Mini Critique: Sections that Sell

Hey everyone! Meagan here. I have an important announcement for you all. First off, I hope you all are doing well, & learning a lot from these mini critiques. I have really enjoyed doing them. Now, just for the record, today will be the last mini critique I'll be posting on a regular basis. Yep it's true! We've covered a lot of the basics on shop set up & I think we're at a good stopping point. Sooo, if you have a question about something. You can always convo me on Etsy @Baby Swank & I'll be glad to direct you to some great info & give you my advice or you can email me at meagan {at} meaganvisser {dot} com too.


So, onto today's critique...Sections that Sell.


As some of you may know, I have a blog series running on my blog right now called ReVAMPing Your Etsy Shop - 2011 & it's a lot like these mini critiques. It's a ton of shop how-to & advice from several different Etsy sellers.


Now this weeks blog post was on Shop Sections, Rearranging Your Shop, & Featured Listings & it was written by the lovely Kimberly of Cinnamon Spice on Etsy. So I'm going to let you in on a bit of her advice today...{that is if you haven't already read it on my blog ;P}. So the following is the excerpt from this weeks post - all about different ways to use your sections. Then following that I'm gonna show you 3 shops that I think are using their sections well! So here we go...


From ReVAMPing Your Etsy Shop - 2011 Blog Series via MeaganVisser.com


Let’s face it, we’ve all been to the “discount” brick and mortar stores that are a jumbled mess, and while sometimes I do enjoy unearthing that incredible buy, I much rather prefer to shop in stores where merchandise is well organized.  Your Etsy shop is no different.  The key is finding which style works for you and your potential customers.  The best part is you can experiment until you’re happy with the results!

Shop Sections

Use Shop Sections to categorize your items. Some effective styles are to:

Organize by Theme – For Cardmakers and shops that cater to party planning and decorating, a great way to organize your shop is by theme. Most of your shoppers will probably be looking to buy for a special occasion such as birthday, anniversary or holiday.  Tailoring your sections according to theme, like inkylivie does should help guide them directly to what they need!

Organize by Size – Most shoppers really appreciate being able to hone in on the exact size they are looking for whether they are buying jewelry, apparel, handbags or shoes.  Save your customers time by using the sections to group your items by clothing size or even small, medium and large works well or non-apparel items.  Cite fuzz labels her hats by size for quick reference.

Organize by Type of Item – Paper crafters like myself can benefit from organizing their stores by type of item.  When shoppers visit my store they can instantly see what type of paper crafts I specialize in, whether it’s an Altered Journal, my “Get Scrappy Kits”, a Greeting Card or a Mini-Scrapbook Album.  This style also works for hair accessory makers and those with a variety of different items for sale.  Lil’ Princess Bow and Mary had a Little Party have their shops wonderfully organized by type.

Organize by Price – Bath and body sellers, or other sellers that make use of gift baskets or groupings, can get a lot of mileage from using their shop sections to organize by basket and price.

Organize by Color-  If you make similar items in several different colors, you may help your visitors narrow their search by grouping like colors together.

Now, have fun orgzanizing your Shop sections!  Create and/or edit your sections in Your Etsy > Shop Settings > Info & Appearance (there is a tab for Sections).

Okay, now if you want the rest, you know where to go. Right here. So now I'm gonna show you 3 shops on Etsy that I think are following Kimberly's advice & using there sections well!

So as you can see Knarken sells jewelry & she's using her shop sections to direct customers to specific types of items.

Okay, in Dolly Rocker Candles you can see that products are listed by scent and type. Awesome!

And lastly, Miss Merryweather's Creations lists her very cute card by Theme.

Alright! Now go check your shop out, see if your sections are directing customers & making it easier on them to shop. If not, see if you can make them work using any of the above suggestions from Kimberly.

Once you're finished, leave your shop link in the comments below so we can check out your improvements!!

Meagan - Baby Swank & MeaganVisser.com

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