The team at building set toy company Click-A-Brick say a reported increase in toy sales in the United States last year is promising and matches the growth they’ve seen in their own numbers last year. The report has them hopeful that 2016 will continue that momentum across the industry.
Market research company NPD Group recently released toy sales figures from 2015 and revealed that US toy sales increased by 6.7 percent to $19.4 billion last year. This increase was more than the 6.2 percent increase the NPD Group had predicted for 2015.
Nine out of the 11 toy subcategories the market research firm identifies showed growth, with only “Arts and Crafts” and “Youth Electronics” declining by 4.3 and 4.9 percent, respectively. Categories that showed an increase included the “Building Sets” category, which was a welcome sign for the Click-A-Brick team. One of the fastest growing segments last year was licensed toys associated with movies, outperforming the market with a growth rate of 9.4 percent.
"The toy industry had an incredible year and, as is typically the case, there isn't one reason," Juli Lennett, the NPD Group's US toy industry analyst said in a statement.
The growth seen by the toy industry last year is a good sign for businesses of all sizes, Click-A-Brick Co-Founders Jason Smith and Georg de Gorostiza say, and it mirrors the growth in sales that Click-A-Brick itself saw in 2015.
“Obviously we’re pleased with any sign of growth in the toy industry, but we’re especially pleased to see that building sets saw an increase,” Smith said. “Our own sales increased in 2015 and we’re buoyed by the numbers we see for the overall toy industry. It’s no surprise that movie-related toys did well again last year with the release of films like Jurassic World and Star Wars. But, a healthy, growing industry is good for toy companies in general, not just the ones that have licensing deals. We had an incredible 2015 and we’re hoping to see more growth both in the industry and specifically for Click-A-Brick this year.”
The company is currently getting ready for the release of its next set, tentatively slated for next month, and has plans this year to also release some motorized sets and pursue licensing deals. With movie-related toys having shown the most growth last year, licensing deals are highly lucrative. However, Smith says, most big movie franchises seem to procure deals with Lego, meaning they are already have licensing deals with a building block company and may not be able to issue a license to a company offering a similar line of toys.
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