Vintage and craft marketplace Etsy has published its first Marketplace Insights: 2018 Festive Trends in advance of the peak ecommerce period which is now beginning with the onset of October. The Marketplaces Insights document is an interesting mix of analysis, information about what happened in certain categories over past years, product inspiration, merchandising advice and also information from Etsy about their seasonal marketing plans.
You can find the guide to download for free here.
They say:
Our report draws on larger industry trends, past Etsy search and sales data, and insights from Etsy’s Merchandising team and our in-house trend expert and judge on NBC’s Making It, Dayna Isom Johnson. And because Etsy is where many trends are born, we also consulted trendsetting sellers for their advice on creating holiday bestsellers and making trends your own.
– Etsy
There is plenty of practical advice that Etsy recommends to give your sales a seasonal boost, and for these purposes the guide doesn’t just look at Christmas but also focusses on generic autumn sales and also talks about halloween, which is a big event on the marketplace. As an example, they concentrate on how you can spruce up your listings by making improvements to your imagery illustrating your wares.
They also advise merchants to optimise their seasonal titles and tags to improve findability. For instance, they suggest thinking about what buyers might search for and to make amendments accordingly perhaps by including terms such as ‘novelty gift’ or ‘stocking stuffer’
This is a good and imaginative initiative and it’s been well executed: the useful information is superbly presented in Etsy’s familiar, well designed and tasteful style. But certainly the most useful content relates to promotional plans and what will be displayed prominently to shoppers. Whilst Etsy is in a unique position, because it is relatively niche, this is the sort of thing that the likes of eBay and Amazon should be developing for merchants too.
