Russians spent 500 million rubles on wild berries in “paws”

“The peak of toy sales occurred in October 2024: Russians spent 157 million rubles on them in one month. Sales growth compared to September was 41%,” Moneyplace analyst Anastasia Romanova told RB.RU.

According to Romanova, from the data obtained it can be concluded that there is a “massive and explosive trend among schoolchildren.”

“Right now, the best-selling toys are not only in the shape of cat paws, but also hamsters, cats and cookies. The variety of legs allowed teenagers to collect entire collections: shiny, furry, small, large and with all the colors of the rainbow,” the expert concluded.

A new type of anti-stress toy went on sale on the Wildberries market in April 2024; That month, 28 types of this product were sold. In November 2024, the number of current offers from sellers exceeds 4.5 thousand product cards. The average bill for such a toy is 315 rubles.

Some sellers manage to sell tens of thousands of keys a month, according to data from the Mayak system. For example, the seller Slando sold 55.4 thousand of these toys with a light effect for 12.6 million rubles in the last 27 days. It still has 65.5 thousand units of merchandise available.

The seller Dangeros&Free sold 12.2 thousand legs for 4.78 million rubles and there are still 7.5 thousand units of goods in his warehouse.

Ekaterina Mizulina, head of the Safe Internet League and member of the Public Chamber of Russia, spoke about the new trend among schoolchildren to use “paws” to damage school renovations in October 2024. Mizulina published letters from subscribers in those that talk about the new trend and even the “fashion” it generates.

“The cult of the Lakers is increasingly widespread in society. These paws distract children from their lessons. My friend is obsessed with them. He sleeps with them, spends all his money on them,” Mizulina quoted a letter from one of the subscribers of her Telegram channel. Another subscriber reported that his classmate came to school with one paw and threw it everywhere: at the wall, at the desk, at the blackboard, and in the children’s hair. Schoolchildren also complained that the roofs of educational institutions were full of paws. Mizulina noted that teachers try to stop the spread of paws in schools, but often to no avail. As a result, several schools banned these toys.

Mizulina said that in many schools the ceilings have already been damaged in an attempt to remove soft objects. “When parents are asked to pay for repairs, the trend will quickly pass,” concluded a member of the Public Chamber.

Wildberries, Ozon and Yandex Market did not comment on the popularity of “paws”.

In October, RB.RU reported that demand for products for quad trainers had increased 50-fold. The most popular products on the markets were coloring cat masks.