From Etsy’s Merchandising Desk: June 2012

Etsy.com handmade and vintage goods
marymary

Story by marymary

Published on May 23, 2012 in Seller Handbook

Our aim with Etsy merchandising is to create a healthy balance between promotions for traditional holidays, seasonal changes, cultural events, and lifestyle trends. If you’d like to stay engaged with upcoming merchandising themes, use your own artistic voice to translate them into shop listings, photos, shop announcements, descriptions, tags, titles, sales promotions and more.

Promotional Opportunities for Sellers:

  1. Treasury Tip: Create and label treasuries matching seasonal themes for a chance to have your collection featured on Etsy’s homepage or linked to from promotional emails and shopping pages.
  2. Australian Homepage: As part of Etsy’s commitment to its international community, we now have an Australian homepage. This will allow us to provide more exposure for sellers in this region by featuring local items to a targeted audience. This homepage will be viewed by people who have their region set to Australia. Now, we need help from the Etsy community in curating it! Learn how to get involved.
  3. Listing in Quantities: Etsy is in the process of rolling out new billing changes that will allow you to maximize the ability to list in multiple quantities. Learn more.
  4. Search Ads: In order to focus on improving Search Ads and building additional tools, we will be discontinuing Showcase spots after Tuesday, May 29. Learn more.
  5. Press Tip: Media publications are currently working on their long lead stories for fall and holiday 2012 (yes, those holidays!). Increase your chances of landing a print feature by making your seasonal collections available now.
  6. Etsy Weddings and Registries: Learn how to make the most of Etsy’s new Weddings and Registries launch in this article.

Themes to Plan for:
Our central merchandising themes this month focus on Father’s Day, graduations, summer, fashion, weddings, and a look ahead to summer festivities. This emphasizes the seasonality of the Northern Hemisphere, but it’s important to remember that winter is approaching in the Southern Hemisphere. Maintaining seasonally appropriate options year-round is good practice for boosting international and overall sales.

  • Father’s Day: To account for shipping deadlines, make sure your line of Father’s Day items take expedited and local options into account. Think in terms of classic gifts, new dads, and don’t forget about gifts for granddad. Popular gift categories include gadgets, phone cases, docking stations, sports gear and accessories, fashion accessories for men, cards, and ways to let dad sit back and relax.
  • Graduations: Mid-June wraps up the typical season for graduations, especially of the high school variety. Think in terms of keepsake gifts, personalization, milestone achievements, college preparation, and innovative ways to present monetary gifts. Don’t forget about those end-of-the-year gift ideas for teachers, too.
  • Fashion: Summer styles are the main focus. Think in terms of lightweight fabrics, sleeveless and open toe designs. Take into account swim, beachwear and accessories. Take advantage of summer dress styles fit for wedding, party, and graduation season. Tagging Tip: Try adding the term “fashion” to appropriate items to reach a broader shopping audience.
  • Weddings: Wedding season is in full swing; determine how your line of goods could expand into wedding offerings and tag accordingly (if appropriate) to show up in Etsy’s newly launched Weddings experience.
  • Summer: June marks the official start to summer. Think in terms of bright summer colors, fashion, grilling, camping, picnics, markets, festivals, outdoor activities and sports, seasonal holidays and long weekends.
  • Gardening: Consider indoor, outdoor and urban gardens, tools, aprons and gloves, plant markers and signs, containers, vertical solutions, heirloom seeds and composting. With summer’s bounty coming into harvest, also think in terms of canning, food preservation, recipes, and culinary kits.
  • Birthdays: June’s birthstone is pearl; star signs include Gemini and Cancer (May 21 — June 21: Gemini, June 22 — July 22: Cancer).

June’s Trends:

  • Father’s Day: Gift ideas and personalized options specifically for dads.
  • Graduations: Announcements, invitations, party decor and gift ideas.
  • The World in Sports: Biking and tennis come back into focus with the impending Tour de France and Wimbledon Tennis Championship; also trending are this summer’s upcoming Olympic Games, scheduled to kick off in late July.
  • Gardening: Planters, vertical solutions, tools, garden markers, heirloom seed varieties, compost bins, terrariums, bird and bee houses, chicken coops and egg baskets.
  • Hot Colors: peach, mint green, neon and nude combos.
  • Gadget Accessories: Innovative gadget cases, docking stations, speakers, amplifiers and accessories, especially geared around the iPhone 4S, iPad and Kindle Fire.
  • Nails: Lacquers, polishes, art and stickers.
  • Fashion: Summer dresses (especially maxi dresses), sheer and crochet panels, neon hues, open toe shoes, retro inspired swimwear.
  • References to Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Mad Men & Alice in Wonderland — all trending in pop culture. Think in terms of symbols like arrows, birds, wizardry, magic, enchanted forests, rabbits, whimsy and mid-century modern fashion and decor.
  • Vintage Fashion and Decor: With the return of Mad Men’s season 5, expect to see inspired vintage collections trending once again.
  • Weddings: Engagement rings, both handcrafted and antique. Vintage, retro and rockabilly references, photobooths and props, fan programs, Mad Libs, personalized wine labels, fingerprint guest books, DIY decorations, and creative takes on the little details from save the dates all the way to favors.
  • Infinity Styles: Rings, scarves, bracelets & necklaces.
  • Organization and Storage: Spring cleaning! Fresh solutions for getting organized.
  • Personalization: Gift ideas with monograms, initials, text, numbers, zodiac, constellations, portraits, custom labels, stamps, fingerprints and family trees.
  • Home: Outdoor living and furniture, fireplaces and pits, outdoor kitchens, string lights and lanterns, window curtains, drapes, shower curtains, bedding and hardware.
  • Culinary Trends: Food preservation and canning. DIY culinary kits are on the rise. Classic cocktails, homebrewing, beer and wine accessories, herb infusions and kits, garden to table.
  • Designer Vintage: Authentic fashion, collectibles, bikes and auto accessories.
  • Letters, Numbers, and Symbols: Large vintage signage, letterpress blocks, monogram housewares and typewriter keys.
  • Galaxy: Stars, space, and constellation motifs.
  • Native: Tribal and native inspirations. Bohemian, feathers, and tribal-inspired geometric patterns.
  • Tribal Geometry: Tribal meets bright, bold colors and graphic geometrics.
  • Natural History: Woodland forest themes and animals, birds, owls, squirrels, hedgehogs, chipmunks, bunnies, butterflies, feathers, nests, eggs, acorns, leaves, trees, branches, woodgrain, and natural colors.
  • Lockets, secret hiding places, skeleton keys, arrows, diamonds, paper cuts, silhouettes, fortune cookies, wishbones, constellations, fortune telling.
  • Large scale vintage and handmade paper maps, botanical and anatomy charts.
  • Upcycled lights, lamps, exposed bulbs, and chandeliers.
  • The Queen and her Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
  • Vintage cameras, especially Polaroids with film.
  • Bike caddies, baskets, and creative accessories.
  • Embellished, painted & customizable shoes.
  • Cottage Style: Chic decor and accessories.
  • Video game-inspired references
  • Writable chalkboard surfaces
  • Embellished faux eyelashes
  • Designed Fabric Yardage
  • Wall and laptop decals
  • The little black dress
  • Mermaids
  • Ear cuffs

If you make items that 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 match? That’s great! Revisit those items to make sure your tags, titles and descriptions reflect keywords that shoppers might be looking for during this time of year. This is also a great opportunity to revamp your item photography. Check out some great how-to’s on item photography to get started. For those who enjoy making treasury lists, we’ll be looking to highlight lists that interpret these themes in a creative and cohesive ways. Please tag your treasuries accordingly.

Upcoming Dates to Remember

  • June is known as: LGBT Pride, candy, rose and dairy month
  • June 1 Official start of Australian Winter
  • June 2 – 5 Celebratory weekend of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee
  • June 3 Mother’s Day (France)
  • June 7 Feast of Corpus Christi
  • June 8 – July 1 Euro Soccer Cup
  • June 9 Belmont Stakes Horse Race
  • June 12 Philippines Independence Day
  • June 13 Sewing Machine Day
  • June 16 Lailat al-Miraj
  • June 17 Father’s Day
  • June 18 Etsy’s Birthday
  • June 20 Summer Solstice
  • June 21 Fête de la musique (France)
  • June 23 Dragon Boat Festival
  • June 24 LGBT Pride Day
  • June 25 St. Jean Baptiste Day
  • June 25 – July 8 Wimbledon Tennis Championship
  • June 27 – July 1 Men’s Fashion Week, Paris
  • June 30 1st Harry Potter book published 1997 (UK)
  • June 30 – July 22 Tour de France

Have a date to remember that you don’t see on the list? Let us know in the comments section below.

Read Past Merch Desk Articles

Related Items

202 comments

Sign in to add your own