This is an episode of the Glossy Fashion Podcast, which features candid conversations about how today’s trends are shaping the future of the fashion industry. More from the series →
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On Tuesday, Etsy rolled out a variety of updates and launches and a reorganization of policies, in the name of preserving human creativity, according to the company. Launched in 2005, the Etsy marketplace is best known for selling handmade products.
On the latest episode of the Glossy Podcast, the company’s chief operating and marketing officer, Raina Moskowitz, broke down the changes, including what motivated them and how they’re expected to benefit the company in the increasingly crowded retail landscape. Edited highlights from the conversation, below, have been lightly edited for clarity.
Etsy’s new updates
“We’re really trying to differentiate from the rest of e-commerce and other marketplaces. We’ve scaled tremendously, and during this period, we were hearing a lot from buyers and sellers that they wanted to better understand what belongs on Etsy. What should they be shopping for on Etsy, and what should they be selling on Etsy? … We realized how important it is to continue to elevate the role of our sellers on Etsy. And so, as an example, what we’re announcing this week is, first and foremost, we’re clarifying our policy. And while this doesn’t sound sexy, it is incredibly important and foundational to make sure that our sellers understand what belongs on Etsy and what doesn’t. We’re clarifying what our policy has always been through what we’re calling creativity standards. [We want it to be] more clear what was made by a seller, what was designed by a seller, and what was sourced or handpicked by a seller. So we have these categories that will make it more intuitive for our sellers as they list their items and, importantly, our buyers. Many buyers are newer to Etsy, so they’re trying to figure out, ‘What should I expect?’ And, ‘How do I understand the role that the seller plays in the process?” — because they’re often shopping on Etsy because they want to buy from a small business or an artist or a maker. … We think this [update] is so important. And we’re going to top it all off with an exciting marketing campaign to support it.”
The pandemic impact on the business
“So many new people shopped on Etsy for the first time [during the pandemic] and had a great experience. … Particularly during the pandemic, people experienced Etsy in new ways. And we’ve been able to retain those customers. We have over 90 million buyers who shop on Etsy globally. And in addition to buyers, we attracted so many new sellers and creative entrepreneurs. And so, while the pandemic was an incredibly uncertain time, it actually [made Etsy] a platform that people came to, to earn extra income and to use their creative pursuits, while in lockdown, to earn extra income, join a community and be a part of something bigger. … We [now have] over 7 million sellers globally. We scaled tremendously, as did the amount of things for sale on Etsy.”
Competing for consumers
“I think [‘competing’] is more about providing what our consumers expect from us. When you think about e-commerce, there’s Amazon, Walmart, Target and eBay, but [where you shop] really depends on what you’re looking for. … And, when everyone is accustomed to [seeing retailers compete on] the lowest price and the fastest shipping, we’re trying to stand for something special. The work that we’re doing [with our new updates] is to remind people of that. And I think that, as people experience more and more of that mass production and that commoditized experience, the more they’re going to crave Etsy. And so we are doubling down on our sellers and their unique items. And we think this mission is both urgent and important.”
