ETSY MONTHLY MERCHANDISING TIPS

 Here's April!

Stay Engaged in AprilOur central merchandising topics this month will focus on spring, Easter and Mother's Day. 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.

• April Fools: Practical jokes, gag gifts and emphasis on the sillier side of handmade and vintage.
• Easter: Coming a little later this year, Easter is a great gifting and decor holiday. Think bright and pastel colors, bunnies, rabbits, eggs, baskets, candy, toys, children's spring formal attire, and religious mementos.
• Mothering Sunday: The equivalent of Mother's Day in the United Kingdom falls earlier than the American celebration. Make sure to update your listings with international and expedited shipping options available for those looking for last-minute gift ideas.
• Mother's Day: Plan ahead for this gifting holiday (which falls in early May) by tagging appropriate items with related terms and offering clear shipping options. Think about personalization options, pampering, jewelry, creative framing and photo displays, gadget accessories, flower and bud vases, planters, home decor, and cards for Mother's Day.
• Spring: Think in terms of how you can market toward and contribute to seasonal activities like spring cleaning, spring fashion, spring break, spring planting, a fresh outlook, rejuvenation and splashes of light, bright color.
• Gardening and Food: Gardening and farming are central themes for spring. Trends this season center around tools, plant markers, composting solutions, gloves, scrubs, seeds, plantable papers, organic methods, farmers markets, organic meats and dairy, the butcher, dairy farmer, cheese artisans, seasonality, planting calendars, tips, recipes, and vintage industrial farming references. 
• Earth Day: A great reminder of all the eco-friendly options we have. Think in terms of recycling, repurposing, upcycling, and the use of reclaimed, naturally sourced, self-sustaining, and environmentally-friendly materials. Think about items that facilitate being kind to the earth, contain renewable sources, clean the air, and support being conscious of our surroundings.
• Fashion: Options for spring should be available for purchase now, and lines for summer should be in the works, if not already listed. Emphasis on basics, spring and summer dresses, lightweight bags and carryalls, sunglasses, swimwear, hair accessories, jewelry and sandals.
• Weddings, Proms, and Celebrations: Embrace your inner teenager and think about glammed up prom options with a touch of sparkle and edge: dresses, shoes, jewelry, bags, hair accessories, corsages, and make up. Smack in the middle of the busiest time for wedding season, think about how your line can offer or evoke outdoor options for both the ceremony and after-party.
• 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. The typical college year comes to a close in early to mid-May, while high schools tend to close in mid to late June. 
• Diamond is April's birthstone; April's astrological signs are Aries and Taurus (Aries: March 21 - April 20, Taurus: April 21 - May 20).

Trending Topics:

• Japan Relief
• Little Red Riding Hood: With Catherine Hardwicke's movie rendition, this fairytale is becoming increasingly popular: forestry, red capes, wolves and werewolves, the moon (blood moon), young love, legends and dark fairytales.
• Gadget Accessories: With the recent iPhone and iPad availability on Verizon, coupled with the release of iPad2, accessories for smartphones and tablets are on the rise.
• The Indoor Garden: Glass domes, terrariums, air plants, window herbs, succulent plants, garden markers, and planters.
• Vintage Designer: Fashion, collectibles, bikes, and auto accessories.
• The Butcher: Cuts of meat, diagrams, butcher paper and knives, bacon, aprons.
• Fashion: Black paired with white, gold, or navy. Orange, camel, chartreuse, lace, neon, brights. It's all about the shoulders: structured, elevated, outlined, embellished. Faux reptile skins, the 1970s revival, structured wearable art, sporty, nautical, American classics, tribal influence.
• Food trends: Year of the homemade pie, whoopie pie, and macaron.
• Writable surfaces: Chalkboard, whiteboard, fingerprints.
• Personalization: Monograms, initials, text, numbers, zodiacs, constellations, portraits, custom labels, stamps, fingerprints and family trees.
• Vintage: Globes, maps, crates, baskets, barware, industrial appliances, farmhouse, typewriters, cameras, letterpress, brass and cast iron animals.
• Geometry: Geometric shapes, patterns, triangles, chevrons.
• The beard and its many variations have transcended the mustache in popularity!
• Redheads
• Lockets, secret hiding places, skeleton keys, feathers, arrows, diamonds paper cuts, silhouettes, fortune cookies, wishbones, fortune tellers.
• Natural history and woodland forest themes and animals, namely birds, owls, squirrels, hedgehogs, chipmunks, bunnies, butterflies, feathers, nests, eggs, acorns, leaves, trees, branches, woodgrain, and natural colors.

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.

Upcoming Dates to Remember

• April is known as International Guitar Month
• April 1 April Fools
• April 3 Mothering Sunday (UK Mother's Day)
• April 4-10 Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta
• April 5 Ching Ming Festival (Hong Kong)
• April 15 Tax Deadline
• April 19 - 25 Passover 
• April 22 Earth Day 
• April 22 Good Friday
• April 23 St George Day
• April 24 Easter Sunday
• April 25 Liberty Day (Portugal)
• April 27 Freedom Day (South Africa)
• April 29 Greenery Day (Japan)
• April 29 Arbor Day 
• April 30 Queen's Day (Netherlands)