While sales of traditional plush items are strong, it is the new generation plush items with which we are achieving extraordinary sales. Plush brands like Monstaz, Beanie Boos and Angry Birds. They are selling very well with plenty of purchases made on impulse. We buy for seasons too – like the fun monster-like plush we have as part of our halloween product range. Shoppers get a real kick out of these one-eyed things.
In our case, a key driver for success with plush is placement at the front of the shop so people passing in the shopping mall can see the range.
Consider Angry Birds, the App has been downloaded more than 1 billion times. Yes, 1 billion! Right there is a sense for the market for the plush with the same brand as the runaway success of the game. Now they have announced an e-book. We need to watch for trends like this and chase suppliers for products, like plush, through which we can connect to a rapidly growing brand.
Plush has come a long way from teddy bears and other items from even just five years ago. It’s a new category, a strong category – ideal for today’s successful newsagency.