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Toy shops & hobby stores.
Curated SKU mix, gift-wrap as a service at the till, age-grade filters that help parents shop for a specific age. Grandparents and parents shopping for the same kid surface on one loyalty record — catch the duplicate tricycle before it happens. Built for the December counter.
What's in the Toys starter
- •6 categories: Building & STEM, Plush & dolls, Board games, Outdoor & sport, Vehicles & track, Crafts.
- •27 items pre-loaded from $4.99 stocking-stuffers up to $89.99 coding-robot premium kits — a realistic curated mix, not a 500-SKU dump.
- •Gift wrap as a service SKU; cashier adds it at the line and the receipt prints “Gift wrapped by [staff].”
- •Age-grade tags (3+, 6+, 8+, 12+, 14+) so a parent shopping for a specific age can be served quickly.
A real Saturday morning
A grandparent attaches herself to the order, picks up a Wooden train track set + Sticker book:
- VEH-TRAIN — $44.99
- CRF-STICKER — $6.99
- SVC-GIFTWRAP — $5.00
Total $56.98. Loyalty card on file shows her son already bought a tricycle last month — staff catches the duplicate before it happens.
Built for the December swing
- •Seasonal cashiers get the
cashierrole for Nov–Dec and removed in January. RBAC + audit trail already cover the “who rang what” question. - •Gift receipts hide prices and add a return-by date — one toggle at the line.
- •Returns with reason — “original packaging missing” is a real-world category; the system tracks it so the buyer can make better choices next quarter.
- •Wishlist + back-in-stock texts work on toys the same way they do for boutique apparel.
Why not the cheap option?
- vs Square (free + processing)Gift receipts available, but gift-wrap-as-a-service workflow isn't. Age-grade filtering requires manual category setup. No purpose-built “same-kid duplicate” alerts.
- vs Clover (~$80+/mo)Adequate but hardware lease bites at peak season — fail to upgrade and you're running 4-year-old terminals at Saturday rush. Gift-receipt feature is a separate paid app.
- vs Lightspeed Retail (~$89+/mo)Genuinely capable, but priced for higher-margin specialty. The boutique features overlap; the toy-specific bits (age tags, family-loyalty linkage) need manual configuration.
Moving from Square or Clover?
- →Item catalogue (with UPC/EAN) and customer list import via CSV. Loyalty history from Square Loyalty migrates as point balances; the activity log stays on the old system.
- →Gift-wrap as a service SKU lands pre-configured — cashier adds it to a line; receipt prints “Gift wrapped by [staff].”
- →Seasonal cashiers get the
cashierrole for Nov-Dec and have it removed in January. RBAC + audit trail cover the “who rang what” question. - →Plan ahead: switch in October so December runs on the new till. Most owners hate the December surprise of a new system.
Frequently asked questions
- How do gift receipts work?
- Toggle on at the line: the printed gift receipt hides the price and prints a return-by date. The cashier-side receipt keeps prices and the order ID for matching on return. Customer-friendly, ledger-clean.
- Will the till handle Q4 volume?
- Yes. The cashier loop is <100ms scan-to-cart on an iPad with a USB scanner. Stress tested at 2000+ rings/day on a single till. If you're running multiple lanes, multi-register is included on every plan.
- Age-grade filtering — how visible is it?
- Items carry an age-grade tag (3+, 6+, 8+, 12+, 14+); the till groups by it on the “Help a parent shop” filter chip. Reports slice sales by age cohort too — useful for the next buy.
- Duplicate-gift detection on the loyalty record?
- When a customer is attached, recent purchases by them or by anyone with the same loyalty contact (typically Mum + Dad + Grandma sharing one) surface at checkout. Catches “wait, Sarah's mum already bought this one.” Soft warning, not a block.
- What does the gift-wrap workflow cost the customer?
- The starter pack ships a $5 SVC-GIFTWRAP SKU; you set the price. Cashier adds it as a line, the receipt prints “Gift wrapped by [staff name],” and the staff name carries to the daily report so you know who's wrapping volume.
Recommended hardware
- •Till: iPad or laptop on the counter — December staff don't need a workstation.
- •Receipt printer: Star TSP143IIIBI (Bluetooth) — pairs with iPad, prints gift receipts on demand.
- •Barcode scanner: Honeywell Voyager 1450G (USB) — reads EAN/UPC on every toy box.
- •Card terminal: Stripe Reader M2 (BYO Stripe account).
- •Cash drawer: any 24V drawer driven by the printer's drawer port.
New to this vertical? Read the toys & games buyer guide →
Open your toy shop in 30 seconds.
Real catalog, real gift-wrap workflow, real loyalty record. Set up before the Saturday rush.