Preparing your Etsy shop for Christmas
5 Steps on How to Prepare your Business for Christmas.
And so it is the season to be jolly... or so they say unless you have an Etsy shop preparing for the Christmas rush but you have no idea how to plan it! So, here we are going to go through our top tips on how you can successfully prepare your Etsy shop, big or small, for the festive season. So, let's ho-ho-ho(p) right in.
1. Make sure you have enough stock
This might sound a little obvious but it's not always the case. Depending on how big your store is you might need to have a look at the stock you have vs the stock you need. If you require a vast amount of stock that you need to purchase but don't yet have enough earnings to do so then you may be best singling out a few items and prioritising them. By prioritising those specifically, you can minimise your chances of losing funds and, additionally, with your time and budget going towards showcasing* said products you'll then be increasing the possibility of those actually selling.
*whether that's paid advertisements or via sharing social media.
2. Plan Delivery Dates
Delivery timescales that occur throughout the year will not remain the same during the festive period. Even if you have the stock prepped, ready for dispatch, it does not mean it'll make it to the post office on time nor does it mean it'll leave the post office on time! So, always add extra time to your listings. Yes, if you add excess dates it can affect sales but surely it is best to miss out on a few sales than have negative reviews for late gifts? When it comes to Christmas sales your best bet is to try under-promise and over-deliver. Pun intended!
Note: If you plan on using a dropshipping company it is important to check their website consistently. Especially for any delivery updates which will occur throughout December.
3. Profit Plan
Having a profit plan is not only a nice idea coming close to Christmas but it is essential - especially when it comes to sales. It can be tempting to create sales and coupon codes to drive in customers but it's so important to make sure you can actually afford to do that. For example, if you work out that per item you're making £1.50 then you need to make sure that any sales or coupons are not going to eat into that profit, or worse, make you a loss.
So, to avoid any kind of loss you need to grab some paper and a calculator (the ol' fashion way!) and work out how much you can afford to offer as a discount. Remember, there is no point in working for zero profit.
Suggested Read: Should I Offer ETSY Coupons?
4. Plan Your Social Media
Not all businesses need a social media presence - but as a free form of advertisement why wouldn't you? Planning out things to post can be time-consuming but a quick look on sites like Pinterest and you'll no doubt feel inspired. What's more, you don't need to purely focus on your products - instead you could post things like memes and funny quotes, all whilst using relevant hashtags.
Planning: You can use Facebook Business Suite for planning posts on both Facebook and Instagram - additionally there are also websites like asana and later. You can also look around at other small businesses on your preferred social media platforms and see what they are doing, along with whether it works or not!
Suggested Read: How to Avoid These Common Etsy Seller Mistakes!
5. Not a gift provider? Be Ok With It.
Not every shop on Etsy sell items that are known to be gifted and that's why many sellers have more than one shop, so they're able to offer gift items in the other. But, as frustrating as it can be, don't let the fact that your sales are shooting through the ceiling disappoint you or put you off. the holiday season on Etsy is for those who sell items perfect for gifting, for example, personalised prints, decor, mugs, makeup, beauty and even foods. So if you're shop sells something out with the standard 'Christmas rush' bracket, then know that your time will just fall on another part of the year.
If you're primarily selling wedding items, for example, then you'll either know from experience OR soon find out that the majority of weddings take place over the Spring and Summer seasons so it's unlikely you'll be making the big money over Christmas - but instead you'll be noticed after Christmas when all the gifting has calmed and the gift-based shops are running on low.
Accept that not all businesses have a Christmas rush. Your time will come depending on what you sell!
And just like that, we're done with our list on how to prepare for Christmas for your Etsy shop. Have we missed anything out? Let us know in the comments!
