Christmas Presents for Children:Help Is At Hand
What will my six year old niece enjoy playing with?What would be an enjoyable and different gift for my ten year old grandson? Chances are that this Christmas you need to buy a gift for a child.
For many people this is a daunting prospect.
You may not have children of your own.
You might have children of different ages or genders or it may just be a long time since your own kids left the nest.
Where to start in an ever more complicated toy market?The easy-opt out is to give money or gift vouchers, but that's a poor answer.
There is little in the world which compares to seeing the joy on a child's face as they open an exiting new discovery on Christmas Day and start to imagine the new experiences that it will bring.
So how do you find the right gift?Major chains of toy retailers are little help.
If you can track down a member of staff, then the chances are they have no personal experience of the toy in question and can give you very little input into its suitability.
That's where your small independent toy store comes into its own.
Despite the erosion in the number of these outlets in recent years, you'll still find one in most towns.
So why can they provide that inspiration? Well, for a start, the people who work there know their products.
Chances are they made the decision to stock the product themselves.
That process involves research and meeting face to face with the people who supply them.
They've handled the toy themselves; know what it does and who it's right for.
Their small size means that they generally receive better direct feedback from customers and are better placed to make informed recommendations.
They have better knowledge of how gifts go down.
For instance does a toy sell well only because it's well marketed, or does it sell well because children use it and come back again and again for more items from the same line? The surprising thing to learn as well is that they probably aren't as motivated by profit as the major chains are.
Why?Well it's simple.
They want you back at birthday time, they want you back next Christmas, and so on.
How do they achieve that?Only if the customer themselves gets good feedback from the child in question.
As a result they go out of their way to make the best job of recommendation they possibly can.
They can't afford to sell you the wrong thing for the sake of a few pennies.
Need something unusual?The child has "everything".
Independent toy stores often can't compete on the major brands.
They need to think outside the box to survive.
If you need something that's different and inspiring then there is a fair bet they can come up with the very present your looking for.
Get the right presents this year by getting advice from someone who knows what they're talking about.
Visit your local independent toy retailer.
For many people this is a daunting prospect.
You may not have children of your own.
You might have children of different ages or genders or it may just be a long time since your own kids left the nest.
Where to start in an ever more complicated toy market?The easy-opt out is to give money or gift vouchers, but that's a poor answer.
There is little in the world which compares to seeing the joy on a child's face as they open an exiting new discovery on Christmas Day and start to imagine the new experiences that it will bring.
So how do you find the right gift?Major chains of toy retailers are little help.
If you can track down a member of staff, then the chances are they have no personal experience of the toy in question and can give you very little input into its suitability.
That's where your small independent toy store comes into its own.
Despite the erosion in the number of these outlets in recent years, you'll still find one in most towns.
So why can they provide that inspiration? Well, for a start, the people who work there know their products.
Chances are they made the decision to stock the product themselves.
That process involves research and meeting face to face with the people who supply them.
They've handled the toy themselves; know what it does and who it's right for.
Their small size means that they generally receive better direct feedback from customers and are better placed to make informed recommendations.
They have better knowledge of how gifts go down.
For instance does a toy sell well only because it's well marketed, or does it sell well because children use it and come back again and again for more items from the same line? The surprising thing to learn as well is that they probably aren't as motivated by profit as the major chains are.
Why?Well it's simple.
They want you back at birthday time, they want you back next Christmas, and so on.
How do they achieve that?Only if the customer themselves gets good feedback from the child in question.
As a result they go out of their way to make the best job of recommendation they possibly can.
They can't afford to sell you the wrong thing for the sake of a few pennies.
Need something unusual?The child has "everything".
Independent toy stores often can't compete on the major brands.
They need to think outside the box to survive.
If you need something that's different and inspiring then there is a fair bet they can come up with the very present your looking for.
Get the right presents this year by getting advice from someone who knows what they're talking about.
Visit your local independent toy retailer.
