Toy sales up 4% during Black Friday | Key4Communications |

The toy category in the U.S. performed well during the Black Friday week (week ending 11/30/2013), with dollar sales growing 4% compared with Black Friday 2012, according to retail sales data drom The NPD Group. In fact, for the holiday shopping season to date, which began after back-to-school, NPD reports that toy sales are up 6% on a dollar basis compared with last year’s sales.

“What is encouraging is that the growth we are seeing is due to shoppers actually buying more toys - it is not being driven by price inflation,” said Russ Crupnick, Senior Vice President, Industry Analysis, The NPD Group. “It’s also noteworthy that this performance outstrips what retailers are reporting for Black Friday as a whole.”

The NPD Group noted that of the 11 super categories it tracks in the toy sector, seven experienced positive dollar sales growth. Those with the highest growth and their respective change in dollar sales compared with Black Friday week 2012:

- Youth Electronics: 29%
- Plush: 23%
- Arts & Crafts: 13%
- Outdoor & Sports: 11%

“This year, toy retailers were more aggressive with their promotions, which began soon after the end of back-to-school shopping season and continued through the Thanksgiving weekend,” said Crupnick. “This holiday season, consumers are not only shopping for electronic toys such as Nabi tablets and robotic pets like Zoomer, and new toys such as Razor’s Dirt Rocket MX350 Motorbike and Fisher-Price’s Imaginext Batcave, they’re also shopping for tried and true toys like Barbie and Easy-Bake Ovens. The diversity of toys is one factor that helps sustain the business even as kids are surrounded by technology.”