Lets have a freshen up of our online shop listings, see if we can entice some new sales!
We have worked hard all of January sorting and clearing out, as well as catching up after the Christmas rush. So now I feel that it is time to freshen up our online shops. This post is written from an Etsy perspective however the same principles could be applied to any of your online shops.
A quick run through updating or freshening up some areas of your listing can really inject a bit of interest into your listings and can put them at the forefront of being noticed again. This is due to the listing not being stagnant and just left to tick over.
Photos Freshen Up
Seasons and trends change in the same way the most appealing product pictures can also change. So some of the trends that have recently occurred were propped pictures where the customer could see the item in their home. Then it was suggested to have a plain white background on your product pictures. With the ability to have more than one picture of your product online I would try and cover all these bases, however I would do a bit of research in your product field to see what competitors are doing. This should give you a bit of direction as to which of your pictures will be most beneficial as your main product image.
Retaking pictures could also be beneficial, you may be able to improve the clarity, brightness or detail of your products in the pictures making them more appealing to customers. Sometimes you don’t realise how poor your pictures are until you retake fresh ones and compare.
Reflect fashion trends in your Attributes, Tags, Categories and Descriptions
Titles are one of the most important aspects of your online product listing as it is the field that helps your item be found in search. I would have a quick look to see if there are any seasonal variations that you could add to your title to help it capture a particular holiday or event. For example a floral product may make a perfect Mother’s Day gift, in the run up to this holiday I would look at adding Mother’s Day to your title. This could then be changed to Birthday or Christmas at different times during the year.
At times the purpose or association of a product could change due to a new trend. For example homemade chunky knits saw a surge in sales following TV shows including Game of Thrones or Outlander. By recognising these new interests a tweak could be made to your listing in order to capture customers in search of these related products.
Colour trends change on a yearly basis and colours that were popular one year can completely change the next. If you do your product in colour variations it may be beneficial to showcase a particular colour for that season.
For example Mustard was a fashion colour recently, I promoted one of my products a Knitted Cable Tree cushion in mustard for last year. By just changing the attributes to display Mustard as a colour variation it makes your product more on trend and in line with customer preferences for that season.
Have a look at the tree cushion and it’s various colour variations here https://www.claireyatfairycrafters.com/product/tree-cushion-cover/
Shop Announcements
Looking at more Etsy shop specific, many shop owners have noticed an improvement in engagement with their products if they regularly update their Shop Announcements. Take this opportunity to draw attention to new product lines, sales or events.
If you haven’t opened an Etsy shop or are considering it, use this link to get 40 free listings. This will let you test the waters for free while you find your bearings. http://etsy.me/2mFiMkJ
Shop Banner
I have noticed that some online shops alter their appearance depending on the season. This can give your online store a fresh new look and make you more noticeable to customers who have been fans of your online store for a while. Simple adjustments like adding Christmas colours to your shop banner in the run up to the festive season can just make your shop a bit more appealing.
Similarly if you have pictures of your products in your shop banner that you made a while ago, a freshen up of you Shop Banner could include more up to date pictures of your products or product range. By now you may even know your best sellers so your Shop Banner could display more of these items to showcase what you are best at.
About me
Just have a quick look through the About Me section for your online shop. Often we write these when we first set up our online store and then completely forget about it. It is amazing how revisiting this section can trigger a completely different reaction to what you would like to write about your online venture. In the same way some businesses can take a completely different direction to when they first opened.
It is a good idea to have a quick read through what your About Me section says about you, your business and the products that you make. Just check that this is still relevant and still conveys what vital, unique characteristics a customer can expect when purchasing from you.
All online shops can benefit from a quick review and a few freshening tweaks, even for the seasoned sellers amongst us. I hope this has given you a bit of inspiration and direction for what to approach in your own online shop. Let me know if there are any other areas that we tend to overlook, and if your Online Shop Spring Clean is beneficial!
