We love MaryMary and her great Merchandising themes articles. She gave us a little advice for June. You can find the original article on the Etsy blog by clicking HERE.
but in case you want to read it without clicking, here it is:
June is on the way and along with it a welcome shift in season. By sharing our merchandising tips, our goal is to create a healthy balance between promotions for traditional holidays, seasonal changes, cultural events, and lifestyle trends. It's also a great way to change up the way you approach managing your Etsy business.
Promotional Opportunities for Sellers:
- Keep up with May's seasonal themes, holidays and trends in the May edition of Merchandising Desk.
- As Etsy continues to work with partners like West Elm, it's increasingly advantageous to describe your work and any custom options you are able to offer. Make sure to include any options for personalization, expedited shipping, and larger scale options with the estimated time frames for these customizations in your item listings.
- Holiday Tip: Think it's too early to begin listing your 2011 holiday line? Think again! Now is the time media and press publications are finalizing their print plans for holiday. Take advantage of this knowledge by listing your holiday line now with clear seasonal tags. To keep things looking in line with the current season, use Etsy's Rearrange Your Shop tool to move these holiday items to the final pages of your shop.
- Learn how to take advantage of image quality improvements currently being implemented by reading this Forum Announcement. Tip: You will need to upload new images for the changes to take effect.
- Create and tag treasuries fitting May's merchandising themes for a chance to have your collection featured on Etsy's homepage or linked from promotional emails. Sharing these collections via your social networks during relevant time periods will help increase traffic and engagement around your items and shop. Tip: We're looking to introduce a wider variety of unisex, men-centric, music, and vintage niches into the regular rotation. Make sure to tag lists appropriately for the best return.
Stay Engaged in June
Our central merchandising will focus on Father's Day, wedding season, and outdoor activities. While emphasis will be placed upon the seasonality of the Northern Hemisphere, it's important to remember the Southern Hemisphere is preparing for autumn. Maintaining seasonally appropriate options year-round is good practice for boosting international and overall sales.
- Graduation and Teacher Gifts: As the traditional academic year comes to a close, think about offering items that would show appreciation for teachers or a sentimental congratulation for graduates. Personalization, handmade cards, and keepsakes are always sought after. While the typical college year has already come to a close, high schools tend to close in mid to late June.
- Father's Day: The rush is here, so make sure your Father's Day items are listed and expedited shipping options are easy to find. Focus on gifts that would make a great gift for the many types of dads out there: business and office accessories, gadgets and tech gear, the cases to carry them in, outdoor equipment, sports gear, men's fashion, keepsakes, and luxury gifts. Keep in mind the home chef, the auto enthusiast, the handyman, the trendsetter, the music lover, the classic, and those dads who seem to have it all. Personalized options are always a good idea to offer.
- 4th of July: Patriotic decor, outfits and accessories. Stars and stripes, Americana, American flags, picnics, barbecues, grilling, spirits, fireworks, and summer sports.
- Summer: The first day of summer belongs to June; keep in mind seasonal activities like summer travel, outdoor activities, open air soirees, summer fashion, and lighter, brighter colors. Emphasis on outdoor entertaining, hostess gifts, bath and beauty, and clever ways to stay cool all summer long.
- Fashion: Options for summer emphasize showing some skin, open toes, lightweight materials, and sun protection: sunglasses, sunscreen, makeup, balms, hats and coverups. Summer dresses, swimwear, shoes and accessories, and options for hair are key. Design labels are already launching previews for for fall lines and lookbooks.
- Gardening and Artisanal Food: Expect farmer's markets, seasonal food options, raising animals, community gardens, and co-ops to continue to grow in popularity. Think in terms of how you can lend to these concepts in the form of tabletop accessories, containers, tools, and seasonal calendars.
- Weddings: In the height of wedding season think about how your line can offer or evoke outdoor options for both the ceremony and after-party. Additional highlights on warm weather honeymooning and early preparations for fall and winter celebrations.
- Outdoor Travel: Think in terms of the beach, countryside, forest and mountains. Outdoor activities on the rise include camping, biking, hiking, fun at the beach, fishing, and water sports.
- Collecting: Summer months bring an opportune time to take advantage of antiquing, collecting, flea markets, outdoor bazaars, and vintage renewal.
- Etsy's 6th Birthday: The celebration of handmade! Stay tuned for more plans and party ideas to come.
- Pearl is June's birthstone; June's astrological signs are Gemini and Cancer (May 21 - June 21: Gemini, June 22 - July 2: Cancer).
Trending Topics:
- Vampires: They're back with the return season of HBO's hit show True Blood on June 26.
- The Typewriter: With the recent closing of the last typewriter manufacturer, these nostalgic forms of technology are becoming hot commodities.
- Carnivals and State Fairs: Bright colors, side show spectacles, animals and costuming.
- Sports: Tennis (Wimbledon), swimming, volleyball, cycling, archery, croquet and outdoor sports.
- The Local Artisanal Shop: The butcher, baker, ice cream shop, patisserie.
- Throwback to the Speakeasy: Barware, mixology, nightlife, live music, and secret passwords.
- The Garden: Indoor, outdoor, community, and rooftop gardens. Glass domes, terrariums, air plants, window herbs, succulent plants, garden markers, planters, tools, buckets, baskets, gloves, organic seeds, and boxes.
- Fashion: Slim clutches, espadrilles, wooden platforms, maxi dresses, stripes, tribal references, tailored classics, full short skirts, retro swim, summer scarves, circle lensed sunglasses, and sweetheart necklines.
- Culinary trends: Year of the homemade pie, whoopie pie, and macaron. Summer cocktails, home brewing, beer and wine accessories, herb infusions, garden to table.
- Colors: Jewel tones, orange, blush, and neon.
- Vintage Designer: Fashion, collectibles, bikes, and auto accessories.
- Writable surfaces: Chalkboard, whiteboard, fingerprints.
- Geometry: Shapes, patterns, triangles, chevrons, facets, and arrows.
- Letters, Numbers, and Symbols: Large vintage signage letters, letterpress blocks, monogram housewares, and typewriter keys.
- Personalization: Monograms, initials, text, numbers, zodiacs, constellations, portraits, custom labels, stamps, fingerprints and family trees.
- Natural History: Woodland forest themes and animals, namely 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 and lamps, specifically with exposed bulbs.
- Feather hair extensions, earrings, and accessories.
- Gadget cases, docking stations and accessories.
- Scandinavian patterns and motifs.
- Facial hair, beards, mustaches.
- Wall decals.
If you'd like to stay engaged and involved with the approaching merchandising themes, use them in your own artistic voice as you add to your shop. They can be translated in your listings, photos, shop announcements, descriptions, tags, titles, sales promotions, and more.
If you make items that would 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 meld well? That's great! Now it's time to revisit those items to make sure your tags, titles and descriptions reflect keywords that shoppers might be looking for this time of year. This is also a great opportunity to revamp your item photography with a new look. Check out some great how-to's for item photography to get started.
For those of your who enjoy making treasuries, we'll be looking to highlight lists that interpret these themes in a creative and cohesive way throughout the site. Please tag your treasuries accordingly.
- June is known as candy, rose and dairy month.
- June 6 Dragon Boat Festival
- June 8-9 Shavuot
- June 13 Queen's Birthday
- June 13 Sewing Machine Day
- June 13 Whit Monday
- June 17-19 Aspen Food&Wine Festival
- June 18 Etsy's 6th Birthday
- June 19 Father's Day
- June 21 Summer Solstice
- June 20-July 3 Wimbledon Tennis Championship
- June 23 Feast of Corpus Christi
- June 24 St. Jean Baptiste Day
- June 29 Laylat al-Miraj
- June 29 Camera Day
Thanks for posting - love having the trends! :-)
ReplyDelete