Does having more items in your shop really help you get more sales?

[Former_Member]

I've read that the more items you have in your shop, the more views and sales you are more likely to get. Why is that? And has anyone seen a REAL difference when you had more items in your shop?

[Foxery]

Yes, I have seen a difference in the amount of sales I make the more items I add to my shop. I have been actively adding more since October, of all sorts of variety of items, and this has equated to more sales. Lots more.

[FleurDeLeeDesign]

I noticed that after I had 50 items in my shop I started getting regular sales and when I got to 75 sales increased a lot. Now I'm having trouble keeping up and seem to be holding around 62-67 items but still selling regularly. I'm about to hit 100 sales and I've heard that makes a difference, too. Hope to find out soon!

[Former_Member]

Hmm thank you! Do you know WHY you're getting more? Is it that you show up in searches more often when you have more items?

[FleurDeLeeDesign]

Probably, the more items you have, the more likely you are to show up in searches. Having a variety of title, descriptions, keywords probably helps, too.

[Foxery]

I think it is the frequency of listing things. While search works on relevancy of listing title and key words, the most recently listed items still show up first, so having recent listings is still a major factor in an item being clicked on, and ultimately making a sale. And also, it is a numbers game. The more things you have, the more they show up in searches, the more you sell.

But having said that, there are still elements that I simply don't understand. Like, why did I have over 600 views last Wednesday, but under 400 on Friday? And why do I sell five things one weekend, and nothing the next? And why do I hardly ever sell a thing on Thursday? I'd love the answers to these questions.

[BeneathNorthernSkies]

I noticed that once I got to 100 items my views increased greatly. I was getting a sad 15 - 20 visitors a day but now I am well over 100 a day and that seems to be steadily increasing.

[Former_Member]

Very interesting! Thanks for these responses it defiantly helps! I have 37 items in my shop right now but plan to get more up in the next month. It's just been hard to know if paying just the .20 cents to list every items is even worth it when I'm not getting the views now but as you are all saying, it probably is!

[Former_Member]

I have around 43 items in my shop now. And havent done any sales so far.
I had 39 initially and in 10 days time and i have brought it to 43. Is it good enough to start with?? Am having more items to add, but thinking of adding them now and then instead of adding everything in one day. Will this help?

My etsy shop link: www.thejewelstreet.etsy.com

[JeannieGrayKnits]

Before I had 3 pages worth of items in my shop, I averaged 5 - 10 views a day. When I hit 3 pages, my views jumped to 20 - 25 a day. When I hit 55 items, views jumped to 30 - 40 & now with 60+ items, I'm averaging 40 - 50 views a day. Not exactly setting the world on fire, lol, but the views are going up as I increase stock & I haven't done anything differently as far as marketing goes. I do notice, however, that on days where I don't post to my social media sources and don't list anything new in my shop, the views drop dramatically.

I think another reason that no one ever mentions for views going up as you increase your stock is simply that you've been at it longer. You're starting to build your brand, build a following, you participate in teams, & make "friends" through circles & favoring things. Your network of shoppers is growing as you grow your social media following. It's just a natural path that your business takes.

[Former_Member]

I'm not sure it that will help! Haha it seems like it may just because your items will be more likely to show up in the just added category I would think. I'm not exactly sure how that works though. Clearly, for me, only have 37 items isn't working too great. Even though I have had 10 sales, all those sales were from people I already knew outside of Etsy. Which is nice, but I am hoping for more sales from people within Etsy...

[Former_Member]

Also, so you all know I am either now following you on twitter, favoriting your shop and adding you all to my circle! We need to help each other out right! :D

[ClayLickCreekPottery]

Yes- the more items you have the more potential views. With pottery, I hear the magic number is 100. and Jeanie, I agree with your points...intuitively I knew them, but have never read them in a thread.

[Former_Member]

Thanks everyone!! This really helps!

[Former_Member]

Yes, I agree with what has been said here, and seen it prove true in my shop.

Having more items can also mean having the same items in different colors, which will appeal to different people. Or different prints/patterns...just the right one will "hit" the buyer.

Someone might love the idea of my iPad sweater, but if I also offer one in her favorite color, it is harder to resist! Some people are crazy about their favorite color and just "have to have" something if it is the right color. I know when I am browsing and see something I like, I sometimes wish i could get *that* but in *this* color (whatever color I am thinking of at the time)

Best of luck to you all!

[MythOfTheWild]

Of course it helps. You wouldn't go into a shop that had three items on their shelves, would you? More items means that more people will be drawn in because there are more items to pop up in searches. That brings increased traffic. Then, if they look at one of your items and they like it, but it's not in a colour they want or something, then they will look in your shop. If there's only three more items in there they won't look for longer than a few seconds. If there are more items they're more likely to find something that suits their tastes and so are more likely to buy it. Plus, the more items you have in your shop, the more confident you seem in your craft and the better made your items will seem since you appear more practised.

[KriyaDesign]

When you have loads of items, you can vary the titles a bit. So the items show up in different searches. In top page searches. My guess is when you have more items, the store show up more often in searches. Which lead to more traffics. Sales?

I've seen shops with loads of views but lower sales ratio. So more traffics don't equate to more sales. Our aims are to get quality traffics. Targeted traffics. I'd say having more items is a starting point. But a road sign is not the destination itself. It's just a pointer. A yardstick. So does the traffic. Get as many traffics as possible into our stores, then tweak from there.

Yes I find it's true... the more items the store has the more views it gets. I am constantly playing with titles, descriptions and tags. We don't just open the stores and let they do their things. They just won't. We have to keep tweaking and testing. Actively learning and keep tweaking some more. So its a yes and a no.

[Former_Member]

I noticed that when I hit 35 items, my sales increased. I opened last summer and didn't really join any teams or discussions, I now am and that has also helped, I believe!

It's fun to join a team, joining circles etc. The people I have "met" have been so nice and extremely helpful!

[AvantCarde]

Brittany, you've received a lot of good advice here so not too much to add - I can confirm that it is a numbers game - more items in your shop translates to:

-- more sales since customers have a broader range of items to choose from
-- more tags; therefore, greater chance of being found via searches

Adding even one item per day (or renewing an item) keeps your shop higher up in the search results - keep up the good work :)

[Former_Member]

Thank you all!! :D

[LovgrenandDaughter]

It's been said before, but when you have more items, the customer chooses between the items in the shop instead of getting into another shop.

I'm working on the increased items and internal liniking. Kinda like shopping malls and their design to make it hard to find your way out.

[PorcelainJazz]

I've been working on internal links from page to page too (Back links I think they are called) Because once you get all those people in your shop you want them to stay for a while.

And the magic number for me seems to have been 100. But I'm a potter too! :).

Also you said you had more items to add. Spread them out from day to day. That way at least a few items will show up first in the relevancy searches. Once you have some one in your shop hopefully you can then keep them there with back links and other interesting items. (Again more items help here too.)