From Etsy’s Merchandising Desk: July Heats Up

marymary

Story by marymary

Published on June 04, 2010 in Seller Handbook

Photo by missfancypantspinup

Take a break from the beach volleyball and tropical smoothies with a little poolside reading. It may be summer break for the kids, but you’ve got a busy season ahead. Study up with some of our merchandising plans for July. It is our goal to create a healthy balance between promotions for traditional holidays, seasonal changes, cultural events, and lifestyle trends.

Rounding Out June
  • Keep up with June’s seasonal themes, holidays, dates to remember and trends in June’s Merchandising Desk edition.
  • Promotional Opportunities for Sellers:
    1. Are you a new seller or know of an undiscovered shop? (Specifically Etsy shops that have opened in the last three months or have had under 15 sales.) Let us know in this Forum thread for upcoming promotional opportunities.
    2. Create and nominate a Treasury for Etsy’s home page fitting June’s curation themes in this Forum thread.
    3. Create and nominate Father’s Day themed Treasuries for Etsy’s home page in this Forum thread.
    4. Create and nominate Graduation themed Treasuries for Etsy’s home page in this Forum thread.
Stay Engaged in July
Our central merchandising topics this month will center around the height of summer activities, traditional celebrations, summer fashion and decor options with hints at autumnal themes. You’ll find the extended list of topics we’re excited to highlight throughout the month of July below. We’re looking for your creative voice on each of the upcoming seasonal motifs .
  • Fourth of July:Americana, primitive, and folk art motifs. Family celebrations, vacations, kids’ games, and recipes. Festivals, county fairs, rustic furniture, nautical and classic styles translating through decor, entertaining, and fashion.
  • Tour de France:Biking, racing, competition, bike gear, accessories, travel, French culture, language, and countryside.
  • Children and Pets: Spending time and getting outdoors with the little ones. Childrens activities, day trips, camps, DIY crafting kits, art projects, kid-friendly recipes, and parties. Pet excursions, hiking, biking, running, swimming, playing, and all the accessories needed for frolicking with our furry friends. Toys, packs, food and watering, leashes, harnesses, travel carriers, portable beds, tags, gear to test the elements, and treats to show them love.
  • Bath and Beauty: Relaxing remedies for soothing and calming. Scrubs and exfoliates for sloughing away time spent in the sun and working in the yard. Creams, lotions, salves, and oils to keep skin lips and limbs moisturized all season long. Travel options to toss in a bag, travel case, pocket, or backpack.
  • Health and Wellness: Sports, fitness, and active-wear. Health conscious practices and taking time for meditation.
  • Fashion: Summer fashion themes, styles, and materials will be peaking this month. Now is the time to plan ahead, launch, and look for previews of this year’s fall fashions.
  • Summer Living: Garden parties, outdoor picnics, barbecues, family get togethers, poolside, beach and lake weekend getaways, summer camping, biking, hiking, camping, backpacking, outdoor sports, gear and other activities. Planting, harvesting, preparing, and dining from the garden and local foods.
  • Home Decor: Alfresco living, canopies, furniture and lighting elements. Collections and organizational solutions incorporating with vintage finds. Natural materials, sturdy and textured raw fabrics.
  • Weddings and Celebrations: Summer themed details and gift options are still relevant to upcoming weddings and celebrations. In addition, plan for and list autumn/winter themed options for aspects of events that are handled months in advance: announcements, invites, venue details, decor themes, attire, and honeymooning.
  • Summer Travel: The international vacation, tropical and cultural fashions, jet-setting, adventure, traditional heritage events, souvenirs, travel gear, accessories, and luggage. Toys, activities, and entertainment for the little ones.
  • Back to School: Fashion, office supplies and furniture, dorm room essentials and decor for the new apartment. Think journals, sketchbooks, portfolios, papers, writing utensils, pouches, backpacks, desks, storage solutions, and creative organizational concepts.
  • Halloween Preview: Look for introductions to harvest, mystical, and Halloween themes cropping up in mid to late July as we plan for Etsy’s take on this thriving creative holiday.
  • The ruby is July’s birthstone, and July’s astrological signs are Cancer and Leo (June 22 – July 22: Cancer, July 23 – August 23: Leo).
  • Site-wide promotion: Stay tuned for information on how to get involved in annual community driven site-wide promotions.
  • Seller Holiday Prepping: Summer months are the optimal time to start planning for and getting your shop ready for the holiday season. Etsy’s holiday season picks up from October through December. Harvest and Halloween seasons pick up as early as August, so start stocking up on and listing your holiday offerings now in preparation for the seasonal rush ahead.
    • Media Tip: Press outlets begin finalizing their holiday issues and series in the summer. Have your holiday items listed, tagged, and available now for buyers and PR reps looking to pull items for holiday gift guides.

July Trend Forecast and Mainstays:

  •  Fourth of July: Emphasis will be on red, white, and blue color combinations, primitive, folk, vintage, stripped down accents and Americana decor.
  • Fashion: References to Americana, stripes, seersucker, nautical, preppy, and classic styles return with the Fourth of July. Look for fabric, beaded, sequined, and appliqued embellishments picking up steam this summer. Grecian styles, empire waists, tunics, asymmetrical and A-line cuts are trending.
  • Twilight Eclipse Movie Premiere: With the recent June 30th release of the latest in the Twilight series we expect to see a resurgence in themes surrounding vampires, werewolves, dark and forbidden love stories, legends, and supernatural subject matter.
  • The World in Sports: The World Cup in South Africa and the Tour de France means soccer (a.k.a. football), biking, racing, competition, international themes, and team colors will be trending globally.
  • Geekery and Gaming: Options for gadget lovers and those who love to stay indoors during the summer months. Docks and docking stations, cases, sleeves, gadgets, cozies, computer and office accessories, technical gear, bags, carriers, and essentials.
  • Halloween Preview: I know it sounds early, but Halloween references, specifically in costuming and decor, begin trending in mid-July. Channel celebrity references, clever baby and toddler get-ups, haunted houses and vintage harvest nostalgia.
  • Weekend at the River House: Camping, hiking, boating, fishing, and outdoor excursions. Think vintage retro accessories mixed with modern gear and essentials.
  • The County Fair: Circus and carnival themes, sideshow wonders, bright colors and foods.
  • Alfresco Living and Home: Industrial vintage and reproduction furniture, decor, and interiors. Think farmhouse, countryside, the French flea market and galvanized metal, as well as ,arket baskets and totes, bikes and bike imagery, picnics and flea market finds, and components to create “the outdoor room.”
  • Personalization: Custom names, initials, monograms, quotes, phrases, fingerprints, and numbers.
  • Natural History: Nature, taxidermy, raw minerals and stones, feathers, foliage, claws, charts, diagrams, bones, antlers, and species.
  • Color Trends: Combinations of metallic with neutrals; reds, whites and blues; citruses (lime, lemon, grapefruit, blood orange, tangerine); robin’s egg blues, sepia tones and tea stains. Patterns in seersucker, stripes, gingham, and houndstooth will also be trending.
If you’d like to stay engaged and involved with the approaching merchandising themes, use them in your own artistic voice as you add to your shop. This can be translated in your listings, photos, shop announcements, descriptions, tags, titles, sales promotions and more. We’re excited to see your creative interpretations!

If you make items that would fit well with the themes outlined, try stocking up and listing them in advance to take advantage of potential shipping deadlines and site features. Do you already have items in your shop that meld well? That’s great! Now it’s time to revisit those items to make sure your tags, titles, and descriptions reflect keywords that shoppers might be looking for this time of year. This is also a great opportunity to revamp your item photography with a new look if you think they need some work. Check out some great how-to’s for item photography to get started.

If your items fall under the main thematic categories we’ll be highlighting this month, consider purchasing a spot in a Category Showcase. For those of you who enjoy making Treasuries, we’ll be looking to highlight lists that interpret these themes in a creative and cohesive way throughout the site.

Upcoming Dates to Remember

  • July is known as national hot dog and national ice cream month.
  • July 1 Canada Day
  • July 4 Independence Day (4th of July)
  • July 4: Hot Dog Eating Contest, Coney Island
  • July 4 – 26: Tour de France
  • July 9 Independence Day (Argentina)
  • July 13 Embrace your Geekness Day
  • June 11 – July 11 World Cup in South Africa
  • July 14 Bastille Day
  • July 20 Marine Day (Japan)
  • July 24 Amelia Earhart Day

We’d like to hear from you!
Do you have a date to remember that you don’t see on the list? Let us know in the comments section below. We are currently working towards incorporating a more detailed calendar of international holidays into Etsy’s thematic merchandising plans, so we’re eager to hear which dates you would like to see included. We appreciate your support and look forward to your feedback and suggestions in the comments section below.

Past Merch Desk Articles

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