Toy industry reinvents itself for senior citizens

HANGZHOU — Guan Weijiang, a veteran children's toy merchant based in East China's Yiwu for over a decade, is seeing online orders surge this year, not from children, but a surprising customer cohort: seniors.

Through his online store, Xinyu Toy Flagship Shop on one of China's leading e-commerce platforms, Tmall, a significant portion of sales now comes from fitness and brain-training toys favored by elderly consumers. Customers aged 50 and above now make up 30 percent of the store's consumer base, up sharply from previous years, according to the store's demographic data.

"Our top sellers in 2024 were wrist exercise balls and rotating bead puzzle cubes," Guan said. "These toys combine low-intensity physical activity or mental stimulation with entertainment, making them ideal for older adults seeking daily exercise or fun."

For Guan, the pivot to elderly-friendly toys began after a conversation in 2023 with Cheng Xin, an operations manager overseeing the toy and collectibles sector at Taobao and Tmall, who showed him the promising potential of this niche market. Over the past year, the platform has seen searches for elderly toys jump 124 percent, with sales up 70 percent.

Manufacturing hubs from Yiwu, Zhejiang province, known as the "world's supermarket" for small commodities, and cities like Shantou in South China's Guangdong province, actively follow the rising trend. While some are new entrants, most are established children's toy brands expanding into aging-focused niches, Cheng said.

Intrigued, Guan researched senior-oriented toys and found overlaps with children's products — many toys designed to improve reflexes, grip strength, coordination or logic could be adapted for older users with minor tweaks.

Leveraging his decade of experience in design, production and sales for children's toys, Guan launched more than 10 senior-oriented toys within three months with sales far exceeding forecasts, prompting him to double down on refining and expanding the line.

"During the Spring Festival holiday last year, my store hit a record of over 10,000 daily orders," Guan said, adding that elderly-friendly table tennis training devices have also become popular recently.

As Guan's success illustrates, China's demographic shifts are reshaping consumer markets, said Zhang Jinsong, secretary-general of the Elder Education on Aging Committee of China Gerontological Society.

China's official data show that around 310 million people, 22 percent of the population, are aged 60 or above. The demographic is projected to grow yearly by 10 million over the next decade as the silver economy expands to 9 percent of China's GDP by 2035, according to the country's Ministry of Civil Affairs, amplifying demand for age-specific products.

For consumers like Mr Li, who recently bought stress-relief squeeze toys and an AI chessboard for his father, such products address physical and emotional needs. "My father's hands tremble when eating, and he used to just watch TV alone. These toys help him exercise his grip and stay mentally engaged," Li said.

As retirement often shrinks social circles, engaging with toys provides seniors with joyful distraction and social interactions facilitated by multiplayer toys stimulate oxytocin while reducing stress levels, said Li Simin, an attending traditional Chinese medicine doctor with the geriatric medicine department of The Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University (Zhejiang Zhongshan Hospital).

"Also, seniors can select toys tailored to their lifelong hobbies to ensure both engagement and personal resonance — rhythm-based options for former music enthusiasts, for example," she added.

Noting that toys can be lifelong companions for people, Cheng said that Taobao plans to create a dedicated category for elderly toys, offering targeted support to capitalize on the trend.

Xinhua