Today marks the launch of YoYo.com, a site that promises to make toy-shopping, a venture that often falls short lost in the maze of big-box toy stores, a happy experience.
YoYo.com is the fourth shopping site launched by Amazon-owned Quidsi, who has baby, mom and the family dog covered with its Diapers.com, Soap.com and Wag.com. The company offers more than 20,000 toys on YoYo.com, a number that will double before the end of the year, according to a Quidsi statement.
Anyone who has shopped for toys knows that a huge inventory is worthless if the store doesn’t carry the one thing that a child wants. YoYo has stocked its shelves with a balance of merchandise from major manufacturers and specialty toymakers. To this end, the site offers plenty of Lego Star Wars sets, but also has a charming version of the classic marble roll toy “Rolling Garden” from PlayMe.
YoYo founders have added several search features to help people find an appropriate gift even if they’re unfamiliar with kids’ current tastes in toys.
How to find a toy
Start with the Toy Finder on the site's homepage. Fill in age, gender and budget. Select whether you’d like to see all results or YoYo’s favorites.
On the results page, additional filters are offered. Selections seem to skew a little young, so you might want to add the next age category up, which you can do with these filters. The page will automatically refresh and display new results as soon as you add a filter.
The site also caters to parents who may be tech-overloaded. In addition to the standard filters, parents can narrow their choices to toys that are eco-friendly, require no batteries and no assembly — music to any parent's ears.
Like its parent company, Amazon, YoYo.com offers the familiar “Frequently bought together” recommendations. Two-day shipping is free on orders over $49. Better yet, YoYo.com offers a generous return policy: “If you're not happy with something, send it back on our dime up to a year after purchase.”
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