China’s e-commerce toy sales in the first quarter of nearly 10 billion, these categories are the most popular

China’s e-commerce toy sales in the first quarter of nearly 10 billion, these categories are the most popular ~

NPD Group recently released an update on toy sales on Chinese e-commerce platforms. Toy sales in the first quarter of this year were $1.3 billion, up 8.8 percent from the same period last year and 27 percent from the same period in 2020. For all of 2021, China’s e-commerce toy sales totaled $5.3 billion, up 7% from a year earlier, according to NPD Group.

The top three categories with the biggest growth in the first quarter of this year were Exploration & Other (33 percent), Games & Puzzles (24 percent), and plush (22 percent). Among them, the sub-category of Science and education toys in Discovery & other categories showed the biggest growth, with a year-on-year growth of 40%, mainly led by the outstanding performance of local brands.

Sales of licensed toys online grew 14.1% in the first quarter of this year, with Ultraman still at the top of the list. Other licensed brands in the top 10 are Gundam, Lamborghini, Disney, and so on.

Stanley Kee, vice president of NPD Group Asia Pacific, said China has the world’s largest group of online consumers and retailers, and the middle class and related consumers are still growing, and online consumption will continue to climb, driven by increasing Internet access and the popularity of smartphones. There is no sign that China’s e-commerce growth will slow down anytime soon, providing sales opportunities and space for global brands looking to enter the Chinese market.