[VAR] Etsy Plans Insider Buyer Rewards Changes, Annual Seller Conference Ahead Of Holiday Shopping Season

[papy]

Several topics/updates covered in this piece…

Etsy Plans Insider Buyer Rewards Changes, Annual Seller Conference Ahead Of...

[lake]

I guess emulating Kohl’s Cash was too expensive.

[joebcrafts]

Our third focus is on retaining and rewarding our most valuable customers both buyers and sellers.

After years of not giving a ■■■■ how much “churn” there was?

Yeah, sure, whatever.

[ickynicks]

“Our third focus is on retaining and rewarding our most valuable customers both buyers and sellers.”

This article is word salad! I read it and have not learned anything about Etsy’s current or future plans.

Marilyn

[papy]

@ickynicks

Etsy’s current or future plans.

The article was mostly quoting from Etsy’s Q2 earnings call (the transcript of that call was linked in the article, but…the Etsy staff didn’t really “say more” either. It looks like they were just reading prepared statements/press releases out loud).

But it did also quote some clarification posted by Etsy staff on their forum, around the Buyer Rewards.

Later this year, we’ll introduce new [Buyer Rewards] benefits like:

• Rewards on every purchase
• Special discounts and personalized offers just for members

We’re also making some updates to existing benefits, like which orders are eligible for free shipping. Members will still get free shipping, but we’re adding a minimum order amount and changing the maximum shipping costs Etsy will cover per order…

…In the meantime, we’re going to phase out the Deals and drop benefit, as well as the annual gift. We appreciate all the sellers who participated in deals and drop, and made it such a special benefit for members.

So it looks like Etsy will

1. Reduce the opportunities for Buyers to get free shipping
2. Put a cap in place for the maximum amount if shipping charges Etsy will cover when they do offer “free shipping”
3. Eliminate “deals and drop” benefits and “annual guft”
4. Introduce more “member” rewards, deals, and discounts

Basically, the way they set up the Buyer Rewards beta was found to be unsustainable when evaluating cost-benefits for Etsy. They were trying some things to help mitigate their Shein, Temu, and TikTok competition for shoppers, but the beta structure needs tweaking–which, honestly, is what a beta is for anyway, so kudos to Etsy for evaluating and adjusting, even if the adjustments might make the program less appealing to both Buyers and Sellers.

But it also points to the issues that every North American- or EU-based ecomm marketplace is facing, where international options have encroached into their domestic market shares. With those options operating without the same regard to IP laws or labor/human rights, and/or with state-subsidized costs and infrastructure, Buyers are too often seeing enough reduced friction that it’s worth it to them to give their business to those international competitors.

[ickynicks]

Your added information was helpful. It made me wonder how Etsy can restrict sellers from offering free shipping at certain price points? I don’t remember the deals and drop program, and some of the people who received the annual gift didn’t know what it was. There is no way Etsy can compete with Temu and mass produced merchandise.

Marilyn