Preparing Your Etsy Shop for the Holidays: 5 Tips to Holiday Prep

The holidays are such a joyous time and yet, for small business owners, it can be a very stressful time as well. This stress is all a part of the hustle and bustle of the holiday shopping season. You can't eliminate the stress, but you can reduce it greatly by planning ahead.

I have had my Etsy shop, expressions bracelets, for the past 6 holidays seasons and I am entering my 7th holiday season. I have learned that preparation is key and will help in so many ways, mainly increasing sales. My biggest holiday season on Etsy happened in 2016. In 2017 I had that same year on my main website because I learned how to prepare my main site for the holidays. But for now, let's stick with the Etsy story.

Here's my dashboard from the 2016 holiday season which only includes the last 30 days before our holiday order cut off.

Now, let's be clear, I do not claim that you will see these numbers on your shop dashboard this season, but with persistence, SEO, building brand awareness, and consistency you can get there.

Let's dive into my top 5 tips to preparing your Etsy shop for the holidays.

1. Review Stats

Before you do anything, before you make any changes, review your metrics. Review your previous year(s) stats to see what sold, what sold well, and how much you sold. Reviewing these metrics allows you to better understand what to promote, what to make more of, what to remove, and how much supply stock you need to create these items. Your stats let you know where you have been and help you forecast where you are going.

2. Create Holiday Items

Take a look at your current listings and see what types of items are already selling well. You want to entice customers to purchase and purchase more than one item at a time. Offering gift sets, bundled options, and gift wrapping options makes it easier for the customer to see your shop as a one stop option for the person they are buying for.

Create holidays listings that offer:

• Bundled Options - bundle popular or themed items with savings built in
• Gift Wrapping Options - offer as an option on current offerings or add an additional listing for a standalone purchase
• Stocking Stuffers - smaller versions of your main items or more affordable items
• Gift Sets - sets created with a specific person in mind, i.e for mom, for sister, for dad

3. Update Your Shop

Your shop should be updated seasonally but most importantly a holiday season update. Here are some sections you want to consider updating on your Etsy shop.

• Shop Banner - to showcase your holiday deals or products
• Shop Announcement -  to include holiday ordering deadlines and any specials you are offering 
• Rearrange Listings - your first page should be a clean cohesive look of popular items and holiday selections
• Rearrange Sections - to make it easier for the customer to navigate and have your holiday section near the top (add a holiday, ready to shop or gift section if you don't already have one)
• About Section - content is king so update the copy and add in those behind the scenes, work in progress or popular product photos so people get to know more about the process and person behind the brand
• Around the Web - here's your opportunity to link to your blog, website, and social media channels and double check that the links work
• Local Vendor Shows - if you are participating in any local shows and can add that here, that is a perfect place for customers to know where they can shop with you in person
• Shop Policies - fill in all sections of the policies section, it is your FAQ for Etsy and you can always point customers to this section if they have questions about your ship times, return policy, etc 

4. Optimize Your Listings

One of the most important things you can do for your Etsy shop is to make sure it is holiday optimized. Select the listings that you want to promote for the holiday season and spice up the tags and titles with holiday verbiage and search terms that customers use to find holiday gifts. Use sites like Etsy Rank and/or Marmalead to find those keyword terms that may be great for your products. I won't go in depth about Etsy SEO in this blog, but it is VERY important that you do this step in preparation for being found during this holiday season.

5. Create a Promotional Calendar

In order to create a promotional calendar you need to be aware of the key shopping dates. Please check out this blog to see a list of key shopping dates and how to plan out your promotional calendar. Also, keep your eyes peeled for any Etsy Sales Events. Etsy sends out emails to encourage you to sign up to participate in their sales events. DO IT!

That's all bosses, 5 simple steps to getting you on track to kicking butt this holiday season on Etsy.

Have questions, drop it in the comments below or email me. Make sure you check out the blog next week when I go over a more detailed review of how to prepare your website (aside from Etsy) for the holidays.

Blessings, Peace and Love,
SaRatta
Follow @expressionsbracelets