Etsy is running twice the number of tests as previous years as it seeks to improve its marketplace, according to the company’ CEO Josh Silverman, and now there’s a new way for sellers to keep track of these tests. Etsy will no longer announce them on the forums; instead, it has created a new page where it will announce current tests, recently concluded tests, along with a feedback section.
Announcement follows:
If you watched the video update from Josh Silverman, Etsy’s CEO, last month, you heard that we are laser focused on bringing you more sales. As part of that effort, several of our teams have been working on improvements to help buyers find items they love and feel confident making a purchase.
Often, we use tests on Etsy to ensure changes will have the result we expect. Not all buyers who visit your shop will see what we’re testing, because we often display experiments to a small percentage of buyers.
Many of these recent tests have already had positive results that have increased sales for sellers on Etsy. But we know you can sometimes be concerned about changes you see on Etsy. And we know you often have questions about changes that you notice or hear about: Is it a test or a permanent change? Who’s seeing it? What are our goals? How does it impact your shop?
To help increase communication and transparency about our tests, we’re launching a new page devoted to sharing up-to-date information about what we’re testing, the goal of each experiment, and other relevant details you might be curious about.
We’ll share updates about tests that are most relevant to sellers, so keep in mind that not every active test will be included on this page.
Check out the new page here. We’ll provide regular updates on this new page so you know:
– What we’re currently testing and why
– Whether a test turned into a permanent change across the site
– If we turned off or stopped a test
Right now, you’ll find information about tests that are currently running or have recently ended. We’ve also announced a new test that includes changes to Etsy’s category navigation menu.
Going forward, we won’t post about most buyer tests here in the forums – you can find details about any new experiments on the information page for sellers here.
We’ll continue to share information when we introduce new seller tools and other news or updates from Etsy in the Announcements section.
SOURCE: Etsy Announcement
Would just like to say that it would be nice if Etsy could take a break from TESTING and focus on creating a stable/reliable site. The BUGS thread proves that there is a lot more they could be doing to help the site instead of testing. Etsy’s SEARCH feature is an issue as stated by both sellers and buyers. Testing to improve buyer’s experience is an understandable aspect of creating a great site but improving the site so that it is consistently functioning properly should be a major focus. Wondering if all the testing could be causing many of the bugs?
Josh said: “we are laser focused on bringing you more sales”
If that were true, why does the site get worse & worse, and why are the boards full of comments about sales down, down, down? They haven’t got a clue. I read the entire test page. The following is an accurate representation of nearly any test listed on it. The language they use to justify what they are doing sounds like a 9th Grader that didn’t even do a good job of reading Cliff Notes. This test has to do with displaying the shipping price. It caused untold consternation on the Etsy boards. (I changed the paragraph titles to all CAPS, added Nmbrs, and my comments in () )
This is from their current test page: (https://www.etsy.com/help/article/183715380309)
1) TYPE: Setting clearer expectations around shipping — (What the He** does that mean?)
2) WHAT WE TESTED: Provided a new way to display shipping details to buyers. — (OMG what geniuses. Will it ever occur to them, to just put shipping cost, under the product cost, and just add them together?)
3) GOAL: Improve the purchasing experience for buyers. — (HOW WOULD IT HAVE DONE THAT? That sounds EXACTLY like Ebay-speak.)
4) RESULTS: We received a lot of helpful feedback from the community about this change. This test gave us valuable data that will help us make informed decisions about how we display shipping costs on Etsy. — (This statement is just a pitiful attempt to get out of admitting what nearly EVERY SELLER knew, the day this mess started.)
5) STATUS: Did not launch. Ended August 2017. — (Another failure. Who thinks this crap up? I want to know, because it is important for me to be able to criticize the correct idiots.)
Oh, and regarding their latest attempt at fixing their childish category system:
Art & Collectibles DO NOT go together. AND Vintage (visible at the moment), and at the top, still has HARDLY ANY SUBCATEGORIES! And now, I can’t find “Antiques” (it says it’s under Art & Collectibles now, but it ain’t. The Etsy category system isn’t even on the level of a JR High School Student yet.
This paltry category system may be Etsy’s biggest problem other than inept top & middle management. With tens of millions of items coming in, from fake HAND MADE and phony RESELLERS, buyers are just drowning in JUNK. But pay no attention Etsy.
Try finding ANOTHER stupid way to hide shipping.