During the holiday season, catalogs from many a toy store are to be found in most Swiss family households. They are all competing for a spot on the children's wish lists. But what makes a good toy catalog? We invited children of different ages to examine and compare different toy catalogs to find the answer to this question.
In the run-up to Christmas, many toy stores and supermarkets — including Migros — publish a toy catalog for their youngest customers. The catalogs contain everything a child's heart desires: the hottest toy trends and novelties of the year, but also popular classics that never go out of style. However, it is not easy for retailers to distinguish themselves from their competitors through their product range, because many of them offer the same products. That's why they enrich their catalogs with additional engaging content such as games, competitions, baking recipes and much more to spark their readers' interest.
The Federation of Migros Cooperatives commissioned the Ergonomen to analyze their toy catalog (see Fig. 1) in order to better understand the behavior and needs of the target groups and to uncover potential for optimization.
Fig. 1: The cover of the Migros toy catalog 2022.
In order to test how the Migros toy catalog is received by customers in comparison to other catalogs, we invited girls and boys of different ages together with a parent to our usability lab to examine and compare a selection of toy catalogs (see Fig. 2). In addition to the range of products displayed, we also considered the presentation of the toys, the general impression of the catalogs, the engagingness of the interactive pages and how well the children found their way around the catalogs. The parents' assessment of the catalogs also played an important role, because they are the ones who ultimately make the purchase — or don't.
Fig. 2: Mother and son exploring the toy catalog.
From the observations, assessments, and feedback from the children and their parents, we deduced what they like and don't like about toy catalogs. Based on these findings, we provided concrete suggestions for optimizing the Migros toy catalog.
Testing a product with children is simply wonderful! No feedback is more honest, no reactions more spontaneous. Migros also takes their young customers — and their parents — seriously and thus manages to align their communication with the needs of children (and parents).
