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The abundance of industry knowledge offered on the first day of the KIDS' TIME Expo
The toy market in Poland earned PLN 7.3 billion in 2022, building blocks sector reported the most significant increase of over 19% compared to 2021. – The market is dominated by Lego, which is ahead of the competition by more than three times. A particular increase was reported during the pandemic - says Paweł Schmidt from RMD Research, a company specialising in Retail Tracking research for Poland’s toy market.
In recent years, the licensed products sale, i.e. products manufactured by different manufacturers under one brand, has become exceptionally profitable. Licensed toys can be sold for almost twice the price of an identical unlicensed product, and their popularity continues to grow year by year.
Apart from the building blocks market, Disney, Warner Bros and Microsoft are the most frequently licensed brands in Poland.
Licences beyond the toy sector are equally popular - clothes decorated with logos from famous animated films, mascots and games prove most popular. Polish translations of foreign books for children are also popular. Aleksandra Kacprowicz - Licensing Manager at Fluid World presented the intricacies of producs licencing. Licenses also work well when used in the cosmetics and children's accessories industry.
The knowledge-part of the KIDS' TIME was much broader than the financial part of the toy industry, but also the organisational issues in companies. Katarzyna Diadkowska of Skills in Motion discussed satisfaction and motivation of employees in the toy industry. According to OLX research, companies lose PLN 30,000 on average a year on disengaged employees.
A lecture by Dominika Maciejak, a specialist in retail trade, was devoted to trade and ways to improve it; all toy stores over the years and countries have always been characterised by the presence of a customer assistant and a strong display of the assortment. Toy stores provided many-level experiences - not only did the store need to be flaboyant, but it also offered musac and a pleasant atmosphere. Even today, children's shops are places of experience, which makes it possible to carry on doing business despite the ubiquitous Internet. Not only do children want to be able to touch a toy, play with it, admire the product. Kids also want to have the opportunity to see it live - this is a much greater impulse than even a very attractive photo on a website.
Now, licensed toys, classic "retro" toys and brands that care about the environment are the most popular in the toy industry.