The COVID-19 pandemic continues to drive sales across the toy industry with double-digit increases in four of the 11 supercategories tracked by The NPD Group.
Earlier this week, CNBC reported that the overall toy industry had a 16% sales boom in the first half of the year. Now, the Toy Book is exclusively revealing* where the gains are coming from. According to NPD, all but three of its tracked supercategories experienced year-over-year growth from January to June.
Games and Puzzles, which quickly took off as families began spending time together at home, spiked a whopping 46% during the first six months of 2020. The gains were followed by Outdoor and Sports Toys (33%), Building Sets (26%), and Arts & Crafts (18%). Additional growth took place across Vehicles (9%), Explorative & Other Toys (9%), Dolls (8%), and Infant/Toddler/Preschool Toys (5%).
Of the three categories that have declined so far this year, Youth Electronics was down just 2%, while both Action Figures & Accessories and Plush had 12% declines.
Notably, the drop for action figures is largely tied to low sales for licensed products tied to delayed film releases.
The positive news for the toy industry comes on the cusp of Q2 earnings season which begins after the bell on July 23 when Mattel reports.
*Source: The NPD Group/Retail Tracking Service/U.S. Toys provided exclusively to the Toy Book.
