The Times revealed that demand for toys is booming. However, it seems children are not the only ones getting in on the action: the so-called “kidult” sector, adults that buy children’s toys for their own personal use, is set to grow at three times the pace of the rest of the market!
Given the growing number of grown-up gamers, this sector could offer some hugely lucrative opportunities to profit. However, out of embarrassment, it seems a large proportion of these customers are making their purchases via anonymous online channels. Thus, without any clear visibility over who these grown-up gamers are, how can businesses align their operations to the needs of a market they don’t fully understand?
In order to identify what caused this shift in demand (and thus determine what actions should be taken to exploit this increasing demand fully), simply looking at historical demand data alone is not enough. Supply chain teams must look beyond their data and collaborate internally. Given that marketing, sales and other teams within the business may have insight into how the market is evolving, operations could use such information to enhance their forecasts and better position themselves to meet this growing demand.
Whether positive or negatively impacting demand, virtually every sector will see new trends emerge over time. However, what steps should businesses put in place to ensure that they are able to keep up evolving demand patterns?
