Panjiva , a provider of global manufacturing data, reveals which gift items have been shipped to U.S. store shelves in the greatest quantities before Black Friday, the unofficial start to the holiday shopping season. Through its Trends analysis, the company found that retailers are placing big bets on a handful of items, which consumers will find readily available. These include Snuggies and Zhu Zhu Pets, a hamster toy that has already appeared on several lists of this year's hottest toys. Shipments of both items to the U.S. skyrocketed for the three months ending in October, says Panjiva CEO Josh Green.
Other popular items, based on the items' increase in number of shipments to the U.S., include Toy Story items (827 percent), hand magnifier (287 percent) and booklights (193 percent ).
Items that may have moved to the bottom of wish lists and that will not be as readily available this season include Hannah Montana and High School Musical merchandise, Batman, digital picture frames and Bratz.
Panjiva Trends allows users to track changing consumer demands, economic developments and shifts in the market. It is a part of the company's Executive Dashboard offering, a product that will be made fully available in early 2010.
