Consumer experience tips for the marketplaces from Etsy.com

Consumer experience tips for the marketplaces from Etsy.com

Reading Time: 8 minutes

Note: Learn from one of the top world’s top marketplaces, Etsy.com how to improve conversions by developing or modifying the existing eCommerce marketplace features.

Your eCommerce marketplace becomes successful when you have increased sales and a considerable number of repeat buyers.

To achieve this, you need to provide high-quality products and unforgettable customer experience. After all, customer experience is the key to making eCommerce business a success.

And, the eCommerce conversion hacks or website features drive the most fantastic customer experience.

So, today, we are going to share the website success factors for the ETSY.COM.

Why Etsy? Because 

• Etsy generated 169.3 million U.S. dollars in the first quarter of 2019, as per Statista.
• As per SimilarWeb, Etsy ranks on 60 across the United States and 21 across the eCommerce and Shopping category.

Let’s find out what Etsy uses or does to WOW its customers and improve sales consistently.

13 Tips for the eCommerce Marketplace Owners to Learn from Etsy.com

1. Simple and elegant homepage

The very first thing that attracts a user is its elegant design. Etsy keeps the homepage so clean that it makes a user easily grasp the information Etsy is trying to provide.

Being a marketplace, Etsy does not have a cluttered homepage like Amazon and Flipkart.

The company built a sober online place to shop where there are adequately placed banners, enough spacing between the website elements, font size, style, and no loud colors making it easy and quick for the customers to browse the products and make the purchases efficiently.

2. Clear message

Why should a user be on Etsy.com? Etsy’s homepage clearly explains it in the very first line.

If the users are looking for products that are handmade, unique, personalized or vintage, Etsy becomes the first choice for them.

So, you need to have a clear-cut message right on the homepage, which helps your customers to understand what they will get from your eCommerce website.

3. Well-organized Mega Menu/Category structure

Should I have a long or short menu bar? This is the most common question we receive while helping eCommerce business owners to create the wireframe of their website.

Well, we would say, look at Etsy.com.

Etsy has organized the menu so appropriately. There are seven main categories, and each of them has multiple sub-categories. They’ve not filled the entire menu with the product items.

So, irrespective of the product categories or products you have, the most important thing is to plan and organize it well so that your customers don’t get confused about where to find a particular product.

When there is no confusion, there is no delay in conversion.

4. Filter options by delivery and ordering

Filter options are so standard that most eCommerce websites have common ones.

Confused?

Well, the most common filter options we have noticed through these years are-

• Size
• Brand
• Price
• Colour
• Category
• Gender

But, the challenge for most eCommerce business owners is that they don’t plan their website according to their products, their attributes, and audience needs.

Etsy does that perfectly. It has the filter options by delivery-

Etsy also has filtering options based on the ordering-

Because Etsy has customizable products and gifting options, they have included these ordering options.

Based on what products you sell and how you sell should be a part of your filtering experience. Customers appreciate that and their browsing experience goes to a higher level.

5. Increasing sales via “Popular Right Now”

Do you check what’s trending in the fashion industry before making your new purchase? If yes, then you must understand that trends are something that invokes the greed to buy.

So, we believe that showcasing the most discounted products on the homepage are now the old-school tricks.

Be a trendsetter just like Etsy. Showcase the products that are trending on your eCommerce store. This section gives your customers a sense of what people buy from you.

After all, who doesn’t like selling the bestseller items? Well, we’re not in.

6. Product reviews on homepage

“Customer reviews on the homepage is good for a business website and not an eCommerce website.” If you also think the same way, here is what you need to understand-

E-commerce itself is a business. So, try to impress your customers as soon as possible. The homepage of a website is something that gets the most clicks for branded keywords.

So, if people search for your website, it is the homepage on which your customers will land.

And, when there are picture reviews, then it comes the conversion hack and helps you drive conversions for the products which your customers didn’t even think of buying.

That purchase becomes additional as the customer is going to buy what he/she intended to while landing to your website.

It is outstanding learning from Etsy.com and undoubtedly, a conversion hack for you.

7. Photos from reviews on the product detail pages

Customers are solely interested in looking at what people talk about your products before making purchases.

As per a Google employee, people are more interested in finding the personal experiences of the customers who already bought a product. This helps them decide whether to buy the product or not.

So, placing a separate section to share the personal visual experiences of the customers is nothing but a masterstroke.

You show the pictures from reviews so that the customers don’t even go and read all of your customer reviews and straightaway place the order.

Good one, Etsy!

8. Message to a seller

Is this a conversion hack or just an FAQ thing? Well, if you click on this ‘Message Seller’ button, you are allowed to type a message that will reach to the seller directly and not in the FAQ section.

Some questions can be personalized, so customers might not want them to be listed as the product’s FAQ portion. So, this button connects the customers and sellers, which can help the customers to understand that they can address their queries which can be resolved.

This is one of the best things for the eCommerce marketplaces, and Etsy nails it.

9. Customized product attributes

If you’ve read our guidelines (click here if you’re genuinely looking to learn) on how to decide whether to make, buy or rent an eCommerce business, you would know that we shared two types of product attributes-

• Simple

Simple products do not have any attributes such as shape, size, color and more.

• Configured

Configured products have single or multiple attributes such as shape, size, color and more.

Do you know Etsy has all kinds of product attributes? Then, have a look below-

A simple product only has one attribute is of Quantity. See the below example-

Now, coming to the configured products which Etsy have on its store-

Now, on top of these, Etsy also has products that can be customized or personalized. So, for such products, Etsy has following attributes-

This shows how carefully product attributes are planned and designed. Great job team Etsy.

So, here is a learning for you-

Based on the products you have, you must plan your product attributes accordingly rather than just using the most common ones.

9. Customization description available

Now, as Etsy has products that can be customized, we all know that. But, the smallest yet exciting thing I noticed is the option to edit the description while asking for personalization.

Look at the below image how the seller can ask the personalization details to provide super-personalized products and excellent customer experience.

If you have customization available, you need to allow sellers to place a distinct description based on the products.

10. Items in number of baskets 

Needless to say, this is an utter conversion hack. We highlighted this conversion hack while discussing the list of powerful conversion hacks (click this when you finish reading this post) that drive conversions instantly.

Most eCommerce market leaders use this conversion hack but in the manner of FOMO (fear of missing out) to push buyers in ordering quickly. Whereas Etsy has utilized the same is by providing social assurance that other buyers are also loving it. It gives validation in the buyers’ minds. Positivity works!

So, make a note of this hack if you still haven’t considered it to be one.

11. Availability on category pages

Just like the above conversion hack, this one also invokes the urgency to make the purchase right away.

So, you should not miss even a single hack that has all the powers to drive instant conversions.

If you ask- is it also a conversion hack? Yes, Etsy knows it.

12. Checkout Options

Etsy knows their customers very well. They can be workaholics, students, or retired people. So, Etsy kept three different options to checkout- as a guest, via email, and even via social media logins.

Now, almost every website has social logins and looking from the user perspective; they don’t like to remember usernames and passwords of all the websites they access.

So, learn from Etsy to have multiple options to register, login, and checkout.

13. Free Delivery & Bestseller tags on category pages

If you know that a product you’re looking for is available with free delivery, you buy it without wasting even a micro-second further.

The same case is with the bestselling products. 

So, having ‘Free Delivery’ and ‘Bestseller’ tags on category pages itself, it makes the customers happy who are looking to buy them.

Even, you want it to happen with your customers, right? Then, take this in your priority list and don’t forget to thank Etsy for inspiring you.

Learnings from Etsy.com

Whether you consider the things mentioned above as the eCommerce website tips or the conversion hacks, you need to have them on your website within the coming two months.

Why two months? So, your website is ready to grab the success before the holiday season starts.

Are you reading this during the holiday season? Then, you know what your next target is.

Let us know how did you find these conversion hacks from Etsy.com. Also, if you are looking for any wireframing or interactive design consultation, here is just one message away. Shoot us a message on [email protected].