With ‘Black Friday’ and Constitutional weekend already in a rush, families are just getting around the corner from one of the most stressful and tense times for the pocket: Christmas and Epiphany gift campaignthat came with this year ‘extra’ inflation and its derivatives. First result: sellers and consumers this time purchases will be made later More than usual to readjust budgets, primarily due to the increase in the cost of the shopping cart. Thus, in the days leading up to the holiday, stores are preparing to break sales records – 30,000 million euros OBS Business School– and join a “true madness”. By Organization of consumers and users (OCU), spending on Christmas gifts will increase by 13% this year: at least 393 euros per person.
while, toy industry – with 3.6% inflation, three points below the general one – hold your breath, because 75% of annual turnover is concentrated precisely between December and January. In fact, according to AEFJ (Spanish Toy Manufacturers Association), this year the sector will achieve a 3% increase in turnover compared to 2021 and they hope to recover their 2019 figures.
OCU predicts families will spend 393 euros per person on gifts, 13% more than in 2021
Early risers have already started flocking to toy shops—both to check out and to buy. This is the case of its neighbor Barcelona. Natalia Whitebeneficiaries of the holiday to see for the first time Along with the inflationary spiral, he says he expects prices much higher than he eventually found. “I thought I’d spend a lot more money this Christmas, but it’s not. I have a little over 100 euros and I can spend it on toys I plan to buy.” ,” he says. Natalia’s intention is to buy didactic games and dinosaur figures for their 5 and 6 year old nephews.
Legos and Reborn Dolls
Jose Luis GamarraHe also explains a few items he wants to buy. they were not very expensive, especially the foam bullet shooter gun ‘kits’ that your kids love so much. However, you notice the increase in the cost of some of the more expensive toys. “We perceived a significant price increase on Lego, and while we believe we’re going to spend roughly the same as last Christmas, we’re going to have to make do without toys,” he admits. Meanwhile, Lego is launching this campaign in the ‘pole’ of the most wanted toys. These construction games are the most common in internet searches, followed by Reborn dolls.
Regarding inflation, there is a consensus in stores that it will not significantly penalize the Kings listing. “Toys in general aren’t overly expensive items. Customers don’t stop buying something because it’s worth, say, 33 euros instead of 30,” says Lluís González, a toy store employee. play game from Barcelona.
“The bridge was a complete disaster”
However, the activity on the outskirts of the store has not yet reached the boiling point. Inside Uncle Sam In the Carrer de Rosselló in the Sagrada Família district, this weak start’Black Friday’ and ‘Cyber Monday’. “The bridge was a disaster, no one came,” says Pasqual of the toy store. industry 61, An impression very similar to the one printed on JuguiJuga. In this last store they say, “Not many people usually come here until after Immaculate Conception, but then the work piles up.”
The little general foresight shown by this idleness warns consumer organizations, playing against family accounts and children’s wishes. Toy stores often run out of the most sought-after or trendy toys. “I want to prepare the presents for next week, last year I bought almost nothing because in the last days before the 25th a lot of items were missing,” says Natalia Blanco.change your mind“says buyer José Luis Gamarra.
Decrease in face-to-face purchasing
While the toy industry celebrates its good forecasts, physical stores show the decline in the number of registered customers over the last 10 years. online shopping and, as they say, large surface offerings that you can’t “compete”. According to the OCU, only 29% of consumers will buy mostly in person.
With this rise of “online”, dependents have a lot of work to do with the web pages of their already smoking stores. Encouraging online orders and empowering customers through a good website has become a necessity for businesses looking to survive in a world that is increasingly adapting to urgent and distance purchases.