The US toy market is changing, with Amazon and Walmart gaining market share

It is learned that according to foreign media reports, as toy sales are shifting online, retailers such as Amazon and Walmart will become the biggest winners. Unlike the sluggish performance of toy manufacturers such as Hasbro, Amazon and Walmart have seen promising online sales this year.

Recently, Hasbro announced that due to weak sales, the company plans to lay off about 1,100 more employees, equivalent to about 20% of the total number of employees. It is worth noting that the toy manufacturer has already laid off 800 employees (15%) in January this year.

Hasbro had 6,490 employees worldwide at the end of 2022, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The layoffs announced on Monday bring its total number of layoffs to 1,900, or 29% of its workforce.

Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks said in an email to employees that 2023 was a difficult and continuingly challenging year.

According to data from the NDP Group, the U.S. toy market grew significantly during the pandemic (2021 and 2022). In 2022, due to unfavorable factors such as inflation and rising living costs, sales in the U.S. toy market declined. But it is worth mentioning that American consumers are increasingly inclined to buy online rather than offline.

The U.S. toy market seems to be picking up in the 2023 holiday season. According to Adobe Analytics, online toy sales in the U.S. exceeded $3 billion in November. And the toy category became the main driver of Cyber ​​Week sales: toy sales on Cyber ​​Monday increased by 140% compared to the average day in October.

According to Statista, toys accounted for nearly 20% of global e-commerce sales during Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday this year.

Large online retailers such as Amazon, Walmart and Target are benefiting from the shift in toy spending online. According to CB Insights, Amazon's global online toy sales will exceed $133 billion in 2022, while Walmart and Target will receive $52 billion and $20 billion, respectively.

Notably, while all three retailers experienced growth, Walmart led the pack with a 12% year-over-year increase.

It is learned that the following are the main reasons why Amazon and Walmart win in the toy field: on the one hand, Amazon and Walmart currently account for the vast majority of online sales of toy manufacturers such as Hasbro; on the other hand, the number of third-party sellers on Amazon is growing, and these smaller merchants are impacting the market position of Hasbro and others; in addition, Amazon and Walmart have also successfully attracted more and more toy buyers through their rich product categories and flexible supply chain systems.

Editor ✎ Nicole/

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