Fewer, costlier toys this Christmas

Toys will be fewer and costlier this Christmas, a UK-based toy retailer has claimed, citing multiple effects of supply chain disruption, labour shortages and about twelvefold shipping costs.

“You are going to see some inflationary pressure, and retailers are working hard to hold those down,” Gary Grant, the founder of The Entertainer, said in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Grant is the founder of the family-run toy store chain, which has about 170 shops in the UK.

Claiming that his business is “300 containers behind on shipping than we would be at this moment in time as we enter September”, Grant added that businesses had faced a string of challenges when importing stock from Asia during 2021- ranging from a shortage of shipping containers in the places they are needed, to the closures of ports because of the coronavirus and storms.

He predicted that this Christmas, the range of toys available to customers “will shrink because we just won’t have the variety, as there will be so many items which are out of stock”.

Shipping a 40-foot container from China historically cost about £1,095, but currently, it costs more than £13,130- almost 12 times the normal rate, stated recent reports, adding that even those willing to pay are often not able to secure a container.

Even if they managed to bring stock in from the far east, Grant said that the current labour shortage in the UK will pose further challenges during the festive time when staffing at The Entertainer’s warehouse usually increases threefold.

“Even when the containers arrive in the UK, they need to be shipped by articulated lorry driver and a lorry from a port to a warehouse. When we get them into our warehouse they have to be put away, they have to be sorted, re-picked, packed and then dispatched via lorries to our shops that are all over the country,” he said.

Seasoned figures in the toy industry have been warning that consumers will face higher prices and greater scarcity on the shelves this Christmas as a result of a “perfect storm” of economic pressures that have disrupted their plans. Despite their best efforts, they warned it was already too late to resolve the bottlenecks in time for this year.