Preparing for the Holiday Sales Season on Etsy

Introduction

• Speaker: Starla Moore
• Affiliation: Founder of Handmade Alpha Academy; Manager at erank.com
• Purpose: Guide on preparing for the holiday sales season on Etsy
• Context: Cyber Week is Etsy's highest traffic period, with increasing early holiday shopping trends

Key Preparations

Share and Save Program

• Introduction: New program by Etsy
• Benefit: 4% deduction on Etsy bill for purchases via tracked shop or listing link
• Action: Update business page links on social media with the new tracked links

Listing Videos

• Importance:
  • Enhance product visibility on search pages
  • Aid in ranking on Google for relevant keywords
  • Assist customers in understanding products
• Action: Add listing videos to products before holiday season

Stocking Up on Essentials

• Items: Boxes, bubble mailers, padding, packaging tape
• Reason: Suppliers may run out during holiday rush
• Action: Stock up in advance, order more than needed

Inventory Check

• Necessity: Ensure inventory aligns with listings
• Action: Perform a full inventory check
• For POD Sellers: Verify all variants are synced and in stock

Shop Policies and FAQs

• Action: Review and update shop policies; add additional points to FAQs with emojis for visibility

Shipping Deadlines

• Advice: Add one week to major mail services' deadlines
• Action: Display holiday deadline prominently (banner, announcement, FAQs, descriptions, photo slots)

Prepping Tasks

• Recommendation: Get ahead on time-consuming tasks such as packaging, thank you notes, and saved replies
• Benefits: Reduces stress during holiday rush

Planning for Increased Orders

• Scenario: Handling a surge of orders (e.g., due to gift guides or editor's picks)
• Action: Extend processing/shipping times if needed

Product Bundling

• Strategy: Create gift sets or bundles (e.g., larger quantities for bulk purchasing)
• Example: Alpha Amber Marie's successful card bundles

Conclusion

• Future Content: More holiday prep videos planned
• Call to Action: Suggestions for topics/tutorials welcome in comments
• Overall Message: Success on Etsy requires early planning and proactive strategy
• Summary: Use data and expert advice for Etsy success

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• Extras: Cue the funky lo-fi beat for a relaxed end to the session.