Tips for Building Your First Toy Ecommerce Website

Selling toys online can be highly rewarding, especially with the Internet constantly growing. Whether you have a passion for the classics and you collect old toys, or you want to sell the latest and greatest toys, setting up your online store is the first step. Believe it or not it’s easier to setup an ecommerce website today than it was a few years ago. In fact, you could start a website and get selling within just a day. To help make your site as eye-catching and successful as possible, you’ll want to take a little extra time to set it up right the first time around.

What It Takes to Get Started

Even though it’s easier to set up an online store today, it still takes a little work. However, you won’t need a web developer or even a designer to get started. Since you’re selling online, you’ll want to start out by using an ecommerce website hosted on an ecommerce platform. Once you have the core setup, it’s time to design your website.

Pick an Ecommerce Theme That Works for Toys

There are plenty of website templates out there to get you started, but it’s important you stick to those templates that really speak to your brand and what you’re selling. Your target market is usually moms or dads shopping for their children — if you’re selling today’s toys. If you’re selling collectors’ items, you’ll be attracting adults looking for a piece of nostalgia. Think of your target customer and the merchandise that will be displayed on your site. Then select a website template for toys that suits your game business.

Also, keep your template as simple as possible. While you want some personality, pops of color and a theme, you don’t want to take away from the purpose of your website: to sell toys. Your website should have enough to emphasize your products, but your toys should never have to compete for viewer attention.

Check for Compatibility

You need a template that is compatible with the ecommerce platform you’re running. If you can, look for templates offered by your platform. While you can use those templates designed by others, they might not have the same features and they might not integrate well with your platform and how it operates. Since you’re spending the money, its best to buy a website template that works for your site the first time around.

Look for Additional Features

When you buy a template, you want to buy one that works for your store and makes your life easier while selling toys. Therefore, look for templates that integrate additional features, such as search engine optimization. Industry-specific website templates will have more features that benefit you as a toy seller, such as social media integration, homepage sliders (to feature your products), customizable fonts (so you can pick fonts that suit you brand and merchandise style), etc.

Start Selling

Before you launch ecommerce website officially, test everything. You’ll want to click on links, visit each page, and even visit your payment page. Once you know it’s working, launch it for the world to see. Try a promotion the first week you launch to encourage people to visit your ecommerce site. You can promote on toy seller forums, social media and in social media groups for parents and/or toy collectors.

With an ecommerce website, you don’t need as much text as standard websites, but it might be a good idea to have an About Us page. Here you’ll explain the purpose of your website, your passion for selling, and ultimately why a customer should buy from you versus the other online toy retailers. Be sincere and write to the customer — don’t worry about search engines, they’ll find and index you just fine.