A toy store site should tell a parent or gift buyer, before they drive over, what is in store now, which ages and brands you carry, your hours, gift wrapping and registries, upcoming events, and whether you hold items.

What the site is actually for

A toy store's website has one main job: persuading someone to drive over instead of ordering from a large online retailer or settling for the nearest department store.

The people checking are rarely browsing for fun. A parent has a party on Saturday and a price in mind. A grandparent wants something for a nine-year-old they only see at holidays.

They want to know whether you have the right kind of thing, for the right age, at the right price, and whether you are open when they can come.

The site that answers those questions on a phone, from a parking lot, gets the visit.

Who is checking

The first is the most common visitor and the least served. Someone buying for another family's seven-year-old needs ideas by age and price, not a row of brand logos.

Ages and price ranges

Toys are bought by age first. Organise at least part of the site that way: babies and toddlers, preschool, early school years, older children, and teens and adults for games.

For each age, show the kinds of things you carry, a few examples with photographs, and a realistic price range.

A short list of good gifts under a set amount for each age answers the party question directly. Refresh it a few times a year, and before the holidays especially.

Brands and what is in store now

Collectors and keen parents search by brand and product line. List the brands you carry on a page of their own, in text, not as a wall of logos that phones shrink and search engines see as pictures.

A toy store's stock changes weekly, and a full online catalogue is a big commitment. A short new in store section, updated each week with a few photographs, does much of the same work.

For popular items that sell out, say so honestly: in stock now, sold out with more expected, or call to check. The site's job is to make people call rather than assume you do not have it.

Hours and getting there

Hours belong at the top of every page, with holiday hours posted well before each holiday. Extended hours in December matter more to a toy store than to almost any other shop.

Add what parents with children in tow need to know: parking, stroller access, whether there is a washroom.

Keep the hours on your Google listing identical to the site. A parent who drives over on the strength of one and finds the door locked will not trust either again.

A worked example

A toy store in a strip of shops beside a grocery store in a commuter suburb carries building sets, board games, science kits, craft supplies and baby toys.

Its website was a home page with a slideshow of brand logos, an address and a contact form. The hours sat in the footer in small type.

Staff spent much of each Saturday morning on the phone with the same questions: are you open until five, what do you have for a five-year-old, do you wrap, can you hold it.

Every answer existed, and none was on the site. Parents searching from home found nothing to suggest the shop was worth the trip.

The rebuilt site added a gift page by age with price ranges, a weekly new in store section kept by one staff member, and a plain list of brands.

The hold policy, wrapping and registry details went on in a few lines each, with the hours at the top of every page.

Keeping it current takes one staff member about twenty minutes each Monday, photographing the week's arrivals on a phone.

Wrapping, cards and registries

Gift wrapping is a reason to choose a local shop. Say whether it is free, how long it takes at busy times, and whether a card is included.

A birthday registry, or wish list, lets a child choose in advance and guests buy from the list. If you keep one, explain how to set it up, how guests find it and how duplicates are avoided.

Gift cards, sold in store and ideally online too, rescue the buyer who has no idea what a child likes.

Events and demonstrations

Many toy stores run events: game nights, building afternoons, story times, demonstrations of new games or science kits.

Give events a page with dates, times, ages, cost and whether to register. A list of past events with nothing upcoming suggests the program has stopped.

Events also give the site something new to say each month, and families a reason to come back.

Selling online, or holding items

A full online shop is a large undertaking: photographs, stock counts that match the shelves, shipping and returns.

Many stores do better starting with holds: call or send a message, and the item waits at the counter until closing the next day. Say exactly how it works.

If you do sell online, say which products are online and which are only in the shop, so nobody mistakes the website for the whole range.

The counter-case

A small shop with a loyal local following can start with less: hours, a brands list and a gift page by age. Events and online sales can come later.

A store whose stock turns over faster than anyone can photograph it should not promise a catalogue. A short weekly update kept current beats a large one left stale.

And a store already selling mostly online needs a different site, built around its catalogue and checkout.

For most toy stores the order holds: answer the gift buyer's questions first.

What to build first

  1. Put the hours at the top of every page.
  2. Build a gift page by age and price.
  3. List the brands you carry, in text.
  4. Explain how holds work in two lines.
  5. Add wrapping and registry details.
  6. Start a weekly new in store section.
  7. Post upcoming events with dates and ages.

Step two is the one that earns the visit. A parent with a party on Saturday and a price in mind wants a short list of good ideas, and the store that offers one is the store they drive to.

The same questions, asked by a different kind of shopper, run through what a bridal shop website needs.

Frequently asked questions

What does a toy store website need most?

Hours on every page, gift ideas by age and price, the brands you carry, how holds work, wrapping and registry details, and upcoming events with dates.

Should a toy store sell online?

Not necessarily at first. A hold service, where an item waits at the counter until the next day, does much of the job with far less work.

How should the products be organised?

By age first, since that is how most gifts are chosen, with examples and realistic price ranges for each age group and a separate list of brands.

Do I need to show what is in stock?

A full catalogue is a big commitment. A short weekly new in store section, honest notes on sold-out items and an invitation to call cover most of it.

Why list brands in text?

Because collectors and parents search by brand, and a wall of logos shrinks on phones and gives search engines pictures rather than words. A plain list works everywhere.

What should the events page show?

Dates, times, ages, cost and whether to register, with upcoming events first. A list of past events alone suggests the program has stopped.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Toy store site with just a logo slideshow?

Send us the link. We will list what a parent buying a gift cannot find on it.

Start a Conversation