A toy shop online has two customers at once: the child who wants the thing and the adult who pays for it, usually as a present and often against a deadline. The best toy and game stores on Shopify are built for that second person, with ways to shop by age, gifts that grow the basket and Christmas planning that starts in October. We looked at 21 of them on 11 October 2026, seven brands each from America, Britain and Australia, and every one carried Shopify’s storefront code before it made the list. Each homepage was saved on a computer screen and a phone exactly as someone in that market is served it, its prices worked out from the store’s public product data, its apps read from the page source, and its load time measured on a slowed-down mobile connection.
What the 21 toy and game stores do alike
- Christmas already started. Melissa & Doug led with a Christmas tree and a “shop early” code, Magna-Tiles with a holiday gift, and Jaques of London with an early Black Friday sale, while Nana Huchy had Christmas and a gift guide in its menu. Halloween was still running at Tonies and Plum Play.
- Free gifts set the basket size. Magna-Tiles gives a blind bag from $85, Jaques of London one, two or three gifts at £45, £75 and £100, and Bigjigs Toys a gift of your choice from £60.
- Age comes before category. Melissa & Doug, Orchard Toys, Jaques of London, Bigjigs Toys and Playgro all offer shopping by age in the main menu, because the buyer knows the child, not the catalogue.
- Licences sell. Orchard Toys has Bluey and Peter Rabbit ranges, Ginger Fox games from Aardman and The Traitors, Modiphius Fallout and Star Trek, and Mattel Creations a designer Barbie; Melissa & Doug’s hero toy carries the Van Leeuwen ice-cream name.
- Loyalty schemes have names. Play Perks at Melissa & Doug, Putty Perks at Crazy Aaron’s, Magna-Tiles Rewards, the Modiphius Rewards Program and Alimrose Rewards are all visible on the homepage.
- Trade buyers get a link. Ginger Fox puts Wholesale in its main menu and Nana Huchy a trade link in its top bar; Modiphius sells bundles sized for shops.
- The app stack is light. Klaviyo loads on 16 of the 21 and Judge.me, the most common review app here, on 8; ten offer Afterpay or Klarna.
- Australia was fastest. Timed on a phone we slowed on purpose, the median store needed 12.0 seconds before its main content appeared, on a homepage of 4.4 MB in the typical case, but the Australian stores’ median was 4.1 seconds against 16.2 seconds for the American ones. Mieredu (3.1 seconds) and Alimrose (3.4) were quickest; five stores took longer than 20 seconds, Ginger Fox the longest at 28.5.
United States
Melissa & Doug
The wooden-toy maker had moved on to Christmas by 11 October: its hero shows a decorated tree under the line “The best gifts are the ones that last”, and the top bar offers 30% off everything with the code SHOPEARLY2026. The toy in the photo is a play ice-cream shop branded with the scoop maker Van Leeuwen. A wide search pill sits left of the logo, the menu opens with Shop by Age and Gifts, and a navy bar below promotes the Play Perks rewards scheme. Afterpay, Yotpo, Klaviyo and Attentive are installed, and a typical toy costs $20.99.
Worth copying: a sitewide code named after the behaviour you want (“shop early”) pulls gift buying forward before the November rush. Visit melissaanddoug.com
Exploding Kittens
The card-game company runs a dark site whose top bar rotates through US, UK and EU shipping messages; in the US it promised free shipping from $40. The menu has four items (Games, Cards & Puzzles, Collectibles, Instructions), the hero announces a batch of new games, and below it a new edition, Exploding Kittens: Curse You!, gets its own mischievous one-line pitch. Behind it run Okendo, Gorgias and Klaviyo; a typical game costs $14.99, and nothing tops $49.99.
Worth copying: an Instructions link in the main menu keeps owners who have lost the rules on the brand’s own site instead of a search engine. Visit explodingkittens.com
Magna-Tiles
The magnetic building-set brand paired Christmas with an order-value incentive: “A Holiday Surprise Is in the Bag”, a free Santa and Friends blind bag on orders over $85. Its rewards scheme is the first menu item, printed in purple, followed by Shop, Bundle & Save, a Learning Hub and MAGNA-TALES, its own story series; free shipping starts at $50. Judge.me, Gorgias and Klaviyo are installed, and at $69.97 its median price is the highest in the US group.
Worth copying: a gift threshold set just above the typical order ($85 against a $69.97 median) nudges one more set into the basket. Visit magnatiles.com
Piecework Puzzles
The puzzle brand’s hero was not about puzzles at all: “Introducing Piecework’s Soft Side” launches a range of pillows, the first of three slides, and the same message runs in the top bar. A press strip underneath lists Real Simple, Fast Company, Food & Wine, Good Housekeeping, Forbes and Vogue, and the menu adds Gifts, Edits and an “Up to 70% Off” pill. Klaviyo and Attentive handle email and texts, prices centre on $43, and the catalogue stretches to a $675 Victorian dollhouse alongside homeware.
Worth copying: a row of press logos under the hero does the trust work for a premium price before the shopper reaches a product. Visit pieceworkpuzzles.com
Mattel Creations
Mattel’s collector store opens with a strip of brand logos, from Hot Wheels Collectors and Barbie Signature to Masters of the Universe and Polly Pocket, under a menu of Brands, Shop, Membership and Calendar. The hero sells a Barbie and Ken collaboration with the designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, and tiles below split the store into exclusives, new arrivals, vehicles, dolls and action figures. It runs Ordergroove for subscriptions and offers both Afterpay and Klarna; the median item is $25. It also had the heaviest homepage we measured, at 13.8 MB.
Worth copying: a release calendar in the main menu turns limited drops into dates collectors plan around. Visit creations.mattel.com
Tonies
The audio-player brand sells a system, and the menu spells it out: Tonies (the figures), Tonieboxes (the player), Tonieplay, a red “Bundle & Save” pill and accessories. The hero was still on Halloween, the top bar took pre-orders for new figures, and a trust row promised a 100-day happiness guarantee, free shipping over $45 and paying later with Shop Pay. Junip collects the reviews and Awtomic runs subscriptions; the median item is $24.99, and its 12.0-second load was exactly the middle of this list.
Worth copying: when a product needs a device plus content, a bundle pill in the menu sells the starter set in one step. Visit us.tonies.com
Crazy Aaron’s
The Thinking Putty maker uses its top bar for scarcity (“High Demand Alert! We’re Restocking Sold-Out Items ASAP!”) and its hero for a new texture, Better Butter. The right of the header holds Contact Us, the Putty Perks loyalty scheme and a store locator, and the menu splits the range into Thinking Putty, Slime Charmers and Wonder Falls. Judge.me and Smile are installed; at $8 its median is the lowest in the US group, and the most expensive item is a $400 putty made with real 24-carat gold.
Worth copying: a loyalty scheme named after the product (“Putty Perks”) feels like part of the brand rather than a bolted-on app. Visit crazyaarons.com
United Kingdom
Big Potato Games
The party-game publisher opens on a video collage under “Game night is so back”, with one button for the whole range and one for its Kluster Recall game; a pink bar offers a free bag with Noodle Flip. The menu has three items, and one of them, “Find your match!”, is a game finder. Okendo and Trustpilot collect reviews, Klaviyo sends the email, and two pay-later brands are offered; the median game costs £14.99.
Worth copying: a matchmaking quiz for games answers the gift buyer who has no idea which one to choose. Visit bigpotato.co.uk
Orchard Toys
The educational games maker turns after-sales care into a selling point: its top bar offers free activity sheets and a misplaced pieces service, which sells single replacement parts for £1. The menu runs from Games and Jigsaw Puzzles to Shop by Age, with licensed Bluey and Peter Rabbit ranges, and the hero simply says it has been making learning fun for over 50 years. Klaviyo is installed; with the spare parts set aside, its 132 products cost £2 to £14, and the median is £9.99.
Worth copying: selling lost pieces one at a time keeps a family coming back years after the first purchase, and keeps the game out of the bin. Visit orchardtoys.com
Jaques of London
The games maker, run by the eighth generation of its family since 1795, draws its hero as a snowy “J. Jaques & Son” shopfront and was already running an early Black Friday sale: 20% off everything with the code EARLY20. A ticker offers one free gift at £45, two at £75 and three at £100, and Christmas and Black Friday come first in the menu. Klarna, Judge.me, Reviews.io, Trustpilot, LoyaltyLion and Klaviyo all load on the page; the typical item is £27.99, and a leather-cased chess set reaches £5,495.
Worth copying: stepped free gifts at three spend levels give every basket a reason to grow by one more item. Visit jaqueslondon.co.uk
Bigjigs Toys
The wooden-toy company has no hero: under a bar reading “A family business since 1985” and a 4.9-star score from 5,611 ratings, the page goes straight to shop-by-age circles. The menu offers five ways in (category, age, brand, price and sale), and a banner lets you choose a free gift when you spend £60. It offers Klarna and runs Nosto and Klaviyo, with toys centred on £11.19.
Worth copying: swapping the hero for shop-by-age tiles gets gift buyers, who usually know the child’s age, to products in one tap. Visit bigjigstoys.co.uk
Plum Play
The outdoor-play brand sells trampolines, swings, slides and climbing frames, and the strip under its menu answers the three doubts a big garden purchase raises: 35-plus years of ethically made play, a 4.7-star rating and 0% finance. The hero was seasonal (“Spooktacular fun”), with a “Want 5% off?” tab and a chat button. Its stack is Klarna, Yotpo, Zendesk and Klaviyo, and prices centre on £99.99, from spare bolts at 99p to a £1,399.99 climbing cube.
Worth copying: 0% finance stated next to the reviews, not hidden at checkout, makes a four-figure garden toy feel affordable on the first screen. Visit plumplay.co.uk
Ginger Fox
The games and gifts publisher puts Wholesale in its five-item main menu, beside Games, Coming Soon, its Professor Puzzle brand and a blog. The hero launches a trivia game built on Aardman’s films, and the best-seller row includes a game based on the TV show The Traitors; a strip counts down how much more you need to spend for free delivery. Judge.me and Trustpilot are installed, and every item costs between £7.49 and £24.99, with a £9.99 median. No store here took longer to load: 28.5 seconds.
Worth copying: a free-delivery counter that shows the amount still to go turns a single £10 game into a two-game order. Visit gingerfox.co.uk
Modiphius
The tabletop roleplaying and wargames publisher sorts its menu by licence (Fallout, Star Trek) as well as by type of game, and its hero advertised a warehouse clearance with discounts on more than 300 products. A blue top bar sends American visitors to a separate North American store, and a Modiphius Rewards Program tab sits at the side. Judge.me handles reviews, the typical item costs £30, and the dearest is a £905 five-copy bundle aimed at retailers.
Worth copying: pointing overseas visitors to a local store in the top bar spares them the shipping shock at checkout. Visit modiphius.net
Australia
Tiger Tribe
The Australian kids’ gifts brand has a three-word menu (Shop, Sale, New) and leads with new arrivals: a handpicked gifting selection for children “from the tiniest tigers up to tweens”, shown with soft bear toys. Free shipping starts at A$70. Stamped and Klaviyo are installed; prices run from A$4 to A$50 with a A$17.50 median.
Worth copying: a three-item menu is enough when the whole catalogue is gifts at pocket-money prices. Visit tigertribe.com.au
Make Me Iconic
The wooden-toy and homewares brand builds its range on Australian icons, led by its Australia Post box and Melbourne tram; the hero shows a wooden ute carrying a surfboard under “Aussie icons, beautifully made to last”. An orange band below promises free shipping, customer service and a money-back guarantee, and a floating “Shop Best Sellers” button opens an AI shopping assistant. It offers Afterpay, sends email and texts through Klaviyo and Postscript, and prices centre on A$25; the page drew its main content in 4.1 seconds.
Worth copying: toys modelled on local landmarks give the adults buying them a reason of their own, which suits gifting. Visit makemeiconic.com
Alimrose
The doll and baby-gift brand frames its logo with “Give. Inspire. Play.” and leads with heirlooms: “Girlhood keepsakes”, a fairy doll in the hero. The menu covers baby gift sets, dolls, soft toys and nursery, a Rewards button floats in the corner, and its store description notes a place on Oprah’s Favourite Things. Afterpay, Judge.me and Klaviyo sit behind a A$39.95 median price, and at 3.4 seconds it was the second-fastest store here.
Worth copying: presenting dolls as keepsakes rather than toys supports a gift-level price. Visit alimrose.com.au
Mieredu
The Melbourne educational-toy shop has no top bar and a plain menu of products, learning, puzzles, games and arts and crafts; its hero invites children to learn interesting facts about dinosaurs. It loads Loox for photo reviews and code from three chat tools (Gorgias, Zendesk and Tidio). Its homepage was the lightest we measured, at 0.8 MB, and the fastest, at 3.1 seconds; prices sit between A$13.95 and A$61.95.
Worth copying: a light page is the cheapest speed fix there is: at 0.8 MB it drew its main content in about a quarter of the median store’s time. Visit mieredu.com.au
O.B. Designs
The plush-toy brand sells Australian wildlife: its hero, “Australian designed since 2008”, introduces soft companions inspired by local animals, with a button to shop Aussie soft toys. The top bar pairs free shipping over A$120 with a koala and a link to pay with Afterpay, and the menu runs from crochet baby blankets to bag charms and a page of reviews. Reviews run on Judge.me and email on Klaviyo, with a A$34.95 median. It was one of the slowest stores, at 26.7 seconds.
Worth copying: a reviews page in the main menu lets a cautious gift buyer read other parents’ opinions before browsing. Visit obdesigns.com.au
Playgro
The baby-toy brand keeps its top bar for a deal of the month and its hero for teethers (“Ready, Set, DROOL!”), and sorts the menu by age, toys, feeding and baby care, Bundle & Save and hot deals. Apart from Judge.me reviews we found no apps in its code, and typical prices sit at A$14.99.
Worth copying: a monthly deal slot gives returning parents a reason to check the site every few weeks. Visit playgro.com.au
Nana Huchy
The Melbourne soft-toy maker, founded in 2003, puts a “Trade customers” link and a phone number in its top bar, beside free shipping over A$120 quoted in Australian, New Zealand and US dollars. The menu runs to eleven items, including Personalised, Bundles, Gift Guide and Christmas, and the hero is three photos of children with its plush toys and a “Shop dogs” button. Stamped, Nosto and Klaviyo are installed; leaving bundles aside, its 332 products run from A$9.50 to A$109 with a A$46 median.
Worth copying: a trade link next to the phone number lets shop owners find wholesale terms without digging through the footer. Visit nanahuchy.com.au
Prices, apps and load times for all 21
| Store | Market | Typical price (cheapest–dearest) | Review app | Email and SMS | Mobile load, slowed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melissa & Doug | US | $20.99 ($2.99–$213.99) | Yotpo | Klaviyo, Attentive | 22.1 s |
| Exploding Kittens | US | $14.99 ($2.99–$49.99) | Okendo | Klaviyo | 22.7 s |
| Magna-Tiles | US | $69.97 ($4.99–$289.97) | Judge.me | Klaviyo | 11.9 s |
| Piecework Puzzles | US | $43 ($6–$675) | — | Klaviyo, Attentive | 14.7 s |
| Mattel Creations | US | $25 ($3–$324) | — | Klaviyo | 16.7 s |
| Tonies | US | $24.99 ($7.99–$233.77) | Junip | — | 12.0 s |
| Crazy Aaron’s | US | $8 ($3–$400) | Judge.me | — | 16.2 s |
| Big Potato Games | UK | £14.99 (£4.99–£189) | Okendo, Trustpilot | Klaviyo | 11.0 s |
| Orchard Toys | UK | £9.99 (£2–£14) | — | Klaviyo | 14.9 s |
| Jaques of London | UK | £27.99 (£4.13–£5,495) | Judge.me, Reviews.io, Trustpilot | Klaviyo | 24.2 s |
| Bigjigs Toys | UK | £11.19 (£1.50–£199.99) | — | Klaviyo | 11.3 s |
| Plum Play | UK | £99.99 (£0.99–£1,399.99) | Yotpo | Klaviyo | 11.5 s |
| Ginger Fox | UK | £9.99 (£7.49–£24.99) | Judge.me, Trustpilot | — | 28.5 s |
| Modiphius | UK | £30 (£3.75–£905) | Judge.me | — | 10.0 s |
| Tiger Tribe | Australia | A$17.50 (A$4–A$50) | Stamped | Klaviyo | 13.0 s |
| Make Me Iconic | Australia | A$25 (A$1–A$213) | — | Klaviyo, Postscript | 4.1 s |
| Alimrose | Australia | A$39.95 (A$5–A$199.95) | Judge.me | Klaviyo | 3.4 s |
| Mieredu | Australia | A$19.95 (A$13.95–A$61.95) | Loox | Klaviyo | 3.1 s |
| O.B. Designs | Australia | A$34.95 (A$5.57–A$129.95) | Judge.me | Klaviyo | 26.7 s |
| Playgro | Australia | A$14.99 (A$4.99–A$179.99) | Judge.me | — | 8.4 s |
| Nana Huchy | Australia | A$46 (A$9.50–A$109) | Stamped | Klaviyo | 4.1 s |
Toy brands left off this list, and why
Several famous names did not make it. Wentworth Puzzles, Smiggle, Connetix, Qtoys and Mantic Games showed no Shopify storefront on 11 October 2026 (Wentworth runs on Magento, Smiggle on HCL Commerce), and Jellycat blocked our check, returning a page that pointed to BigCommerce. Lovevery and Yoto put a custom front end over Shopify, so their product data could not be read like the others. Squishmallows sends shoppers to its parent company’s multi-brand store, Tonies runs Shopify for its US store but not its UK site, and Le Toy Van, Tender Leaf Toys and Galt priced in US dollars although we had chosen the UK as our country, so none could be shown as a local customer sees it. Gibsons was replaced because the video on its phone homepage would not play from our location.
Our method
- Platform: a homepage counted as Shopify only if it carried the storefront code Shopify serves; the shortlist held 66 toy, game and puzzle brands, and seven per market were kept to mix plush, wooden toys, games, puzzles and collectibles.
- Screens: Chrome, told which country and currency to use, 1,280 pixels wide for the computer view and 390 for the phone. We declined cookies where a banner allowed it and closed sign-up pop-ups.
- Prices: worked out from the product list every store publishes, in local currency, without gift cards. Where the first 250 items were dominated by spare parts (Orchard Toys) or bundles (Nana Huchy), we read the whole catalogue and left those out. The cheapest figure in a range can still be a spare part or a paper gift bag rather than a toy.
- Load time: the time until the largest element on screen was drawn, best of two cold loads on an emulated phone with a fourfold processor slowdown and a 1.6 Mbps connection. Ordinary 4G or Wi-Fi is much quicker.
- Apps: found in the homepage source, so tools that only load on product pages or at checkout are missing; Bigjigs Toys’ review widget is one we could not identify this way.
Building a toy or game store like these
The toy stores that sell best online make the gift buyer’s job easy: shop by age, a gift or bundle that lifts the order, a Christmas plan that starts early, and help after the sale, from lost pieces to instructions. Our own work in children’s products is OuchieCap, a children’s comfort brand whose custom Shopify theme and sub-brand came with 22% revenue growth. For a toy brand starting out or replatforming on Shopify, our Shopify Plus development team scopes and prices the work in writing first.
