Etsy Insights: Holiday prep tips | Etsy Success

StitchersWonderland · 2021-10-04T17:45:54.637000Z

Hello! I am Dorothee, owner of StitchersWonderland selling on Etsy for a little more than five years. My products are hand stitched pictures, pillows, and tablecloth. As team-captain of a German team I also organize Etsy Markets, and I run several workshops per year aiming at helping my fellow sellers grow their businesses. The holidays are approaching and it’s now time to set up your shop for the busy holiday shopping season! Here are some tips on how you can prepare your shop and hopefully be very successful. 1. Your inventory: You are all probably far along in the process of filling your shop with new items in order to offer your customers a rich and varied selection. Check your items against the 2021 Etsy Holiday Trend Report — maybe even a second time. Read the report and ask yourself the following questions: In terms of colors and motifs, which items from my shop are on trend? Which of my items are in line with current demand? Are there items in my shop that are perfect as gifts? If you offer items with a short manufacturing time, you can supplement your existing offering with items that are on trend and frequently in demand during the holiday shopping season. Also, check in your circle of acquaintances to see what gift ideas are being swapped there to see if new trends emerge. 2. Materials, packaging materials and marketing supplies: If you offer personalized items, check that you have all the materials you need in the quantities that are necessary. It’s no any harm to keep a reserve. Sellers of craft supplies need to be prepared to offer the materials shoppers need for their DIY projects very early — in many families, crafting and baking are the highlights of the pre-holiday season. Vintage sellers are also running out of time to locate suitable items that match the seasonal trend and post them in their shop. Make sure you have enough suitable packaging materials or thank you cards, especially if you provide your customers with the option of receiving their purchased item gift-wrapped. Thank you cards with a holiday motive or holiday cards ready for messages from customers to the recipient should be on hand. Don't forget to imprint your logo and contact information on these cards discreetly so that the recipient knows which shop their great gift came from. They are a potential future customer! Organize your packing materials so that you only need to reach into specific compartments or drawers to grab what you need. This helps when things get stressful. 3. Processing times and delivery times: double-check your settings for processing times and consider whether you can get by at the specified order volumes, even with an increased volume of orders. Shoppers want very short processing times, but do set realistic processing times to avoid disappointing customers and preventing them from becoming repeat customers. The same goes for delivery times. Delivery services are already warning of increased parcel volumes in the run-up to the holidays. That's why it is important to avoid setting false expectations. 4. Titles and tags: revise the titles and tags of your items in view of the holiday period, for which you can again refer to the Etsy Holiday Trend Report. Among other things, consider: Who is looking for items like mine? Who could be receive an item from my inventory as a gift? Before the holidays, customers are mainly looking for gifts for their loved ones, their friends and acquaintances, and themselves. This changes their perspective when they enter search terms. For instance, while they might buy a make-up bag for themselves during the year, around the holiday period they could be looking for a gift for their best friend. So if you are selling make-up bags, it would make sense to use the term "gift for her" in the title or as a tag. Think about who your items are suitable for as a gift and include appropriate tags or keywords (gift for mom, gift for grandpa, etc.) in the title. Also think about regional expressions and words for an item in the appropriate tags, or use synonyms to match as many search queries as possible. Also, don't neglect categories and attributes. For example, "the holidays" are an occasion for a gift. So if you select this occasion, you save a tag for another suitable keyword. Incorporating seasonal keywords into titles and tags is also a great opportunity for all shops that can't change their inventory, e.g., because of very long production times. This will also include their items in the search results for seasonal keywords, so that shoppers will also be aware of these items. 5. Item photos and item videos: These are the basis on which most shoppers decide to buy a particular item. Using one or two of the ten photos available to you to show your item with holiday-related props or backgrounds is an excellent incentive to buy. This creates a mood that indicates the item's suitability as a gift. Lifestyle photos are a great way of doing this and a photo showing your holiday gift wrap is also very helpful. Item videos offer another useful opportunity to highlight the item's suitability as a gift. For example, include a video that shows the gift being packaged in holiday-themed wrapping. Such a video also creates the necessary pre-holiday season atmosphere and can attract customers by showing them that they don't have to do this work themselves. 6. Shop banner: Your shop banner is essential to attract customers who are looking for a gift for themselves or others. It is the largest and probably the first page element a shopper will see on your shop page. A seasonal design in the banner, using appropriate holiday props or even a pretty holiday gift pack, for example, can make your shop appear to be part of a giant Christmas market at first glance, thereby also stimulating the buying mood. Shoppers will be more inclined to look at your items in detail if they get the impression from the outset that your shop has a holiday feel. This is an opportunity you should not miss! Also, think about sale promotions, coupons, ad campaigns, etc. And don’t forget to use social media to highlight your shop as a gift shop and your items as gift items. Share photos and/or videos of your items with a holiday or even winter background so shoppers can see how well your items fit into a festive setting. Relevant hashtags are a must! I hope you manage to approach the holiday shopping season well prepared and, even if it gets very busy, manage it mostly stress-free. May you enjoy the holidays peacefully with your loved ones, relax and gather strength for the New Year to come. Share your holiday shop tips below!

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