Tricky Demographics in the Toy Box
Some things in the toy industry just don’t change. Young children are still the dominant force. And, while it’s probably not politically correct, boys’ play patterns generally remain a world apart from what young girls consider fun.
But beyond those certainties, demographics in the industry are changing dramatically.
New York-based Toy Manufacturers of America Inc. puts it this way: “Kids are getting older younger.” That’s a cute way of saying that the prime demographic target for toy manufacturers and retailers is shrinking. Traditionally, the industry targeted children from birth to age 14. The target has been narrowed in recent years to children from birth to age 10.
But some toy industry experts take issue with the concept of getting older younger.
“It’s a nice sound bite, but it only describes part of the phenomenon,” says Bruce L. Stein, Mattel Inc.’s chief operating officer. “It is true that the maturation process is being sped up by all the media that children are exposed to. They have more things competing for their time--things like video games, 100 television stations, computers.”
Kids still dominate the toy industry. Children under age 8 accounted for more than half the $20.3 billion that Americans spent on toys last year. But at the same time, statistics gathered by market research firm NPD Group for the toy industry suggest that the average age of toy customers is drifting upward--from 8.6 years in 1996 to 10.2 years in 1997.
But that 10.2 average is driven by the fact that older consumers are factored into the mix. And while adults don’t necessarily play with toys, they do collect them--remember those middle-aged women battling for Beanie Babies? Weed out the grown-up collectors, experts say, and sales of traditional toys to children between ages 8 and 12 are indeed declining.
Overall toy sales are expected to rise by about 2% this holiday season, a poorer performance than last year, when sales rose by about 6%, and a noticeably slower growth rate than for electronic games, which grew at a staggering 45.4% during 1997.
But again, a closer look at the statistics shows that older consumers are playing an important role. The Interactive Digital Software Assn. in Washington, for example, reports that 56% of video game players are 18 or older--hardly the typical toy store customer.
The nation’s two largest toy makers are scrambling to adjust to the new competitive arena.
Hasbro Inc. in February paid $335 million for Tiger Electronics Inc., which brought Giga Pets to the U.S. and owns this year’s hot Furby toy line.
Mattel also is scrambling to increase its video and computer game offerings. Barbie, the 40-year-old doll, now has her own Web site, a digital camera and a CD-ROM.
