If you have an Etsy store like me, it’s essential to prepare for the holiday season to make the most of the potential sales and possible future returning customers.
First of all, I would think about whether my Etsy store carries the items people tend to purchase as gifts. Shoppers typically purchase toys, clothing, jewelry or electronics, especially if they’re new. Either way, it’s a good idea to make a few changes to enhance holiday sales revenues. Lucky for us Etsy Shops, most of us do indeed sell these items, so this is in our favor.
Although the holidays do provide an opportunity for shop owners to make up for slow sales that occurred all year, for the unprepared online store owner the holiday season can be a disaster, rather than a profitable success. Being unprepared for increased sales, having slow shipping times and out of stock items will most likely annihilate your holiday sales profits and probably your sales for the new year. Adding new products, advertising more aggressively, and multiple listing of your products will not help you if you are unable to handle the increased sales.
FIRST:
I would want to have help. Get a family member or friend to assist with production, paperwork, listing, advertising, accounting, sales promotions, or handling orders. I’ve learned that I can’t do all that myself and keep my sanity! If you want more sales, you have to make sure you have the ability and help to handle such increased volume.
SECOND:
I make sure to have enough items in stock. I typically pre-make everything, but if I do get a special custom order, I am diligent to inform the customer the time it will take to create and ship the item to them. I ALWAYS overestimate this time to insure customer satisfaction every time. Underestimating such time will not only irritate your customer, but it will also stress you out and even possibly lower the customer’s persuasion of your business and you DON’T want that!
THIRD:
I always order packaging early. Why wait? I just go to the USPS website and order plenty of boxes and envelopes. Take an inventory of what you will need such as bubble wrap (or packing peanuts), and order it four weeks in advance. It’s important to know the shipping date deadlines, too. You don’t want to be floundering around for a last minute box or packing because you failed to order in enough advance time!
FOURTH:
I would also suggest that a newbie join groups, forums, referral sites and free advertising platforms and interact with other sellers. The best way to learn about online selling, as with anything in life, is to talk to others who have experience. You will save valuable time and money by learning from the mistakes of others. I offer a free advertising platform, http://FreeCraftMarketing.ning.com . Plus there are some other great sites like:
http://www.url.biz/Arts/Crafts/
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