April 28, 2015
Retailers turn to Etsy for new products pipeline
As part of a new program, up to 50 Etsy Wholesale designers will have the opportunity to pitch five retailers — Nordstrom, Lou & Grey, Clementine, the Walker Art Center’s Walker Shop, and The Land of Nod.
At the Etsy Wholesale Open Call, a one-day event held at Etsy’s headquarters in Brooklyn, attendees will participate in workshops and seller development discussions led by retail industry leaders and experts in photography and printing from Canon. Erin Cunningham, editor for Refinery29, the style website, will speak to sellers on what the media looks for in new product. Following the event, buyers from each retailer will place orders to stock their shelves for the upcoming holiday season.
To apply for Open Call, designers are required to post an image of their best product on Instagram, include a brief pitch in the caption, and tag the post with #EtsyOpenCall @EtsyWholesale. Winners will be selected by the Etsy Wholesale team.
Michelle Kohanzo, managing director, The Land of Nod, a children’s home furnishings e-tailer with six stores owned by Crate & Barrel, said Open Call "will allow us to explore and create relationships with so many new artists."
Source: Instagram #etsyopencall
Emily Blistein, store owner of Clementine, a shop full of handmade and vintage finds based in Vermont, added, "When I come to Etsy, I come for three reasons: to fill a current void for a specific product in the shop, to see what’s trending and to be surprised and delighted by new products."
Etsy Wholesale Open Call follows the launch last year of Etsy Wholesale, which works to connect its designers with independent boutiques and established retailers.
Other Etsy Wholesale outreach successes have included:
- Nordstrom this spring launched two trunk shows in California locations introducing Etsy designers into their jewelry category with designer, Anne Loarie.
- In March, The American Museum of Natural History curated a selection of more than 140 items for their gift shop from Etsy designers. A group of seven designers hosted a behind-the-scenes tour of their collections.
- In April, Etsy pop-up shops opened in the Whole Body department at the three New York City Whole Foods locations. In addition to sales, the designers are also making in-store appearances.
BrainTrust
Jamie Tenser
Retail Tech Marketing Strategist | B2B Expert Storytelling™ Guru | President, VSN Media LLC
Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
What do you think of a marketplace site such as Etsy as a new products incubator for big and small stores? In what ways can Open Call and the overall Etsy Wholesale program be further enhanced?
Poll
It’s a great way for large retailers to bring in designers who bring a different mentality towards product development and design. If retailers want to attract new customers, they will need fresh products. Etsy sellers are there because they have a passion, specific design purpose or specialty and I believe they will bring more value to large retailers and more revenue for the Etsy sellers. It’s a win-win!
This is a fun idea that may prove lucrative for a few lucky designers, but I think it is likely to generate more one-hit wonders than lasting careers.
For retailers looking for a few distinctive items to differentiate their lines, this might seem like a potential hit parade. The math is in their favor — lots of choice and fresh looks every day.
This seems a little bit like posting homemade music videos on YouTube and hoping for discovery. Most Etsy designers should not count on quitting their day jobs.
What I love about this most is that it gives retail a chance to see what is really trending. They can then incorporate into their own mix and potentially make some exclusive offers and/or campaigns.
For a few hot and trending designers, it can be a hit out of the park.
For my 2 cents….
The social exposure should be extended to the retailers social channels and the retailer’s customers allowed to comment and retweet. You can analyze the data to figure out the top designers and allow them to pitch.
Perhaps do this once per large retailer or categorize them into like customers.
I love this program and see it as a retail example of the collaborative economy (AirBnB etc.). Jeremiah Owyang at Crowd Companies likes to talk about the collaborative economy making brands more resilient. Partnering with Etsy can definitely add resiliency to the big brands mentioned in this article by helping them keep their assortment fresh and/or breathe life into categories that may be underperforming.
We’ve been discussing this one around our office today and one of my team members saw an enhancement opportunity in leveraging Etsy’s customer data for this program—retailers could identify exactly the products most likely to be demanded by their specific clientele. Etsy could even create a tool for retailers allowing product to be filtered for popularity by demographics/customer segments.
This is a great idea for many niche stores and brands. However, it is very limited (East Coast only) in its scope and reach, and the categories which it focuses on. Broader, more frequent, and bigger will all help this program.
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It’s a great way for large retailers to bring in designers who bring a different mentality towards product development and design. If retailers want to attract new customers, they will need fresh products. Etsy sellers are there because they have a passion, specific design purpose or specialty and I believe they will bring more value to large retailers and more revenue for the Etsy sellers. It’s a win-win!
This is a fun idea that may prove lucrative for a few lucky designers, but I think it is likely to generate more one-hit wonders than lasting careers.
For retailers looking for a few distinctive items to differentiate their lines, this might seem like a potential hit parade. The math is in their favor — lots of choice and fresh looks every day.
This seems a little bit like posting homemade music videos on YouTube and hoping for discovery. Most Etsy designers should not count on quitting their day jobs.
What I love about this most is that it gives retail a chance to see what is really trending. They can then incorporate into their own mix and potentially make some exclusive offers and/or campaigns.
For a few hot and trending designers, it can be a hit out of the park.
For my 2 cents….
The social exposure should be extended to the retailers social channels and the retailer’s customers allowed to comment and retweet. You can analyze the data to figure out the top designers and allow them to pitch.
Perhaps do this once per large retailer or categorize them into like customers.
I love this program and see it as a retail example of the collaborative economy (AirBnB etc.). Jeremiah Owyang at Crowd Companies likes to talk about the collaborative economy making brands more resilient. Partnering with Etsy can definitely add resiliency to the big brands mentioned in this article by helping them keep their assortment fresh and/or breathe life into categories that may be underperforming.
We’ve been discussing this one around our office today and one of my team members saw an enhancement opportunity in leveraging Etsy’s customer data for this program—retailers could identify exactly the products most likely to be demanded by their specific clientele. Etsy could even create a tool for retailers allowing product to be filtered for popularity by demographics/customer segments.
This is a great idea for many niche stores and brands. However, it is very limited (East Coast only) in its scope and reach, and the categories which it focuses on. Broader, more frequent, and bigger will all help this program.