Lego increased sales last year, even though China has bought less from the Danish brand and the toy market is the most downbeat in 15 years. In the last 3-4 years the company has invested in opening 147 new stores with half of them being in China. Even though there are now more than 500 Lego stores in China, sales in the country declined last year. The CEO of Lego, Niels Christiansen, appoints this decline to macroeconomic factors.
The company’s consumer sales grew four percent in 2023, with most of the buyers being from the United States, Central and Eastern Europe. Lego’s total revenue, including sales to retailers, grew two percent last year, whereas the global toy market industry on the other hand declined by seven percent. According to CEO Niels Christiansen the family-owned business is expected to outpace the global market next year as well.
The company’s main rivals Mattel Inc, Hasbro and Barbie have all been struggling with the weak demand in the industry. Niels Christian credits his success to Lego being a strong worldwide brand and that the company has been able to match their target demographic in regard to both products and pricing. At the same time he has noted that customers in general are buying less or the cheaper Lego sets.
Source: insideretail.asia
