Setting up an Etsy store is an opportunity to reach millions of active buyers searching for products like handmade goods, craft supplies and vintage items. Etsy’s goal is to “keep commerce human,” and it wants to help small businesses to succeed. It protects sellers and helps them to navigate the challenges of selling online. Here are four of the benefits of selling on Etsy.
1. Easy to set up and start selling
Etsy provides you with everything you need to set up your store and start selling. You don’t need coding skills or design knowledge. It has a step-by-step guide that helps you to name your store, create your storefront, list items and set up billing and payment options. With expert guidance, you can find out more about how to handle every aspect of owning a store, including what to do once you make your first sale. Etsy takes a small fee from every sale through the site, but it’s a fair trade for ease of use and exposure.
One of the tips to increase your Etsy sales is to use a print-on-demand company. Many store owners on Etsy sell digital products, but customers enjoy seeing and handling a product. You are likely to make more sales if you have your digital artwork printed on physical items such as cups, hats, t-shirts or tote bags. The print-on-demand company will print, package and deliver these items for you, so you don’t have to carry inventory.
2. A built-in buyer pool
The hardest part about starting an ecommerce brand is building a customer base. Unlike other ecommerce platforms, consumers often come to Etsy looking for what they can’t find elsewhere. Your store will be seen by consumers who already have the intention of buying products like yours. Setting your store apart from others is important if you want to succeed, so you need to do some research to see what stores in your niche already exist and whether there’s a gap you can fill.
The traffic you will find on Etsy takes years for an individual website to build up. As Etsy search works according to Etsy SEO, learning more about it can help you to benefit from the built-in buyer pool. You need to use the right keywords for shoppers to see your listings. These are the specific search terms shoppers use to find items on Etsy. If you want your products to come up when they search, you need to use these search terms in your title and tags.
3. Many marketing tools
You can advertise on Etsy using Etsy ads which appear all over Etsy, including on Market Pages, Category Pages, and in Etsy search. This can make your listings stand out and reach consumers with the intent to purchase.
Etsy also allows you to see statistics for your store that show you how many visitors you’ve had to your shop. This is broken down by days and peak viewing times. You will see how they found you and what keywords led them to your store. You can use this information to inform your marketing decisions. For example, if you can see which Etsy ads bring in the most revenue, you can focus on them. Etsy also allows you to offer coupons and discounts on your products to encourage more sales.
Most people already know about Etsy, so it is also easy to direct them to your shop from social media platforms. A platform like Pinterest can generate substantial traffic to your Etsy store.
4. Great opportunities to learn and grow
Etsy offers many educational experiences and workshops. Enroll in Etsy U, and you can learn from classes on many different topics. Learn about how to optimize your store for search engines or how to market on social media platforms. You can learn from other entrepreneurs and apply their strategies to help your store thrive.
Join an Etsy team, and you can work with other sellers, typically in your industry. This can help you to promote and advertise your products.
If you find success as a seller on Etsy, you can take your store to the next level. Subscribe to Etsy Plus, and you get more customization tools, access to exclusive discounts, and much more.