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Bloomberg
Online shoppers are getting fewer discounts on toys this holiday season, despite an effort by retailers to start sales earlier to offset a shorter shopping season.
Toys were discounted on average 15-18% this year compared to average drop in pricing of 31% last year, UBS analyst Arpine Kocharyan wrote in a note, citing e-commerce trends tracked by Adobe Inc. Discounts were about 19% in 2017.
The spending period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is six fewer days this year, the shortest since 2013. Hanukkah also begins 20 days later this year than it did last year. Toys are still a top gift category with 33% of Thanksgiving weekend shoppers saying they were buying toys as gifts compared to 34% last year, according to data from the National Retail Federation. Mattel Inc.’s Barbie remains the No. 1 holiday toy for girls, while LEGO is still the top seller for boys.
Frozen 2 toys such as those from Hasbro Inc. were the second-best online seller on Cyber Monday, after LOL Surprise Dolls, UBS said.