Design Force, Inc., proudly announces that The Toy Book has published its president, Ted Mininni’s latest article as a feature in the publication’s Outside the Box column of the September/October 2020 issue. The piece, titled: Packing a Punch with Toy Packaging Online discusses the value of great package design being featured in online product listings.
As the article begins, Mr. Mininni explains how online shopping was already prevalent for many categories prior to the pandemic, but that the shift to online retail became even more significant once stores started selling non-essential items again in March. Mr. Mininni: “Fortunately for [the toy] industry, the toys and games category enjoyed quite a surge in online sales almost immediately as we entered quarantine, with parents trying to kep their kids entertained while working from home.”
He then goes on to compare the goals of toy packaging online with its goals at retail: “The role of toy packaging at mass retail is to capture the attention of consumers among the clutter and chaos of the toy aisles in a matter of seconds… Unless the consumer is browsing the toy aisles knowing exactly what they want, the decision to pick up a particular product and engage with it at retail is quite impulsive. When shopping online, consumers search for the product, brand, or type of toy that they want to purchase. If the toy’s packaging is even shown, it’s often quite small, or it’s secondary to the out-of-box product imagery. As a result, the impulse purchase, as well as packaging’s role in it, is all but lost.”
Mr. Mininni then cites various examples of toy packaging that generate excitement among consumers in how it is featured as part of the online experience.