Lego is known globally for its plastic construction bricks and themed sets which are constantly realigned with movies, films, games and ideals attractive to young people.
Sales in 2023 highlight the enduring popularity of Lego. Revenue reached DKK65.9bn (€8.83bn), a rise of 2% over the previous year, outperforming the declining toy market and significantly growing market share globally. The growth was supported by increased investment in strategic initiatives and a 60% increase in spending on environmental initiatives.
The Danish company has become increasingly digital over the years, expanding into games and online building instructions as well as in the way products are marketed and sold. In 2023, sales to consumers through Lego’s direct channels including ecommerce rose by 4%. Continuing to increase direct to consumer sales is among the brand’s strategic ambitions going forward. In 2023, it added 147 new bricks-and-mortar stores to its estate taking the global network to 1,031. A new loyalty programme, Lego Insiders, was launched to reward and inspire customers, and help Lego create deeper connections with fans.
To help it extend the range of digital products and retail experience further, Lego Group has tripled the size of its digital team adding around 1,800 software engineers, digital product managers, designers, security specialists, technical program managers, UX/UI designers and data scientists to its offices in four locations: Billund and Copenhagen in Denmark, London and Shanghai.
Some of the latest digital advances created by the in-house team include a point-of-sale and clienteling app enabling store staff to better interact with customers and complete sales anywhere in a store. Other digital tools have helped to reduce the time it takes for orders to flow between warehouses resulting in swifter delivery times for customers.
“We are pleased with our performance given that 2023 was the most negative toy market in more than 15 years,” said Niels B Christiansen, CEO, Lego Group. “We continued to grow on top of three years of extraordinary growth and saw strong momentum in the final quarter of 2023. We significantly outpaced the market, growing share and proving the appeal of our strong, diverse portfolio and the Lego System in Play.
“Despite the external market conditions, we continued to invest for the future and made good progress on digital, sustainability and retail initiatives that will support long-term growth. We are grateful for our dedicated colleagues who remain committed to our mission to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow.”
This profile originally appeared in the newly published RetailX Nordic 360° report.
This new format reports on the digital landscape in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, consumers’ attitudes to shopping online and details of the retailers that lead the market.
Lego is one of eight retailers standing out in the market. Each profile offers company profit and sales figures, share price and web traffic as well as a review of what makes their business exemplary. The report also looks at Boozt, Clas Ohlson, H&M, Kesko, XXL, Oda Group and Verkkokauppa.
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