Poll: Slightly fewer consumers buying toys this year

New York -- Half of Americans (50%) say they will be purchasing toys as gifts this holiday season. This is slightly down from the 52% of U.S. adults who said they were purchasing toys last year, according to results of a new Harris Poll.



Being a parent to someone younger than 18 impacts purchase intent considerably, as four-in-five of these parents (81%) say they plan to purchase toys, compared to 41% of those who are not parents of a child younger than 18. And while one in five Americans who will purchase toys (20%) say they will be spending more than they did last year on toys, one-third of toy purchasers (32%) will be spending less; 44% say their spending on toys will be no different than last year. Among toy-shopping parents, 26% say they will spend more than they did last year, 38% say their spending will be no different and one-third (33%) say they will spend less than they did last year.



Judging by what parents will be purchasing, half of kids will be unwrapping games for consoles (51%). Two-in-five parents will be purchasing children's books (43%), board games (39%) and building blocks and bricks (38%), while 37% will be buying arts and crafts supplies this year. Just more than one-third of parents will be buying dolls (35%) and 32% will purchase handheld electronic games, while 29% will buy sports equipment and 27% will be buying game consoles.



Among non-parents, the top toy purchase this year will be children's books (39%), followed by arts and crafts products (27%) and dolls (23%).



When it comes to making these toy purchases, almost half (47%) of shoppers will purchase from a large discount store and 33% will buy online. One-in-10 (11%) will buy their toys from a national toy store retail chain and 4% from a local toy store. This is a small change from last year, when 51% of toy shoppers were buying from large discount stores and 27% said they would buy their toys online.