Friday, May 18, 2012

Some Etsy Success Points Retailers Should Know About

Etsy has created an impressively productive eCommerce site, I would like to take a few moments to highlight some of the things they are doing tremendously right. Hopefully retailers (both brick and mortar and online) can learn from what Etsy is doing right.

Founded in 2005 Etsy has expanded from nothing to 12 million+ buyer accounts. Think Amazon meets your Grandma’s keepsakes +  your friends awesome homemade projects. Etsy’s rise has relied upon word of mouth and smart marketing.

Things they do right:

1)      They have product features on their home page, following a theme of the day (colors, textures, patterns, styles).

2)      They have weekly Etsy Marketing tips that go out to assist their sellers and create a value add to their website.

3)      Features - Etsy runs features on shop owners. They tell their story and highlight how they make their products. This could translate to featuring a brand of clothing, designer or current trend.

4)      Their whole site is picture heavy, each product has multiple pictures representing them from different angles. When you first open the page you see picture after picture all organized in a systematic way. They have daily emails that go out to subscribers featuring new hot products.

5)      Their system for organizing their items goes wide. They have a category for “geekery” and “toys”. One could literally spend hours pursuing their site and all the possibilities.

6)      They have had a blog that gets consistently updated by guest writers since 2005. In the beginning the posts were less frequent, now they commonly have 2 or 3 posts a day. All interesting to and useful to their followers.

7)      Each member’s information is automatically stored and used for Etsy’s own continued marketing. Made possible by a hefty CRM on their end.

Take aways:

1)      Create a value add wherever possible. Make it so that your services go beyond the obvious.

2)      Be inspiring.

3)      Make it possible for your shoppers to see your merchandise from anywhere. Or at least get a taste for your aesthetic and want to find out more. (If you do not have an ecommerce site, create a blog, apps, etc)

4)      Update your clients and interact with them in more ways than just in store (email, social media, events, blogs, etc).

5)      Have fun and don’t shy away from being creative or pushing the envelope.

6)      Retain your client’s information and likes, ensure you have a proper system to go about doing this. Think of creative ways to get them to follow/like you on your social sites.

This information was made available by the marketing team at One Step Retail Solutions, leading retail technology consultancy company. If you need help finding a system with customer relationship management capabilities, mobile POS, full inventory tracking and more contact Amy to set up a free consultation or call 818-543-4777 ext 4116

Home Page

Etsy Blog


Featured Sellers


Sample Treasury List