We’re already in October end! This year has almost come to an end! However, the end-of-year means a lot for sellers due to the upcoming Holiday Season which is around the corner.
With a number of people wanting to send gifts to their loved ones, decor products like Christmas tree, handmade Jewelry, holiday theme backdrops and floral products can be the top selling gifts during the season. So, why not create a store and sell your own craft on Etsy to add on to the overall revenue for your eCommerce business?
For those who are already selling their creative products on Etsy will have an idea about the potential of selling on the popular giant marketplace that is focused on selling handmade or vintage items and supplies, as well as, unique-manufactured items.
Ideas of best-selling backdrops categories on Etsy for Holiday Season
To access the full list of popular Etsy holiday backdrops, please click here.
How Etsy is helping sellers during Holiday Season?
Within two years of its launch back in 2005, Etsy was one of the main members of Handmade Consortium– an effort to encourage the purchase of handmade products during Holiday Season.
This effort has surely brought Etsy a long way and disclosed revenue of 195.6 million US dollars in 2014.
In contrast to 2010, Etsy generated a transaction worth 1.93 billion on its platform, which has 54 million members as on March 3, 2015. Etsy went public on April 16th, 2015 at a company valuation of $1.8 billion and raised $237 million in IPO proceeds.
Considering the facts and figures, I don’t see any reason for artisans to stop themselves from selling their talent over the popular eCommerce handmade marketplace Etsy.
Essential pillars to influence shoppers towards your Etsy store
Whether you are already selling handmade products via your own online store or, think of expanding your reach by creating an Etsy store, below are four factors that can help you perform smoothly when selling your creativity online.
I- Marketing
Promotion has always been the backbone of any selling business, therefore, no matter how unique are your handmade products spreading awareness will boost popularity, as well as, sales opportunities for Etsy store.
What you can do?
The way you allows access of your creative products to shoppers will determine the success of your Etsy store. Being loud about how your products will prove to be great gifts for their loved one can help you attract more and more holiday shoppers to your Etsy store.
Tips that can help you perform effective marketing strategies for your Etsy store
1- Use Etsy promotional tools
This marketplace allows sellers an opportunity to stay up in “Etsy search results” by using its Promoted Listing Campaign tool. Offering an ability to make your products visible in buyer’s search terms, this giant marketplace even helps you target correct audience by showing up your products within your shipping locations and price range shoppers are looking for.
You can access the Promoted Listings section from the advertising dashboard. To know more about Promoted Listings on Etsy, please click here.
2- Gain a competitive advantage by offering coupon codes
This can be an ideal option to encourage holiday shoppers to make repeat purchases, as well as spread good word-of-mouth for your Etsy store. Etsy does not show-up your coupon code automatically; hence you can target your discounts to a specific audience, all in an effort to encourage them to revisit your Etsy shop throughout the holiday season.
Whether you wish to thank your first-time shoppers, highlighting them in shop announcements, using them in your checkout page to boost order value of their holiday purchases, Etsy coupon code can be used as an effective sales booster to encourage Holiday shoppers towards your Etsy store.
3- Adopt social media
Social media is considered to be the key for effective promotion, and being into a creative selling business getting your products visible on the walls of popular social media sites can help target multiple potential holiday shoppers in-one-go.
What can be those effective social media platforms for promoting your Etsy store?
A- Facebook: Adding your Etsy store to your Facebook business account can help you connect with potential shoppers who are interested in purchasing and gifting handmade products during Holiday season. Inviting potential audience to like your page can help you increase visibility among their friends of friends who would like to stay updated with the news feed and products offered by your Etsy store.
B- Instagram: This online mobile sharing app targets audience who like to follow brands that allow them to connect with favorite products via images and short video-clips. Offering a space to add a caption, you can tag your products as #holiday gifts to improve visibility among shoppers who are specifically looking for products that can be purchased and gifted during Holiday season
C- Pinterest: Another effective web and mobile photo-sharing social media platform, Pinterest can surely be an ideal platform for Etsy sellers. Promoting your handmade products using Pinterest Board can help you increase the number of repins and invite potential shoppers for making purchases from your Etsy store throughout the auspicious season.
II- Listing
The way you present your handmade products will influence Holiday shopper’s purchase decision. Therefore, focusing on your product listing is another essential factor to encourage Holiday shoppers to engage further with your Etsy store.
What you can do?
If you are already running an Etsy store, it is beneficial to tweak your existing listing as per seasonal theme to attract the attention of Holiday shoppers. Shoppers would like to engage with a brand that offers a value to make their Holiday purchases, therefore it becomes important to work on your listings well-in-advance.
Important factors to consider in your Etsy store’s holiday listings
A- Product Title: The way you address your handmade products will help you increase visibility in holiday shopper’s search results. Understanding the need for your products on behalf of shoppers and coming up with a title to exact fit their Holiday search terms will help search engines better understand your listings and keep them up in SEO rankings and Etsy search results too.
B- Product Description: The number of shopper’s questions answered in your product description will determine the conversion rates of your handmade products. Jumping into the customer’s shoes and highlighting benefits of your products in your descriptions can influence them for selecting your Etsy store to make their Holiday purchases.
C- Product Tags: Last, you would like to cover all important keywords affiliated with your products in your listings. For example, covering words related to color, size, and style can improve chances of fitting Holiday shopper’s tag when looking up for products they intend to purchase/gift.
To know more about listing products on Etsy, please click here.
III- Shipping
Happy with your handmade products, Holiday shoppers would expect to ensure a quick and timely delivery, especially when accepting gifts during major Holidays. Therefore, preparing yourself for your shipping process before those busiest selling days of the year, can help you create trust among potential shoppers.
What you can do?
If you sell awesome but can’t ship your sales orders in time will make no sense for holiday shoppers who wish to get their products delivered during the upcoming holidays 2016.
How Etsy is helping sellers in shipping?
For all US and Canadian sellers on Etsy will automatically get access to onsite postage tool.
Using Etsy shipping labels, you can save time and ensure every shopper’s orders are shipped in time.
Easily purchase and print shipping labels from popular shipping company USPS or Canada post directly from your Etsy shop. Apart from that, easily set up bulk shipments for products that are at the same time or cost the same to ship.
Additionally, get a chance to enhance shopper’s experience during Holidays by allowing them to track their shipment in real-time until delivered.
To know more about Etsy shipping, please click here.
IV- Customer Service
Lastly, you would not like Holiday shoppers to be stuck with a question in mind. Therefore, allowing shoppers an ability to connect with your brand in the case of confusion can stop them from leaving your Etsy store and retain them for future purchase by solving their problems on-the-go, or at the earliest.
What you can do?
From honoring your shipping processing time to instantly addressing concerns, ensuring a great customer experience will help you retain shoppers even after Holiday Season 2016.
Etsy also provides “Seller Protection for Etsy store owners” in case of disputes, unauthorized payment and frauds. To understand further about Etsy’s Seller Protection qualification, please click here.
Wrapping up
Most of the sellers on Etsy may have their own manufacturing unit, however, to encourage more and more people make money out of their creativity Etsy has opened doors for manufacturers to provide means of production to sellers as per their production requirements, products, material, and preferred location too.
Good Luck!
Source:
Orderhive 