The holiday season is just a few months away and people might be looking forward to add new products to their carts. However, a few products from the market could be expensive this time. American toy manufacturing company Mattel, whose brands include Hot Wheels, Barbie, Fisher-Price and American Girl, during an earnings conference call on July 27, 2021 said that it is raising its prices during the second half of the year that will mark the holiday shopping season. The holiday season is the most important sales period for the toy industry.
Ynon Kreiz, the CEO of Mattel said that the company is currently dealing with the global supply chain challenges that include higher production and shipping costs. The company is balancing it by implementing the higher prices for its toys in a number of markets. As the pandemic continues, the recovery has remained stunted due to the challenges related to supply chain despite the fact that the consumer demand has gone up again to pre-pandemic levels.
It has been noticed that the businesses are not able to cope with the sudden increase in the demand as there is not ample inventory. Companies are also dealing with the shortage of shipping containers and bottlenecks at the ports due to which the cost of moving the products around the world has increased. Kreiz added that they would continue to face challenges related to supply for the rest of the year and added that at the moment it cannot be said as to what the future could hold.
The announcement from the Barbie maker has come after board game giant Hasbro has also said that it would be increasing its prices later in 2021 to compensate for the rising cost of freight and commodities. Some of the brands of Hasbro include Transformers, Nerf and My Little Pony. Hasbro also said that it is also dealing with the congestion at the port and the ocean shipping constraints.
Photo Credits: Pixabay
