John Lewis begins Christmas countdown with top-10 toy forecast

You may still be on your summer holiday, and it is weeks until the clocks change, but – Grinches look away – the countdown to Christmas has begun.
With 124 sleeps to go, gift catalogues are landing on doormats, tickets to winter wonderlands and skating rinks are being booked and heaven help you if you haven’t joined a waiting list for a posh beauty Advent calendar.
Now John Lewis has entered the fray by giving Britons the first glimpse of the toys it expects shoppers will be hunting high and low for come December.
The big day is apparently “never far from customers’ minds”, according to the department store. It says there were more than 1,000 searches for “Christmas” on its website in August despite – or perhaps because of – a run of good weather that included the hottest day of the year.
Even if you have no intention of starting your Christmas shopping while it’s still technically summer, the list may be diverting if you are stuck in bank holiday traffic of some description.
The most expensive item on the John Lewis list is a £250 “deluxe” play kitchen that offers an early indoctrination into its chic homeware items. The set boasts an American-style fridge-freezer with an ice maker that dispenses (wooden) ice cubes. It also comes with a full dinner service set and condiments.
Parents may have their doubts about whether it really is a galley kitchen but the blurb promises the expensive setup, designed to fire up the imagination of the next Jamie Oliver or Nigella Lawson, will “seamlessly fit into communal areas”.
Next up is another mini-me toy that prepares children for a world of increasingly self-service retail. The wooden vending machine toy, which dispenses play food, is operated using play coins or a bank card. The makers, Melissa & Doug, say the machine teaches kids about cause and effect while also encouraging letter, number and colour recognition.
The list also heeds the maxim that no Christmas is complete without a new musical toy, and with the vinyl revival in full flow, the retailer is tipping a £28 record player for children. The VTech sound system comes with five discs that offer an introduction to genres including jazz, techno, hip-hop and country music.
The evergreen brands Lego, Play-Doh and Barbie also appear on the list. Buoyed up by the success of the film starring Margot Robbie as well as recent Netflix cartoons, the Mattel doll continues to enjoy a purple patch. With myriad Barbie toys to choose from, John Lewis has plumped for the £70 “ultimate stable playset”, which also taps into a pickup in interest in horses after Britain’s medal success at the Olympics.
Alan Wright, the department store’s toys and books buyer, said it had sought out products that adults and children could enjoy together. “Whether that’s by building toys together as a family or role-playing with friends, each of the toys encourage social play in a unique way no matter the age,” he added.
Despite the challenges posed by the cost of living crisis, retailers are optimistic that shoppers might be in the mood to spend more this Christmas. Analysts point to the impact of rising pay, easing inflation and lower national insurance contributions, as well as the cut to interest rates, even if energy bills are going in the wrong direction.