Yesterday we reported on Etsy’s announcement of a new Weekly Performance Report that it was sending to sellers via email. Today, a seller forwarded us a copy of their report.
The subject line read: “(Redacted shop name): This week in your shop.”
And here’s what was inside the email (we redacted the seller’s identifiable information as noted):
This week in your shop
Weekly performance and personalized insights for (redacted shop name)
(Redacted number) new orders
Check your stats to see what’s popular in your shop (link)
(Redacted number) visits to your shop
Start an Etsy Ads campaign to bring more traffic to your shop (link)
(Redacted number) new reviews
See out tips for getting great reviews (link)
“Visit Shop Manager” button
That summary of the seller’s shop data was followed by editorial content:
“Celebrating Earth Day with Copenhagen Collected
“Learn how freelance archeologist and vintage collector Alva Mac Gowan attracts shoppers with a focus on quality and sustainability. Read more (link)”
“Tip of the Week: Refresh your listings with photos and video
“Show Mother’s Day shoppers in the United States and around the world what makes your products unique.”
“Update Listings” button
“You inspire us, (redacted shop name)!”
When we went to the Etsy forums to see what sellers were saying, it appears Etsy began sending out the new email a few weeks ago. Two threads caught our eye:
- This week in your Shop emails from Etsy are inaccurate (Link)
- This Week in Shop Email Incorrect (Link)
In announcing the Weekly Performance Report, Etsy had said it would include the seller’s shop performance for the past 7 days and personalized listing stats (as well as shop optimization tips and opportunities).
But according to sellers in the discussion board threads, the information does not always accurately reflect the most recent 7 days of data.
Let us know what you’re seeing and how helpful the report is to you – and thanks to the reader for sharing theirs.
I’ve found these messages from Etsy to be good for new shops, not well established and/or successful ones. The advice to date has never been helpful as the suggestions include things I’ve been doing for years, and often includes using sites Etsy has partnered with. If I use them through Etsy, my fees can be higher (as in syncing my shop with Square), because Etsy takes a cut. Sometimes they just want to offer helpful advice that would keep a small shop from migrating to their own website.
Reading the above: “See out tips for getting great reviews…” is almost an insult. I’ve been enacting the suggestions on my own since I opened my shop. But more frustrating, it doesn’t ring true to me: I don’t feel like they treat me as their customer in the way they are suggesting I treat my, and by extension, their customers – the buyers on the Etsy platform. They offer no sales, special rewards (other than getting a few free listing credits for Etsy Plus). They offer no incentives, send no personal thank you notes, don’t send me a free coupon at the end of any period of time to thank my “loyalty”. But the audacity to ask me to take even more of my precious time to do these things, to my benefit, but more importantly, to theirs, affects my bottom line with a greater impact than it does theirs.
The actual data on what they think happened in my shop is also already there for me to see every day. Don’t need these messages…delete.