Deep Dive: From Digital to Physical—The Return to Nondigital Toys

Executive Summary

• Despite the rapid rise of digital technologies, we are observing a return to physical non-electronic children’s toys in the US and the UK. We note toy categories that exemplify this trend: fidget spinners, tabletop board games and puzzles, Play-Doh, Lego as well as collectibles such as dolls and figurines.
• Despite ever-expanding digital technologies, tangible goods still provide consumers with aesthetic pleasure, a feature that cannot be achieved with digital screens.
• As people spend more time with smartphones in a digital world, they also increasingly desire more social interaction and face-to-face time becomes even more important’; products such as board games satisfy that need.
• The rise in physical toys’ popularity is also due to a resurgence of unplugged family time and the proliferation of new and innovative games, which is growing sales in the categories.