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)

ETSY MONTHLY MERCHANDISING TIPS

• 

  Etsy says...Stay Engaged in February

  Our central merchandising topics this month will center around an early emphasis on Valentine's Day followed up by fashion highlights and references to the approaching spring season. Below you'll find the extended list of topics we plan to reference this month. While emphasis will be placed upon the seasonality of the Northern Hemisphere, it's important to remember the Southern Hemisphere is in the middle of summer. Maintaining seasonally appropriate options year-round is good practice for boosting international and overall sales.

  
• Valentine's Day: Early emphasis on gift ideas, personalization, decor, and the many themes of love. Remember to keep your shipping locations and expedited offerings updated for those last minute shoppers looking for quick shipments in time to gift.
• Superbowl Sunday: Football, team pride, parties, party food, half time, and those favorite game day commercials.

• Fashion: With a February 10th jump start to New York City's Fashion Week, all eyes will be on designers' Fall/Winter seasonal lines debut. Take advantage of this key time to launch a new line, collection, or limited series of work emphasizing the benefits of being an independent designer. Think avant-garde, emerging designs, and new interpretations of classic staples. Specialize in vintage fashion? Now is a great time to call out your designer labels by name, brand, season and era. As February comes to a close, look for hints of spring fashion on the horizon.
• Home Updates: Offer functional decor solutions that produce a big impact, hands on, DIY projects, large vintage finds repurposed into statement storage solutions, writable surfaces, and depict space versatility via your product photos.
• Weddings and Celebrations: February tends to be the season of engagements. Think in terms of newly engaged couples planning ahead for spring and summer weddings. Try expanding your line of wedding offerings by taking into consideration the process from ring shopping all the way through the honeymoon — how can your unique point of view be threaded throughout an entire affair?
• International Vacations and Resort Wear: Winter months are the season for destination vacations in exotic settings. Think travel gear and packing essentials, luggage, carryalls, photography, preservation of memories, foreign languages and seasonal style. For a fashion forward escape, think in terms of casually elegant, yet comfortable, swimwear, cover-ups, formal dinner fashions and accessories.
• Amethyst is February's birthstone, and February's astrological signs are Aquarius and Pisces (Aquarius: January 21 - February 19, Pisces: February 20 - March 20: Pisces). 
• We also celebrate the Chinese (Lunar) New Year in February, which is the year of the rabbit in 2011.

February Trends:

• Valentine's Day and the season of love: Colors, decor, hearts (classic and anatomical), love, text, gag gifts, anti-valentines, paper goods, lingerie, engagement rings
• World in sports: Superbowl Sunday
• Year of the rabbit (honey bees, honeycomb, and hives are trending too)
• Award shows: Fashion, emerging trends, get the look
• Spring and fall fashion: New York Fashion Week
• Safari: Animal prints, expedition gear, exotic colors tempered with neutral canvas
• Nautical: Anchors, sea creatures, mermaids, fairytales, voyage, ships, sailing, ropes, canvas, stripes, classic colors and lines
• Food trends: Year of the homemade pie, whoopie pie, and macaroon
• Writable surfaces: Chalkboard, whiteboard, fingerprints
• Gardening: Accessories, planters, indoor options, organic growing, vintage buckets, tools, watering solutions
• Personalization: Monograms, initials, text, numbers, zodiacs, constellations, portraits, custom labels, stamps, fingerprints and family trees
• Lockets, secret hiding places, vintage letterpress blocks, and skeleton keys, feathers, arrows, diamonds, geometric shapes and patterns, paper cuts, silhouettes, fortune cookies, wishbones, fortune tellers
• Farmhouse references, vintage industrial decor, vintage cameras, letterpress drawers, typewriters, brass and cast iron animals
• 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.
• Colors: Bright pops of color in pinks, turquoise, yellows, avocado, peach, and oranges. Earth tones and neutral palettes remain strong with the incorporation of rusts, deep greens, and brown.

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 if you think it needs some work. 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

• February is known as Black History Month and American Heart Month
  
• Feb 2: Groundhog Day
• Feb 3: Chinese/Lunar New Year: Rabbit
• Feb 6: Superbowl Sunday
• Feb 6: Waitangi Day (New Zealand) 
• Feb 10 - 17: NYC Fashion Week
• February 13: 53rd Grammy Awards Show
• Feb 14: Valentine's Day
• Feb 15: Mawlid
• Feb 21: President's Day
• Feb 27: The Oscars

After February:

ETSY Merchandising Info for January

From Etsy Forum:

Our central merchandising topics this month will center around plans for the new year, winter fashion, seasonal escapes and emphasis on Valentine's Day.

Below you'll find the extended list of topics we're excited to highlight. While emphasis will be placed upon the seasonality of the Northern hemisphere, it's important to remember the Southern hemisphere is heading into summer.

Maintaining seasonally appropriate options year-round is good practice for boosting international and overall sales. We're looking for your creative voice on each of the upcoming seasonal motifs.

• Ringing in the New Year:
• New Year's Eve Celebrations: Parties, entertaining, eats, spirits, decor, and favors.
• Fashion: Party-wear, cozy style, activewear, and accessories.
• Resolutions: Fresh starts, new beginnings, renewal, goal setting, organization, self-reflection, athletics, cooking, redecorating, taking on new DIY projects.
• 2011 Calendars: Start the new year with this organizational must. Channel classic styles, multifunctional versions, and personalized takes, such as chalkboard surfaces.
• Winter Fashion: Clothing basics, outerwear, accessories, and jewelry. Emphasis on outerwear, winter shoes and boots, weather resistant materials and rich cozy fabrics. Winter Accessories: scarves, hats, gloves, fingerless gloves, mittens, legwarmers, cowls, cozies, coats, jackets, and footwear.
• International Vacations and Resort Wear: Winter months are the season for destination vacations in exotic settings. Think travel gear and packing essentials, luggage, carryalls, photography, preservation of memories, foreign languages and seasonal style. For a fashion forward escape, think in terms of casually elegant, yet comfortable, swimwear, cover-ups, formal dinner fashions and accessories.
• Cozy Home: Feather your nest with storage solutions, multifunctional furniture and key accent pieces, cozy accessories, quilts, blankets, throws, candles, centerpieces, kitchen updates, DIY projects and wall decor.
• Weddings and Celebrations: Think grand indoor affairs, snowy accents and party details, long sleeves, thick fabrics, hearty delectables, and memorable favors. Don't forget to stay a step ahead for brides currently planning and shopping for spring and summer weddings.
• Valentine's Day: Think decor for parties, favors, DIY projects, fashion, lingerie, sweets, love notes and cards, flowers, jewelry, the naughty and nice side, gag gifts, and personalized keepsakes. Emphasis on gift ideas for him, her, family, kids, friends, and coworkers.
• Garnet is January's birthstone, and January's astrological signs are Capricorn and Aquarius (December 22 - Jan 20: Capricorn and January 21 - February 19: Aquarius).

January Trends:

* Calendars, journals, and thank you cards
* Valentines Day references
* DIY kits and projects
* Recipe books, culinary gadgets, journals, organizational and storage solutions, to-do lists, and goal setting/tracking essentials
* Personalization: Monograms, initials, text, numbers, zodiacs, constellations, portraits, custom labels, stamps, fingerprints and family trees.
* Winter Fashion: Vintage boots, saddle shoes, oxfords, carryall bags, knit accessories, cardigan and wrap sweaters, long sleeves, rich fabrics.
* Teacups, kettles, pots, and confections
* Beards and mustaches (we know, we know!)
* Feathers, arrows, diamonds, geometric shapes and patterns, paper cuts and silhouettes
* Lockets, secret hiding places, vintage letterpress blocks, and skeleton keys
* Farmhouse references, vintage industrial decor, chalkboard and writable surfaces, vintage cameras, letterpress drawers, and typewriters
* Fortune cookies, wishbones, fortune tellers and honey bees
* Gadgets, gadget cozies, docks, and carriers
* Vintage brass and cast iron animals
* 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.
* Colors: Cozy neutrals, taupe, oatmeal, turquoise, aqua, saffron, deep red, metallics.




Upcoming Dates to Remember FOR TREASURY THEMES

* January is known as:
o National Blood Donor Month
o National Hobby Month
o Hot Tea Month.
* January 1: New Year's Day
* January 2: Berchtoldstag (Switzerland)
* January 6: Epiphany, Three Kings Day
* January 16: Golden Globes
* January 17: Martin Luther King Day
* January 19: Edgar Allan Poe born
* January 25: Foundation Day (Brazil)
* January 25: Robbie Burns Day (Scotland)
* January 26: Australia Day
* January 26: Republic Day (India)