Ideas
Please Make Etsy More User Friendly
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Original Post
I got my 23 year-old daughter an Etsy gift card for Christmas (she knows Etsy and has shopped here before). She looked for about a half-hour, and then said: "I can't find anything, it's too confusing." She said the site was fine if you knew what you were looking for, but it was too overwhelming otherwise.
I have heard this before from my peers (one of my friends asked me for an "Etsy tutorial"!), but after the Etsy admin said that Browse was a big success, I assumed that it was just us older, less computer-savvy people who felt that way. But my daughter and her smart phone & laptop are tied at the hip, and she definitely knows her way around e-commerce.
Now that the holidays are over, I sure hope Etsy will take another look at their rather daunting search protocols. Since it's clear that categories are not coming back, perhaps they can find another way to make shopping here simpler and less overwhelming.
Posted at 4:42 pm Dec 26, 2012 EST
Responses
What are you looking for?
I've found that since the relevancy search was made the default in August 2011 that searching is much easier. Simply enter what you are looking for in the search bar and items that match the search will appear.
If you just want to browse, you can use 'browse', Treasuries, or simply scroll through the various categories.
You can shop by colour as well
www.etsy.com/color.php
Posted at 4:57 pm Dec 26, 2012 EST
My husband, the engineer, finds etsy clunky as well, he just uses Amazon for his shopping.
Posted at 5:04 pm Dec 26, 2012 EST
I don't get it. There's a search bar right at the top of the screen, and you can shop by 'categories' - from the front page, look at the left column. Scroll down to 'Other Ways to Shop' and click on 'Categories'.
Easy peasy.
Posted at 5:43 pm Dec 26, 2012 EST
All the suggestions above only help if you know what you are looking for. As the OP stated, her daughter wanted to just look around. She wasn't coming for a specific thing. I have to agree. Etsy is waaay to big and overwhelming to just browse around in (and I don't find browse helpful). They've taken away the tools that use to make browsing more narrowed but not specific (like pounce, colors, etc).
Posted at 6:30 pm Dec 26, 2012 EST
I have to say that I've had a number of folks tell me in the last couple of months that they don't like to use etsy anymore... that it's too big, too confusing. changes all the time, etc. I found that interesting.
It doesn't matter if it's true or not if that is the perception of people...and people talk and share stories. I'm thinking that the tide may be turning... People are fickle and always looking for the next best thing.
Posted at 6:51 pm Dec 26, 2012 EST
I agree that it changes too much. And the listing pages have gotten very busy.
Posted at 6:54 pm Dec 26, 2012 EST
I'll bet that a lot of new people who have never been to Etsy before are going to get gift cards and have no idea what they want. They will probably use Browse and the lucky shops occupying prime real estate in browse will clean up in the next couple of weeks.
Posted at 7:12 pm Dec 26, 2012 EST
I personally dislke sites that are constantly changing. I have stopped using google analytics because it is now totally different to what it used to be and no longer appeals to me.
I can see that buyers would get frustrated with the constant changes on etsy.
Posted at 7:13 pm Dec 26, 2012 EST
The changes don't work with my shopping style at all. I haven't bought a thing here since they made them (I always support small businesses and individual artisans, though- I've been doing that since long before Etsy ever existed.)
I can totally see where your daughter is coming from, OP.
Posted at 7:14 pm Dec 26, 2012 EST