The Canadian Toy Association, a not-for-profit trade association representing businesses involved in creating and delivering toys and youth entertainment products, is advising Canadian consumers to shop earlier for holiday toys this season due to anticipated inventory shortages resulting from global supply chain issues.
“There have been tremendous challenges faced by toy manufacturers shipping their products to Canada from manufacturing facilities overseas,” says Andrew Wagar, Canadian Toy Association. “These challenges include rising container and shipping costs, limited supplies of cargo ships to transport goods, rising ground transportation costs and other supply chain issues. These issues are being experienced worldwide and are resulting in inventory shortages at retail. If there’s a must have item on your child’s wish list, we are encouraging all Canadian families to shop earlier for toys this year, and to not wait until late November or December, to ensure that you’ll be able to deliver on those coveted gifts you and your child desire.”
Supply chain issues facing consumer packaged goods manufacturers have been widely reported around the world. Toy companies are currently facing shipping price increases ranging from 500 to 800 percent which is having a dramatic impact on the industry, most notably the hundreds of small and mid-size companies which make up a large percentage of the market. Toy companies are also facing rising costs for cargo and trucking brought on by detention, demurrage, and increases in transit times of 75 days or more, resulting in significant delays getting products to retail for sale. As a result, it is anticipated that retail availability of certain items may be tighter than in years past, particularly in late November and December when the majority of holiday season toy sales typically take place.
“Every year there are certain hot toys that sell-out quickly and are hard to find, and this year they may be even harder to find as they may sell out quickly and experience delays being replenished,” cautions Andrew Wagar. “Consumers have also become conditioned to wait for last minute holiday season sales, but these sales may not come, or will be harder to find, this year. Parents that plan ahead, shop early, and don’t wait until the last minute should have no problems getting all the items their children want. Shopping the two to four weeks just before Christmas is typically stressful and challenging, and at times for certain items, expensive, and this year will be no exception. So shop early this year and take advantage of the inventory supply when it is strong and avoid the line-ups, shortages and prices that may lie ahead.”