Trendy Tots

For many retailers and manufacturers, Christmas is a make or break event which can decide their annual results one way or the other. This is especially true in the toys and games sector and sales returns will be closely examined in the run up to Christmas in order to attempt to predict what the bestsellers will be this year.

Right now, based upon current sales, I think it’s a safe bet to predict that Zhu Zhu pets will be a huge seller this Christmas. For those who haven’t heard of them, Zhu Zhu pets are a family of small, cute and furry motorized hamsters. They interact with children, and with each other, using sensing device and a basic form of artificial intelligence. As well as the actual hamsters, there are a large number of accessories and toys available, which are sold as either sets or as additional items.

These toys are aimed at children in the four to ten year old age range and have actually been available for a while. They were previously marketed under the name of Go Go Pets – and it is still possible to come across some units with the old packaging. After a [restricted trial launch in Phoenix, Go Go Pets morphed into Zhu Zhu Pets and launched nationally at the end of August 2009.

Since then they have been enjoying strong sales. It looks like kids just can’t get enough of them. They adore the interactivity and the ability to [spinrearrange|reconfigure[/spin] the tubes, tracks and toys of the hamster’s environment.

In early October, Zhu Zhu Pets, along with their various accessories, occupied no fewer than eight out of the top ten slots in Amazon’s Toys and Games bestseller listings. Looking a little further down, the Zhu Zhu brand could be seen in fifteen of the top twenty five slots – outperforming perennial favorites, like Lego for example.

It seems clear that the Zhu Zhu pets are already achieving stellar sales figures and they seem likely to be one of the best, if not the best, selling toys of 2009. The relaunch and rebranding at the end of August seems to have been perfectly timed in order to allow them to gain recognition and momentum in time for the Christmas rush.

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