NPD’s Spanish Consumer Panel Uncovers Holiday Season Shopping Behavior . . .
. . . and It’s Not All About Christmas!

By Guadalupe Corzo, NPD EuroToys Account Manager

Excitement surrounding Spain’s Epiphany Day, January 6, fuels a significant segment of annual sales of traditional toys in Spain. NPD’s Spanish Consumer Panel information shows that during the heavy seasonal purchase period from November through the first week of January, more than 74% of traditional toys sales are oriented toward Epiphany Day. Purchasing for Christmas, by comparison, accounts for just 20% of sales during that seasonal period.

Ephiphany Day, also known as Three Kings’ Day, is marked by colorful parades in many towns and villages, celebrating the arrival of the Three Wise Men. An important tradition on this family-oriented holiday is an exchange of gifts among families and friends – and for the toys industry in Spain, that means big business!

NPD EuroToys’ 2003 study of holiday-season shopping from November to the first week of January shows Spain has the highest rate of holiday-season shopping across Europe (Belgium, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and Spain). While in much of Europe, November is the high season for toy purchases, in Spain, November is considered a good month for toys, but early January is critical. Spanish consumers make the bulk of their toys purchases for the year in the few shopping days before Epiphany Day. In the rest of Europe, early January has merchants scrambling to reduce prices and sell holiday leftovers.

Breaking down NPD’s Spanish Consumer Panel information by gender highlights the importance of men’s influence on Epiphany Day shopping. The 2003 data show men are responsible for about 24% of traditional toys purchased during the entire holiday season. During those early January shopping days before Epiphany Day, however, the percentage of purchases by men increases by more than three points. And when men purchase Epiphany Day gifts of toys for children, they choose toy specialty shops over hypermarkets – toy shops capture 45% of men’s total Epiphany Day purchases. Lastly, men think differently about price during the Epiphany Day shopping season than they do at other times of the year: the chart below shows men’s and women’s percentages of January toys purchases. While women outspend men in almost every price segment, it’s men who spend significantly more in the 40+ Euro category!

NPD’s Spanish Consumer Panel was launched in 2003 to complement NPD EuroToys’ point-of-sale information. The panel reports on purchases of traditional toys and video games during the holiday shopping season of November through the first week of January, covering the time period that accounts for more than 70% of total traditional toys sales in Spain. For more information about NPD’s Spanish Consumer Panel, contact Guadalupe Corzo in NPD’s Madrid office at 011-34-9141-19-445
or e-mail guadalupe_corzo@npd.com.