Snuggies, a new kind of blanket extolled by cable TV commercials, and the Zhu Zhu Pet, an interactive hamster toy, could be big holiday hits this year, according to Panjiva, a firm that uses technologies developed under the leadership of Panjiva co-founder James Psota, a computer scientist from MIT.
Panjiva, a small firm with offices in New York and Cambridge, uses those technologies to analyze goods being shipped to the United States. Through its “Trends” analysis of bills of lading for ships bringing goods to the United States, Panjiva said it found “that a number of items saw a dramatic increase in the number of shipments to the US during the past three months, indicating store shelves will be well stocked with these potential gifts ahead of next week’s Black Friday, the unofficial start to the holiday shopping season.”
Shipments of Snuggies and Zhu Zhu Pets have “skyrocketed” in recent months, Panjiva said. There have also been big increases in the shipments of chocolate truffles and hand sanitizers as well as for products related to the Toy Story movie series.
via Holiday hits could include Snuggies, Zhu Zhu pets – Daily Business Update – The Boston Globe.
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