Trendy animals and animal-like creatures aren’t a new retail phenomenon; think the talking Teddy Ruxpin toys of the 1980s or Furby and Beanie Babies a decade later.
“It’s really important to keep feeding that beast,” Juli Lennett, a vice president and toy industry advisor at market research firm Circana, said.
The semi-aquatic South American relative of the guinea pig is the latest in a long line of “it” animals to get star treatment during the holiday shopping season.
But industry experts say social media is amplifying which animals are hot — or not.
Must-have animals may only last a season before something new captures customers’ imaginations.
