From Etsy’s Merchandising Desk: May 2012

Etsy.com handmade and vintage goods
marymary

Story by marymary

Published on May 08, 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. Press Tip: Media publications are currently working on their long lead stories for fall 2012. Increase your chances of landing a print feature by making your seasonal collections available now.
  3. 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 spring, fashion, weddings, and a look ahead to summer festivites. This emphasizes the seasonality of the Northern Hemisphere, but it’s important to remember that it is fall in the Southern Hemisphere. Maintaining seasonally appropriate options year-round is good practice for boosting international and overall sales.

  • Mother’s Day: Extend the shopping season for your Mother’s Day offerings by offering clearly marked expedited shipping and local pickup options for your line of goods.
  • Father’s Day: With little under a month until Father’s Day (and Germany’s Father’s Day falling on May 17), now is the time to list your full line of offerings to commemorate dad. 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: College and university graduations take place in early to mid-May while high school ceremonies usually take place in early to mid-June. Think in terms of keepsake gifts, personalization, milestone achievements, and innovative ways to present cash gifts. Don’t forget about those end of the year gift ideas for teachers, too.
  • Fashion: Spring looks that can transition into summer — think light layers and bright accessories. Take advantage of spring break and vacation season by offering your lines of swim, beach and resort wear now. 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.
  • Spring: Bright spring colors, fashion, spring cleaning, outdoor activities, seasonal holidays  and a look ahead to summer.
  • Gardening: It’s spring planting time. Consider indoor, outdoor and urban gardens, tools, aprons and gloves, plant markers and signs, containers, vertical solutions, heirloom seeds and composting.
  • Prom, Parties and Glam: Party-style dresses, vintage frocks, and the glamourous accessories to complete the perfect look. Also trending: makeup, false eyelashes, nail polish and stickers, and hair pins.
  • Memorial Day Weekend: Long weekends and summer holidays — think in terms of outdoor activities, festive colors, party decor, and cooking outside.
  • Birthdays: May’s birthstone is emerald; star signs include Taurus and Gemini (April 21 — May 20:  Taurus, May 21 — June 21:  Gemini).

May’s Trends:

  • The World in Sports: Equestrian, bright colors, fascinators and horse racing themes back in the spotlight with the Kentucky Derby and tennis gear; fashion and matches with the French Open.
  • Gardening: Planters, vertical solutions, tools, garden markers, heirloom seed varieties, compost bins, terrariums, bird and bee houses.
  • Gadget Accessories: Innovative gadget cases, docking stations, speakers, amplifiers and accessories, especially geared around the iPhone 4S, iPad and Kindle Fire.
  • 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.
  • Nails: lacquers, polishes and stickers.
  • 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.
  • Cottage: Chic decor and accessories.
  • Home: Window curtains, drapes, shower curtains, bedding and hardware.
  • Fashion: Spring basics and accessories, lighter layers, leggings, and bright colors. Summer dresses on the radar.
  • Culinary Trends: 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.
  • 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.
  • Vintage cameras, especially Polaroids with film.
  • Bike caddies, baskets, and creative accessories.
  • Embellished, painted & customizable shoes.
  • Video game-inspired references
  • Writable chalkboard surfaces
  • Designed Fabric Yardage
  • Wall and laptop decals
  • Cannes Film Festival
  • The little black dress
  • Mermaids
  • Macarons
  • 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

  • May is known as: National Barbecue, Photograph, and Bike Month. National Book Month and Postcard Week is during May in UK.
  • May 1 May Day
  • May 1 Fete du Travail, Labor Day
  • May 5 Cinco de Mayo
  • May 5 Kentucky Derby
  • May 7 May Day (Bank holiday) (UK)
  • May 8 National Teachers Day
  • May 10 VE Day
  • May 13 Mother’s Day 
  • May 16-27 Cannes Film Festival
  • May 17 Father’s Day (Germany)
  • May 18 International Museum Day
  • May 18 National Bike to Work Day
  • May 21 Victoria Day (Canada)
  • May 26 – 28 Shavuot
  • May 27 – June 10 French Open
  • May 28 Whit Monday
  • May 28 Memorial Day
  • May 31 National Macaron Day

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

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