What if an Etsy friend had put their shop in vacation mode for most of last year and now has reopened their shop . . . what would you tell them about Etsy?
https://www.etsy.com/teams/7722/discussions/discuss/18315095/page/1?post_id=358530424Here is my post:
Etsy Search has changed . . . For some views/sales are up and for others views/sales are down . . .
Craft Supplies & Tools continue to be the #1 category for sales with one seller now over one million in total sales.
Handmade is running about one tenth of Craft Supplies & Tools.
Vintage is significantly lower in sales than Handmade.
Etsy appears to be focusing on where the sales are with Etsy Studio.
www.CraftCount.com continues to be a source for which sellers are doing well.
Social Media continues to be good place to promote products.
Treasuries have been done away with.
Teams (some) are less active without treasuries.
Etsy's Sellers Handbook is increasing in articles designed to help sellers.
Some shops (a few) are becoming "Mixed" in the categories in which they sell --- 15 shop sections allow room for some Supplies, some Handmade, and some Vintage too.
It appears the largest number of shoppers come to Etsy now for their craft supplies online --- perhaps shoppers like the appeal of smaller shops for their craft supplies rather than shop at the huge physical stores selling craft supplies. It does appear that "crafting" is an interest of many who enjoy the creativity of it.
From a business perspective it only seems to be logical that the Etsy selling venue is best to follow where the sales actually are.
Innovation and invention and understanding what shoppers are looking to buy has never been as important as it is now!
Selling what shoppers are looking to buy just makes good business sense.
Vintage still is an important reason many shoppers visit Etsy, as is also is the uniqueness of Handmade. It is just the factual actual sales are most in Craft Supplies & Tools.
Understanding what's trending in different categories will help one plan better.
Customer Service will always be important --- People Make Etsy more than robotics do.
I saw Mark Cuban (from the Shark Tank) on the morning news being asked about "robots" replacing humans in the work place . . . in essence it appears that robotics/automation will be doing more and more of the functions that humans use to do . . .
Just one of Mr. Cuban's News interviews . . .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyCyI4JloDUIf you like follow the forum thread as many may post there . . . and, if you would like to share your thoughts about the future of small online business here on Etsy or elsewhere too.
Thank you,
Mike
