With parents in India spurring demand for educational toys in that country by 15 percent each year for the next four years, toy companies are going to be swamped by demand and it could affect their ability to meet it, Click-A-Brick Co-Founder and Brand Manager Georg de Gorostiza said.
As Indians look to education to give their children a head start in the global economy, they are increasingly turning to educational toys to kickstart their children’s learning at an early age, says Sunil Nanda, the president of the Toy Association of India.
It is well-known that educational toys stimulate children’s minds and help them develop a love of learning and it’s this thinking behind the swell in demand for educational toys in the world’s largest democracy.
However, as demand for educational toys remains strong in the United States and Europe, if toy companies are not preparing for the increased demand from India, it may sneak up on them and could cause shortages, de Gorostiza says.
“I can speak from personal experience from our unexpected demand for Christmas in 2014 that it puts a strain on the whole operation to try and play catch up with huge demand,” de Gorostiza said. “Of all the business-related problems to have, rushing to meet demand is probably the best of the bunch, but it’s still a problem. Fifteen percent per year for the next few years is huge when you consider the population of India and if educational toy companies aren’t taking note, they could find themselves losing out on big money if they’re not able to meet this increasing demand.”
While the larger educational toy companies are filling the expected increased demand from India, de Gorostiza sees an opening for smaller toy companies like Click-A-Brick to fill in any gaps that it may cause in other parts of the world, like North America. After the company saw high demand for its 30-piece, 5-in-1 Animal Kingdom Safari educational toy set for last year’s Christmas season, it is in a good position to fill any void that the demand from India is set to create.
While Click-A-Brick hopes to one day expand into the Indian market and beyond, the relatively new toy company wants to build its brand in North America first and expand into other markets from there with a slow and steady plan for growth and expansion into new markets that sees the company becoming well established in an area before taking the next step in expansion.