Get your shop ship-shape for Christmas

• By Etsy
• 06 Nov 2013

Christmas can be a busy time for an online seller, buyers all around the world flock to their favourite boutique sites to find one-of-a-kind gift for their loved ones. So what can you do to make sure your customers - old and new - leave sparkling and satisfied?

We checked in with full-time sellers who’ve been around the Etsy Christmas block before, to bring you their top 5 tips (plus a special festive offer for MOO sellers!)

1. Know Your Customer
Who are you trying to reach this festive season? Try visualising the most likely person to buy your items. Is it mum seeking colourful winter clothes for her kids, a quirky art lover searching for one-of-a-kind pieces, DIY fashionistas hoping to get noticed, or none of the above? No one knows your business better than you. Once you’ve got a clear image of your customer, add a sentence or two that describes their ideal demographic and personality traits in your item listings – this’ll help gift buyers feel more confident about their purchases.

2. Stock Up & Organise
Don’t stress yourself out by adding lots of new items to your shop - just tweak your existing listings. At Christmas, shoppers are looking for gifts by type, price, and recipient (and combinations of the three), so be sure to add categories like ‘gadgets and games’ (type), ‘Under £25’ (price), or ‘gifts for colleagues’ (recipient) to save them time.

3. Decorate for Christmas
Whether you deck every hall of your shop with Christmas-themed merchandising or just go for a handful of seasonal adjustments, ask yourself this question: What’s the best way to show that my items make great Christmas gifts? Consider adding seasonal designs to your collections or organising a special photo shoot to show off your goods in a Christmassy light.

4. Share Your Story
Who’s the creative force behind these items? How are these items made? These are the kinds of questions customers love reading, the “behind-the-scenes” answers to in sellers’ About pages. People shop at Etsy partly because they want to hear the unique story behind the unique gift – so don’t be shy and give them a story.

5. Watch Your Calendar
Having your line of products well stocked and marketed in time for Christmas means understanding the seasonal timeline – and for retailers, Christmas begins in October, or even earlier! Check our calendar so you can target Christmas properly, and any other festive celebrations that come along.

Written on:

06 Nov 2013

Categories:

Best Practice, Marketing Tips