The Argentine Chamber of the Toy Industry (CAIJ) issued a statement this Saturday in the run-up to the Children’s Daywhere he regretted a 16% drop in total of sales of games and toys. On the other hand, the positive data was in relation to the e-commerce, which showed a growth of 10%although it only accounts for 20% of total sales today.
”Despite the multiple bank promotions with discounts up to 6 interest-free installments and the benefits of virtual wallets, which accounted for 90% of commercial transactions, The same number of operations were not completed as in other years”, they reported from the chamber.
They also consulted various merchants in the sector, where one of them assured that ”last year, there were 20 people who spent $300,000 in the month of August with the promotions, but this year there were 3 or 4 clients who spent that amount.” Another commented that ”every year we have five cash registers to serve our clients, who queue on the sidewalk with security at the door but This week I had to enable only one box to meet requests for cheaper toys.
They also detailed that in neighborhood toy stores, ”the average ticket was around $9,000 per unit; While toy store chains, with 90% of imported products, the average ticket per toy was $25,000”, highlighting that the performance of the latter in terms of sales was better, since it represented a drop of only 3%, compared to 19% of the local or classic ones.
From the CAIJ, they also warned that the fall could have been stronger, if it were not for the decision not to move the holiday on Saturday, August 17 to Monday and make it a long weekend, shifting the spending of a hypothetical “getaway” towards gifts.
On the e-commerce sales side, these showed a 10% increase in units, although they explained that “this modality accounts for 20% of total sales, but has a lot of room to grow in our country.”
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Decline in sales of games and toys before Children’s Day.
CAIJ
They also explained that “the increase in toy prices averaged 110% year-on-year, well below the level of inflation accumulated over the last 12 months, although no increases were observed after the Three Kings’ Day season.”
The businessmen also listed a series of problems that affect the sector, such as the lack of demand and the ”A large number of illegal toys brought into the country through smuggling and sold on public roads, in some non-traditional shops, but also on social networks and e-commerce platforms by ‘digital street vendors’.
”These products affect both the industry and importers, but they are also a danger to children, since They avoid the safety tests that must be carried out before being distributed on the marketTo counteract this scourge, the Argentine Chamber of the Toy Industry (CAIJ) is holding meetings with the Ministry of Security, Customs and the Secretariat of Commerce of the Nation,” they said.
Finally, they assured that ”to counteract this scourge, the CAIJ is holding meetings with the Ministry of Security, Customs and the Secretariat of Commerce of the Nation”, and carrying out ”operations in the City of Buenos Aires based on a complaint made to the Specialized Fiscal Unit in Environmental Matters (UFEMA), with the objective of identifying toys that do not comply with the MERCOSUR standard for Toy Safety ‘IRAM – NM300”’.
Source: Ambito