Toys for sale at Wal-Mart in Burbank, California.
Patrick T. Falan | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Before each holiday season, Walmart gathers hundreds of children at a convention center near its Arkansas headquarters. Young testers try a lot of toys and choose what they want to get from Santa. It shapes the list of top toy retailers and determines from which they order in abundance.
This year, the company instead sent several dozen children toys to test at home. It really is an example of how the coronavirus epidemic changed the norm during the holiday season – just before it actually started.
The retailer’s preparations for buying holiday toys this year seem different, said Brad Bedwell, director of the preschool toys and Om’s Chamber of Commerce. Walmart had to come up with a workround for his toy testing group to compile a list of toy rated toys. He developed a toolline that allows children to play with virtual anub, x, test and toys because multiple children cannot ride around the same truck or play with the same doll in store isles or on the public due to an epidemic.
The Wmart mart Wonder Lab will allow children to try out more than 100 toys and guide virtual hands to interact with them. Asons Tuo from the company’s last two holiday periods is a larger version of that tool.
This year, Walmart has shipped more toys to fulfillment centers, as it expects more customers to buy online, Bedwell said.
Toys that will be sold hit store shelves this holiday season in August to see how they do, he said.
This year’s top rated toys range from classic toys like Lego to outdoor toys like scooters and hoverboards, unique products like Squeaky, Moz Toys is an interactive balloon dog that makes sounds and tricks and sells at .859.88. Unlike last holiday season, there will also be a lot of things connected to the popular Disney + show “The M Mandal Ndolorian”, including Boppit! A game designed to look like a child made by Hasbro, which will sell at .8 14.88.
Toy sales have increased during the epidemic – a trend retailers hope will continue into the holidays. The year-on-year percentage growth in toy sales has been in double-digits since March, according to data from the NPD Group. They jumped, especially in May, a rising% compared to a year ago, as parents bought outdoor items ranging from swing sets to water toys.
“Toys have been innovated because many families spend time during an epidemic playing board games, riding bikes and completing puzzles,” said Steff Wisink, managing director of Jefferies.
More of it has been spent online. About 25% to 30% of all toy sales in the U.S. before the epidemic. Were online online, he said. More than 50% of toy sales were offline – and after the epidemic, it could be 35% to 40%, she said.
Some parents will experience cash during the recession this holiday season. Others may see many toys bought during the epidemic that spread to the living room floor or backyard.
Wisink, however, said the holiday will be a habit: parents will want to make the season special.
“If you know someone has children, how often do you expect them to sit with their baby and say, ‘No gifts under the Christmas tree because you got them in March,'” he said. “It doesn’t happen.”
That’s why, she said, she expects toy spending to look the same as last year.
According to data shared by companies and Jefferies, Walmart is the top retailer in the US, with a market share of about 25%, followed by Amazon at 20% and Target at 15% to 20%.
Bedwell said he thinks the innovation of toys on the shelves will boost sales. Also, he said, parents will want to make their children happy – especially during unusual and stressful times.
He said, “This is really a category that can deliver a little bit of fun for our customers and the kind of delivery that makes for a happy home stay.”
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