For the first time since it was founded 12 years ago Etsy has launched a second marketplace: Etsy Studio. Focusing entirely on craft supplies, the new site mixes DIY tutorials with product listings for an integrated experience that helps customers get inspired and purchase supplies all in one place.
Etsy announced Etsy Studio in February indicating that the site would launch with nearly 8 million products making it an important competitor to Michaels, the largest art and craft supply chain store in the United States which currently carries approximately 33,000 unique products. “When we began exploring this area, we discovered that something very important was missing: joy,” Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson, told Forbes. “For a category that’s meant to bring people so much happiness and connection, we think we can do a lot better.”
The site’s navigation bar divides listings into six top level categories: home and hobby; jewelry and beauty; paper, party and kids; sculpting and forming; sewing and fiber; and visual arts. Hovering over each category reveals an extensive drop down menu with more specific categories of products on the left side and DIY tutorials on the right.
The DIY tutorials are authored by Etsy staff and each project is labeled by level and the time it takes to complete. Each supply is linked to a recommended Etsy Studio listing and with a dozen or more similar listings next to it for easy comparison. The tutorial ends with an “add all to basket” button which adds all of Etsy’s recommended listings to the shopper’s basket. For the multi-colored pompom garland project (below) that added up to $71.03 worth of materials from five different sellers.
Etsy Studio is optimized for mobile and checkout includes 10 different payment methods including Apple Pay and Android Pay.
A multi-colored pompom garland tutorial on Etsy Studio.
Craft supplies have been for sale on Etsy from the very beginning and they will continue to be for sale there. Supplies sellers’ listings are automatically imported into Etsy Studio, although Etsy has recommended that sellers take the time to add additional attributes to each listing to ensure that their products can be found in search. “Take advantage of attributes – our additional item description fields,” the announcement to sellers explained. “Adding this specific information about your items will make them more likely to show up in filtered search results so buyers can find your items more easily. Attributes will become a factor in Etsy search on March 27 and will also be factored into Etsy Studio search.”
There are no additional fees involved with being on the new marketplace, but there’s also no way for craft supply sellers to opt out. Sellers will continue to manage their listings and orders on the current dashboard with no changes.
Etsy has promised sellers that they’ll aggressively publicize the new site. “We’re investing in your success with paid advertising and robust marketing campaigns to attract new craft supply buyers to your items,” read the seller announcement. Already they’ve collaborated with Real Simple to do a Facebook Live demonstrating three projects using materials from Etsy Studio.
The site launched with 70 DIY tutorials and there are plans to add a new tutorial each week. Some of the tutorials available at launch include a hand-painted plate, an essential oil wall hanging, a tooth fairy pouch, and a paper flower spring wreath. Customers who are just browsing can look through all existing projects to get ideas.
With Etsy Studio Etsy is taking a bet that the online craft supplies market has up until now been underserved. “The approximately $44 billion dollar US craft supply industry has largely existed offline until now,” Tim Holley, director of product management, wrote in a post on the Etsy blog.
In its 4th quarter of 2016 earnings call Michaels CEO Chuck Rubin explained that online sales make up only a single digit percentage of the company’s overall sales. Although they’re working to expand their online assortment in 2017, Rubin indicated that Michaels doesn’t believe online shopping can ever be a large source of sales for the company. “The tactile nature of the product, the general lack of national brands and a low average item price make it unlikely that e-commerce will grow to be the double-digit penetration of sales as it is for most other retail formats,’ he said.
It appears that Etsy disagrees. Over the last 12 months they company has interviewed craft supply shoppers to learn more about what they need in order to buy supplies online. This research has led to features such as pinch and zoom which allows for a closer look at photos and the ability to search by color, size, and material, along with integrated DIY tutorials. In addition, Etsy Studio adds a personal element to shopping for craft supplies because customers can contact individual sellers worldwide to ask questions.
With Etsy Studio we now have a second public company in the online craft supply space and one built by a company with 12 years of experience serving crafters online.
There should be a section for “wholesale” or large quantities for crafters who use the supplies for their Etsy products. Mmm, Michael’s SEO sorta sounds like retailers a few years ago “that internet is just a phase” 😉
That’s an interesting point about wholesaling. I’m a craft supply seller on Etsy (I sell sewing patterns and specialty supplies for making stuffed animals) and I have many repeat customers who place big orders because they are sewing for craft fairs and for their own Etsy shops. Of course, there’s Etsy Wholesale, but that’s really aimed at retail stores that are reselling finished goods.
Totally agree about the wholesaling. I sell quilt patterns on Etsy and they are currently not an item you can sell on Etsy Wholesale.
I think $71 is a bit spendy to make that little pom pom garland. I have to go and look to figure out why it would be so expensive. Most of the people I encounter who are interested in crafting are looking to do it as cheaply as possible. I find getting people to invest in just a $10 pom pom maker set is difficult. So forking over a week’s worth of grocery money to make a simple pom pom garland seems a little out of touch with the craft community. The every day person making stuff is entirely different from a craft blogger. I can see big blogs like A Beautiful Mess doing that, but I can guarantee you my neighbors who would make something over summer vacation with their kids would NEVER spend like that.
Nice yarn is expensive! 😉
I’ve been seeing adverts for this but didn’t know what it was. Thanks for the explanation!
As a long-time Etsy customer, not seller, I am finding the addition of this new entity very confusing. The two sites sometimes both offer the same items, sometimes not. My cart in regular Etsy somehow migrates over to the Studio cart; once in awhile the whole order disappears from both carts.
I have almost decided to just forget about the Studio site. The new way of paying in the plain Etsy site is already making me have to pay more attention than I want to when I decide to make a purchase.
I LOVE Etsy but I find myself holding back now, waiting to see if things become less complicated for a buyer. Even the passwords are separated for the two sites and it’s giving me a headache. *almost not a joke*
Interesting. I didn’t realize the passwords were different. And the shopping cart moving from one site to the other does sound confusing.
I’m also an Etsy customer and not a seller. I had not heard about the reason for the change in my cart until I read this. As a customer it just happened. I now put my items into my cart and then move them to ‘save for later’. I have no idea what the shipping will be when I put fabrics from different sellers into one cart. I don’t want a huge shipping fee. I wonder how much the 71.00 for pom-pom supplies was with shipping.
Each seller sets their own shipping fees.
I’m an Etsy fabric seller and never thought of that. I guess it is a drawback that even you can checkout as once, your shipping fee would still be high because each invidual seller has to ship the products separately. This problem can’t be solved unless Etsy becomes Amazon and handle shipping in one centralized place.
When I received the Etsy email blast announcing the new Etsy Studio I was thrilled! I am a fiber artist/art quilter/illustrator/painter/pattern maker….. There isn’t a good art supply, quilt shop or general fabric, threads, notions shop in my area so I’ve been purchasing supplies online for a long time. It gets frustrating to have to order from several different sites, some orders with enough to get free shipping and others for only a couple of items so there are shipping fees. I’ve spent a lot of time exploring the Etsy Studio and I think it is going to be a very good resource for me. It’s about an hour and a-half drive to the closest Michael’s. I’ve found that their art supply section needs more variety and the stock on hand is quite low. Obviously, they don’t serve quilters and those of us who sew.
Since Michael’s and Craftsy have partnered I hope they will fill a big hole in the Supplies Shop on the Craftsy site. Craftsy offers great art classes, but they do not have any supplies in the materials lists required for the classes! Hopefully, both companies’ CEO/COO’s will have the foresight to offer the supplies for each genre of learning they offer.
Thank you for this perspective. One of the things I like about Etsy’s changes is multi-cart checkout which allows shoppers to add items to their carts from multiple shops and checkout all at once. On the other hand, if you’re working to differentiate your brand, Etsy Studio really doesn’t help with that. It feels like supplies are supplies and it doesn’t matter which seller they come from.
I really dislike the change to having to checkout with everything at once because of the excessive shipping charge and I don’t always buy everything at once so I end up moving things to save for later and check out from one seller at a time to keep things straight and so I know exactly how much I’m spending with each seller.
Getting to thIs post a little late, but it does sound like there will be a lot of confusion if your cart is not adding shipping as you go. My frustration shopping for craft supplies online at big retailers is the really awful search algorithms. You search for x, find a hundred things, none of them x or remotely related. That’s why Michael’s online sales are so low, Amazon at least gives you x with all the other stuff. I run into same on other craft retailer sites, and Etsy, though. The curse of the keyword. I go into a local shop, I say looking for x, they tell me where to find it or that they don’t carry x. Hoping the new attribute system will be better. Previously I have checked on something I’m selling on Etsy, type description of my product exactly, six screens of unrelated items show up first. Disheartening. I have better luck selling at a local shop through consignment. Same for my publishing. Sold many times more art prints on consignment than online. These are interesting times.
I recently purchased some graphics from Etsy studio…where can I go to see my purchase history for Etsy Studio?
You’ll need to get in touch with Etsy customer service. We aren’t affiliate with Etsy. Thank you.