Editor’s note: Frédérique Tutt is toys global industry analyst at The NPD Group, Lorient, France. This is an edited version of a post that originally appeared here under the title, “Where is Europe’s next Furby?”
After the record-setting success of Furby, the robotic pet that communicated and ate with the help of an app, sales of connected toys in Europe have slumped, down 18 percent year-on-year in 2015.
Obviously, a phenomenal success like Furby, which topped European toy markets in 2013 and 2014, sets up difficult year-on-year comparisons. But Furby was also successful in the U.S. and Canada, and in those markets, connected toys were up 82 percent in 2015.
So why isn’t Europe buying connected toys?
Price is possibly part of the answer as connected toys tend to be more expensive. On the other hand, high-end toys (€100 or higher) are a growth segment, so price doesn’t entirely explain it.
Another reason may be that connected toys are not widely stocked at mainstream toy stores in Europe. This might be linked to retailers being cautious in reaction to concerns from some consumer groups about data privacy and from parents that are worried about too much screen time for their kids. However, since Internet sales of toys continue to soar in Europe, determined buyers are fully capable of finding what they want online. Perhaps there simply has not been an overarching popular concept post-Furby, and European consumers haven’t been wowed by a new connected toy.
But they will be – and most likely soon.
Whether we like it or not, toy trends often spread from the U.S. to Europe, and in the U.S., the connected toy segment is booming thanks in part to toys such as Meccanoids from Spin Master, Sphero’s BB8 and Anki Overdrive. And in looking at the aisles of the New York toy fair in February 2016, there are many more to come.
In other words, the important question isn’t if there will be other connected hits in Europe but rather what they will be, when they will erupt and – of course – which retailers will be smart enough to stock them first.