are a variety of other factors that will affect the situation. For example, it is to be hoped that suppliers will be bullish with their stock intake, especially after experiencing strong sales in the glorious Summer sun of July and August. The sales figures from those two months truly showed what the Outdoor Toys category can achieve in a period of astounding weather. But while it is true that the data showed July and August flanked by flat months until the Christmas trading period, that didn’t seem to matter because many companies still experienced good growth. MV Sports is one of them; Phil Ratcliffe told me: “We had a good year in 2013 with double digit sales growth against a flat Outdoor Toys market. After a slow start, our second half year sales were almost double that of the previous year with a strong sell-through across the majority of our major customers.” Hy-Pro’s Simon Pickavance also reported positive
results: “2012 was a huge year for us with the Olympics and the Euro Finals so we had planned for a slower 2013. However, that’s not what happened, and 2013 continued to show growth with a lot of help from the great Summer weather and the support of our retail partners. 2014 is already delivering positively in terms of growth as we have the FIFA and England official licences in what looks to be a huge World Cup Year. This, linked with the growth of our Zinc brand, puts us in a very positive frame of mind. Our Summer business will focus heavily on the World Cup with event-based products available from just under £5 to around £15. A large percentage of these sales are impulse driven, and our price points and ranging reflects this to maximise on the sales potential.
Hy-Pro
For Christmas we will have another very strong lift in sales primarily from Zinc.” Simon said that the company’s wheeled toy and sports business, although a positive contributor throughout the year, really peaks during the last quarter of the year. Richard Smyth, sales and business director at
Traditional Garden Games, added that his company also experienced double-digit growth across 2013, largely down to the increase of its international business and expansions in key product ranges. He said: “We are extremely confident that we will do the same in 2014, and are ready to meet the demand for product. 2013 got off to a slow start with that cold snap that held on into late February, but by that point we were coming to the end of the peak season in our international business so stock continued to flood in. The period of glorious weather saw us doing incredible business with plenty of stock in the country to meet the needs of our customers. We are feeling very bullish and have forecast growth in 2014.”
The NPD Group has stated that it expects the category
to register growth at the end of the year, and it’s clear to see that companies are in a good position to prove that prediction correct. Licensed products will continue to be a key driver
in the Outdoor Toys sector this year because the right character or property can deliver significant sales numbers in the run up to Christmas. Phil Ratciffe advised that for the retailers “the right mix of licences, own-brand and retailer-specific solutions all form part of a successful overall proposition. Getting this right is important when offering a broad range of licences and brands, maxing out on the clear winners in each demographic, e.g. Stunted for older boys, One Direction for older girls, and Thomas and Peppa in pre-school.”
Outdoortoys
With major sporting events taking place over the Summer months and a wide range of own brand and licensed products set to launch, companies operating in the Outdoor Toys sector are eyeing growth in the category this year. Tom Roberts reports.
Simon Pickavance agreed, saying that the importance of licensing to the sector will be perfectly demonstrated this year by the World Cup “dominating the Summer”, but he added: “For our wheeled ranges I don’t think licensing is a driving factor in the popularity of wheeled toys and sports in general, rather the trend is driven by the core activity, i.e. kids like to ride a scooter. I do think that licences can play a part in what scooter a child may choose. At the end of the day, because of the unpredictability of the British Summer, I think products that supports key events such as the World Cup, and those that sport popular characters, will deliver positively at the tills in 2014.”
Out this year Phil Ratcliffe highlights MV Sports’ extended ranges on Peppa Pig and Thomas & Friends as key developments, and that the company also has new licences with huge established adult and child awareness levels such as Transformers, Angry Birds, Star Wars and Peter Rabbit. Phil also mentioned: “The company’s own branded wheeled ranges grew massively last year so we will also see new introductions in the Grow & Go, Stunted and E-Moto ranges.” For Traditional Garden Games, 2014 will see the company expanding its range of tents, and Richard Smyth admitted that strong sales on a couple of £20 tents the company stocked in 2013 were the key driver for investing in them. The company has several styles of tent on offer which include a Wigwam, a Knight’s Tent and a Princess Tent. Richard said: “The range has received extremely positive feedback at the shows, especially our Wigwam which is the hero product of this range. But we’ve also got some great extensions to our core offering including a Volleyball/Badminton/Tennis combination net and a Junior size foldable football net.” From Hy-Pro, Simon revealed that for 2014 the company has extended the reach of its Zinc range with the launch of the pre-school “Rollers” range. Its products help children develop their core motor skills, with the R1, for children aged 18 months plus, easily converting from a tricycle to a tri-scooter, and the R2, for children aged two and up, converting from a balance bike to an in-line scooter. Simon commented: “As always we have focused on delivering some real innovation in this range for our customers and early reactions and orders have been amazing. Our extended “Volt” battery-operated range of scooters has also been extended. Volt was a soft launch for us in 2013 but the reaction from the market has been really positive and caught us napping and sold out in the run up to Christmas.” Simon confirmed that both brands will benefit from extensive media campaigns that are already underway and planned to last for the rest of the year. “FIFA and England will represent the core of our business for the Summer. With the focus the World cup gets in the UK we know our partners are guaranteed a positive lift in sales with the event.” Over the following pages you’ll see just some of the many products available this year from companies working in the Outdoor Toys sector.
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