Page 29 - Toy & Hobby Magazine NovDec20Jan21_Mag

their order and the form was sent straight to the retailer to fulfil.
THIS IS MAKING UP 40%
OF SALES FOR TOYWORLD NZ Toyworld NZ introduced a click-and-collect service to its stores in June, allowing it to grow rapidly despite the challenges posed by COVID-19. The technology, which has since been rolled out to the Toyworld network
in Australia, saw Toyworld NZ report that 40% of all transacted sales were click-and- collect orders. Toyworld equipped its 25 New Zealand stores with the click-and-collect capability within 10 days, despite not having centralised systems across the group.
HOBBIES AUSTRALIA EXPANDS INTO LARGER WAREHOUSE, BRINGS NEW BRANDS IN THANKS TO COVID DEMAND Hobbies Australia relocated to a larger warehouse in July thanks to the surge in demand for hobby products during the pandemic. Following the trend of the industry throughout this year, Hobbies Australia saw sales surge to Christmas-like proportions, sparking the need for a larger warehouse. The business further capitalised on the increased demand and expanded its offering of brands, bringing in approximately 10 new brands to Australia.
HERE ARE THE TOP 10 AUSSIE TOY RETAILERS RANKED BY ONLINE VISIBILITY
The Australian online toy market witnessed
a 45% increase in visibility over the past 12 months, data from Salience Search Marketing indicated. Visibility is worked out by seeing how visible a site is on search engines for a number
of keywords. The higher the number, the more keywords that site is higher up the rankings for. According to the research, Gamesmen improved its visibility by 52%, placing it in the top spot with visibility at 11,669. Toys R Us Australia moved up two positions, going from fourth
to second, increasing its visibility by 185% to 7,625. Rounding out third place was Mr Toys, which had visibility at 5,271, compared to last year’s 3,731 - an improvement of 41%. The most significant percentage increase in visibility was Toy Buzz, which increased its visibility by 536%, going from 21st in 2019 to 18th in 2020.
RETAIL TO CLOSE IN METRO MELBOURNE
In response to rising COVID-19 case numbers, Premier Daniel Andrews announced that the retail sector in metro Melbourne had to close from 11.59pm Wednesday 05 August for six weeks. The news was announced as Victoria entered a State of Disaster in an effort to curb
the second wave of COVID-19 case numbers. However, the lockdown carried on further than six weeks, with retail allowed to reopen after 112 days (16 weeks) on 28 October.
ZURU
APPOINTS
AUSTRALIAN
COUNTRY
MANAGER
Zuru Toys appointed
David Innes as its
country manager
for Australia in
September. Innes
has over 30-years-
experience in the
toy industry, having occupied senior roles across successful toy brands including Funtastic and Mega Brands, most recently serving as the business manager for Goliath Games. Innes also founded his own toy business DDI International in 2013. He commenced his role with Zuru
on 05 October and oversees the company’s toy operations in Australia.
ATA DECIDES: 2021 TOY FAIR TO GO 100% DIGITAL
The Australian Toy Association announced in October that the 2021 Australian Toy, Hobby & Licensing Fair would go digital. Following in the footsteps of other toy fairs across the globe, the ATA prioritised the health and wellbeing of its exhibitors and attendees and opted to invest in a digital platform to deliver the 2021 Melbourne Toy Fair. The Fair’s dates have also been changed, with the digital show taking place from Monday 1st to Friday 5th March 2021.
HONG KONG TOYS & GAMES FAIR LATEST CASUALTY IN TOY FAIR CANCELLATIONS
In response to COVID-19 restrictions, the HKTDC rescheduled the Hong Kong Toys & Games Fair to take place from 27-30 April 2021 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Meanwhile, the world’s largest toy fair, the Spielwarenmesse has also been rescheduled and is set to take place from 20-24 July 2021. New York Toy
Fair will not take
place in 2021,
instead opting for
a 2022 date, while
both Las Vegas
Licensing Expo and
BLE were replaced
with digital fairs;
Licensing Week
Virtual and Festival
of Licensing
respectively. ❉
MAY/JUNE/
JULY 2020 COVER: GOLIATH
QBD HAS REVEALED THE LOCATIONS OF THE FIRST
TWO AUSTRALIAN
GEOGRAPHIC KIOSKS
Australian Geographic re-entered the retail space in July after terminating its agreement with University Co-op. The business partnered with QBD Books to launch a range of in-store kiosks across Australia. The first two kiosks were located at Westfield Carindale Shopping Centre in Queensland and Lakeside Joondalup Shopping City in Western Australia. Australian Geographic then went on to
strike licensing deals with Toy Networx and U. Games Australia.
AUGUST/ SEPTEMBER/ OCTOBER 2020
COVER: VENTURA
NOVEMBER / DECEMBER / JANUARY 2021 TOY & HOBBY RETAILER 29