How To Run a Sale on Etsy: A Detailed Guide for Newbies
If you have an online business, chances are that you may already have an Etsy Seller account to sell your products.
But if your business reached a plateau and is not getting enough sales, it might be time to find other ways to earn more.
One of the best strategies to raise your revenue and expand your clientele is to know how to run a sale on Etsy.
If you are a new seller, knowing what offers and promotions you can run on Etsy can be really useful. A keyword research tool, like Alura, can also help make your sale event a success.
What Are the Advantages of Holding an Etsy Sale?
Holding a sale is a fantastic method to increase your revenue quickly, but there’s more to it than just that.
Store Visitor Growth
One strategy for increasing the number of people who visit your store is to run sales; the more things you provide at a discounted rate, the better.
Cross-sell Other Items
You can bundle other products during the event, too.
While it is one method of cross-selling products from your inventory, it can also result in sales of items that aren’t on sale as more customers come into your store.
Word-of-mouth Advertising
Everyone enjoys deals and discounts, so expect people to tell their friends about your active listings as soon as they see they are on sale.
Possible Growth in Sales
Depending on how competitively you price your goods or how you promote your sales event, you may experience more sales that will immediately increase your revenue.
Getting More Reviews
Running a promotion is one of the best ways to get more reviews, which, in turn, will lead to sales growth.
The more reviews receive, the better your chances of customers finding and referring your store to others.
Make sure you have unique and outstanding products and efficient customer service, and you will surely get five-star reviews.
Increasing Your Score on Etsy
As mentioned, customer feedback can make or break your shop. Hence, if you receive more positive reviews, you get better chances of gaining more customers.
These reviews can help your Etsy account get promoted more, letting customers know your products are exceptional and that you are a trusted seller.
When Is the Right Time to Hold a Sale?
If you thought that holding a sale is done out of the blue, there are actually reasons merchants do it during specific times of the year.
Holding a sale can help enhance your sales strategy and provides real data so you will know when to hold a sale.
During the Holiday Season
We’re not simply referring to Christmas when we say that the holiday season is the best time to have a sales event.
There are other holidays that you can capitalize on, such as Thanksgiving, the 4th of July, Valentine’s Day, and others you believe are appropriate for your business.
Holiday shoppers are very receptive when spending money during these times.
Most are looking for something special to give, and it is advantageous, particularly when the products you are selling are themed around that event.
When Introducing a New Product
One of the best ways to launch or introduce new products from your shop is by doing promotional sales.
Most businesses find that this strategy performs consistently well, especially when they are executed properly.
When doing this, it is important that you use the best SEO practices, utilize different social platforms, and distribute the information with the right email marketing strategy.
Excitement is especially high when a sale is held for products that are new and fresh or something that people haven’t seen before.
This is a great opportunity to garner more traffic because there may be people who will now engage and buy from your shop.
Plus, repeat and potential shoppers will get more motivated to buy right away if the sale is only available for a limited time.
Before a Price Increase
In a perfect world, business owners want to ensure all the prices of their goods and services remain the same. In reality, this is not the case.
Increasing inflation rates and rising inventory costs greatly affect the prices of every merchandise.
Hence, if you need to increase your prices, you can do a flash sale event, put items on sale, or give out a huge sale announcement.
Many businesses usually do this just before they raise the prices of their goods.
Inventory Sale
Also known as a clearance sale, this is one of the best times to hold a sale event.
Since, Etsy products are so distinctive, selling on the site is more difficult than it may seem.
While Etsy is proud to have an amazing portfolio of creative persons selling handmade goods, the products will not stay popular forever. They tend to go out of trend or style over time.
That is why doing inventory sales can help solve such problems. What’s more, it helps provide extra revenue for your company.
Run massive Etsy-wide sales to get rid of outdated merchandise so that you can begin updating your catalog.
When Other Sellers Are Having a Sale
You don’t need to have complicated ideas just to create effective promotion options for your sale event. It’s more important to work smart than work hard.
While social media marketing is fantastic, one simple tactic is to do a sales event on Etsy when all sellers are doing it.
Be sure to include popular items or other seasonal items during your event.
Popular shopping weekends, such as Cyber Monday, Black Friday, and the start of the New Year, provide great timing for businesses to offer sales and bargains.
Customers are accustomed to these consistent sales events and will anticipate the same from your company.
How To Run a Sale on Etsy: Steps to Set It Up
Holding a sale on Etsy is easy and will only take a couple of minutes to set up. But first, you need to know that there are two types of sale events—regular and clearance sale.
With a clearance sale, there is no requirement for an end date. Instead, it will continue until all the products you placed on sale are gone. That said, you can choose to end it manually.
Here are the steps on how to run a sale on Etsy:
Step 1: On Etsy.com, click on the Shop Manager button in the top right corner of the dashboard.
Step 2: Click on Marketing Tab on the left side menu.
Step 3: Once you are there, look for the Sales and Coupons button and then click Run Sale.
Step 4: From there, you can choose which discount type you will offer. If you want to give free shipping, choose the Free Domestic Shipping option.
You can also choose how big of a discount you want, the minimum order, and the duration of your sale. You are allowed to set discounts between 10% and 70% on any item in your shop.
Step 5: There is also a Terms and Conditions option, where you can put any specific restrictions, limitations, and the like.
Step 6: Next is to name your sale so that it will be easier for you to identify and track the activities.
Step 7: Finally, choose the listings you want to be on sale and add them to Add Multiple Listings. Once you are done, finalize and review all your details, then click Confirm and create a discount.
Don’t forget to agree to the guidelines of Etsy and click on Schedule Sales Event to finish. Easy, right?
If you want to make sure your sale is doing well, you can use Alura’s optimization tool to help improve its performance.
How To Promote Your Sales Event
Simply setting up your sale event will not produce sales on its own.
There are other things you can do in addition to holding a sale to draw new customers and grow your store.
You can use tools to help you promote and inform customers, including potential ones, that you are offering a sale.
1. Optimize Your Etsy Seller account
When you first open your Etsy Seller account, you will get up to 40 listings without spending a penny.
This way, you can begin selling your handcrafted items and get a feel of how the platform works.
Make sure you complete the sign-up process, providing all the necessary information to increase your Etsy store’s credibility.
2. Check Out Alura
Along with setting up the sale, be sure to utilize Alura to ensure that the sale will reach more customers.
Alura is the all-in-one platform for selling on Etsy because it can help you run and grow your shop successfully.
For example, using the comprehensive keyword research tool lets you know exactly what items shoppers are looking for.
You can then use those same exact keywords to increase your store’s visibility.
3. Use Social Media
With the power of social media, you can get the exposure you want. There are various methods for doing that:
Advertisements
Organic marketing
Collaboration with different influencers
Sending marketing emails to your existing contacts and other leads
All Etsy shops must create a strong presence on their social media channels. However, you may still go further and do other strategies.
Instagram and Facebook are two of the most popular networks you can use. Try it out first and watch how your advertising campaign performed.
Additionally, share a post while the promotion is ongoing, especially if you have a large following on your social media platforms.
Just simply include the link on your Instagram bio or even in your FB post to keep your followers informed.
4. Work With Influencers
Collaboration with different social media influencers is also another effective technique.
Many companies use this common strategy to gain a larger reach, which results in increasing loyal customers along the way.
This is also a terrific approach to sharing your discount coupon with a broad audience.
Get a product review from past customers as much as you can for more exposure and wider reach.
5. Email Marketing
Finally, you can also do email marketing campaigns, where you can promote your promotional sales.
Be sure to include the link and a brief description of the event. This is also a good time to acquire more leads and referrals that will get directed to your account.
Whatever strategy you take, the good thing is that Etsy Analytics makes it simple to monitor your progress.
Using the data you acquired, use it to improve your strategy and find out which ones work out or not.
How To Create Coupons on Etsy
Aside from holding a sale, offering and creating coupons is another way to increase your sales. Here are the steps:
Step 1: Log into your Etsy account when you're ready to give it a shot.
Step 2: Look for the Marketing button and click Sales and Coupons in the Shop Manager dashboard.
Step 3: Select Create a new offer and then click Create a coupon.
Step 4: From the dropdown menu, choose what type of coupon you will create. Fill in the value of your offer.
Step 5: If desired, set an expiration date, a minimum order amount, or the particular products and sections to which the discount should apply.
Step 6: Click Continue. You have successfully created the vouchers once all the information is verified.
How To Share the Coupon Codes
The next step is to ensure your coupons are shared and given to your customers. Here’s how you can do that:
Give customers a coupon as a thank you.
After a sale, provide them with a discount ticket to use on their next order. Set them up in a bundled package so that they can also purchase another product in your shop.
Distribute a bulk email with the promo code that says there is no purchase necessary.
You may also send targeted offers to selected shoppers. Anyone who has abandoned things in their cart or recently favorited one of your items will instantly receive an email with a coupon.
Post it online.
Post the code to your website or social media platforms.
Increase Sales by Holding an Etsy Sale
Holding a sale is one of the quickest ways to get more loyal customers. Fortunately, it is easy to learn and master how to run a sale on Etsy.
Sellers have the tendency to give discounts and run a sale frequently, so customers already anticipate what will happen.
Hence, it is crucial to know when to have a sale and when not to.
For more useful tips on how to utilize your Etsy Seller account, use Alura to give you the boost you need!
