Minding Kids’ Business
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
By Anita Frazier, Entertainment Industry Analyst Toys & Video Games
According to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, in 2009 there were approximately 62 million kids age 0-14 in the United States. These kids comprise 20 percent of the total U.S. population, representing an enormous consumer base, even though adults have much authority over what is purchased for them. Much, but certainly far from all. Even very young kids exert a good deal of influence over the purchases made on their behalf.
To understand these young influencers more thoroughly, manufacturers, licensors, retailers, and other clients have been asking The NPD Group to provide them with a holistic and integrated view of consumer spending for children across multiple product categories and channels. They want to understand their opportunities with this important consumer segment across a range of industries. We responded with Spotlight on Kids: Understanding Cross-Category Purchasing report. In this report, we studied kids age 0 to 14 and what was purchased for them during the crucial five weeks leading up to, and including, the 2009 holidays. Coming on the heels of a tough economy, we believe the 2009 holiday season brought consumers who were still cautious about spending on kids but were ready to broaden their purchases for non-essentials. The age and gender of the child played a big role in what was purchased as did character licenses, branded merchandise, and retail promotions. The tastes and habits of kids are changing. Understanding what’s important to them, how that varies by the child’s age and gender, and how age and gender impact the product category mix as well as shopping preferences, will help drive sales through targeting product mix, marketing, and merchandising strategies.
What’s very apparent in this report is that as kids get older their influence over what is purchased for them increases. As kids mature their exposure to what’s available in the marketplace increases as does their sense of style and entertainment options. By the time kids reach 3-5 years old, almost half (47 percent) of dollars spent on them are for items requested by the child. By the time kids reach age 12-14 years old, two-thirds (66 percent) of dollars spent are on items they’ve requested. And this makes sense. As parents, we are very interested in making our children happy, particularly around gift-giving occasions. What could make them happier than getting the items that they put on their wish-lists? So marketers of products for kids must always strike a balance between becoming well-known to kids so that kids are asking for their products, and acceptable to the parents who ultimately control the dollars.
Toys | Anita Frazier, Entertainment Industry Analyst Toys & Video Games | 
March 17, 2010 1:57 pm
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