
Consumers are stressed. It could be showing in how we bought toys in 2023
CNN
Consumers bought fewer toys in all of 2023, including during the key Christmas toy-buying period, showing that households continue to pare back on discretionary products.
Consumers bought fewer toys in all of 2023, including during the key Christmas toy-buying period, showing that households continue to pare back on discretionary products. The year-end gift-buying season typically accounts for a big chunk of annual toy sales. It’s why retailers entice shoppers with discounts and other incentives to revv up demand. Especially during the holidays, parents tend to dig deep to afford and fulfill their child’s wishlist. But toy sales in all of 2023 dropped 8%, both in dollar terms (how much consumers paid for toys) and in unit sales (meaning how many toys consumers bought). In just the fourth-quarter, which includes the Christmas season, toy sales also fell 8% and declined 6% in unit sales, according to a report from market research firm Circana. This shows that shoppers bought fewer toys but also traded down in prices to cheaper toys. Circana said that the average selling price was down 2% in the fourth quarter. “That really points to consumers choosing lower-priced toys,” said Juli Lennett, vice president and toy industry advisor at Circana, which collects register sales data from 78% of the retail market in the United States.

President Donald Trump’s attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell are so commonplace at this point that they barely register in financial markets these days. The rapidly intensifying multi-pronged efforts by Trump’s advisers to amplify and expand on Trump’s attacks are a good reason to rethink that indifference.