Internet and rising incomes boost toy sales

Buying toys is no more child's play, literally, thanks to the rising level of Internet penetration and the increase in the spending capacity of parents, which have kept pace with the fast growth of the market. The combination of these factors has led to better products and a wider variety of toys for the little ones.
"Yes, there has been enormous growth. The young parents of today have more purchasing power and are more aware of the need for toys for the development of the child," said R. Jeswant, vice-president, sales and marketing, Funskool India. "They also have fortunately got a wider exposure in terms of being able to get better merchandising products and a lot of variety because of better technologies," said Jeswant.
"A huge amount of space has been dedicated for toys nowadays in large format stores," he added. Over the last five years, the toy market in India has grown at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 15 per cent to Rs 1,600-1,700 crore.
This high growth rate in the industry has been largely driven by the advent of organised retail, according to industry experts. The industry is still very small and there is potential for tremendous growth for the next 10-15 years, said experts. Funskool expects to witness a growth of around 15 per cent this fiscal, while Kool Kidz Products boasts of growing by 30 per cent year-on-year (yoy).
"The latest technologies, supported by high Internet penetration, have led to the influx of a number of computerised gaming solutions. This in turn has led to technical advancements in the toy industry in India today," said Manish Newar, chairman and managing director (CMD), Kool Kidz Products. "The toy market in India is more organised as compared to five years ago. Now, there are exclusive toys outlets all over the country and a lot of options for children of all age groups," said Newar.
"Also, parents are now more conscious about the safety features of toys and buy them not just for the entertainment of their children but also as tools to help their children learn," Newar added.
Toys that engage and provide scope for learning, besides providing more play value to the children are in greater demand now compared to the past. "At Funskool the toys that are most in demand are board games, boys collectibles, infant and pre-school toys, arts and craft, fashion dolls, and puzzles.
Our TV animation and movierelated toy merchandise, such as BeyBlades and Transformers Movie 3 (Dark of the Moon) have been much in demand since they hit the market," said Jeswant.
Courtesy: Mail Today  
Source: INDIA TODAY GROUP