Etsy has long been a favorite with crafting enthusiasts, but mostly as a hub for either hawking or buying homemade goods. Now the digital marketplace is positioning itself as a one-stop shop from the supply chain to the customer.
Etsy Studio was unveiled this week as online market that will be available worldwide this spring to craft suppliers, online vendors, and Do-It-Yourself (DIY) practitioners.
Beyond just selling the basics such as spools of yarn, beads in bulk, and other materials, Etsy Studio will also try to woo customers into staying around longer through its own DIY tutorials developed in-house. Thus, customers can buy the products on the same page as the lesson for a new project.
This latter point could be key for Etsy’s long-term success as the company started seeing a majority of its revenue start to come from just seller services last year. That’s quite the contrast to when Etsy went public on the Nasdaq in spring 2015, when marketplace revenues were the dominant source of income as Etsy takes a cut from product sales.
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Etsy Studio reflects some more proactive moves on the Brooklyn-based company’s part to challenges from a number of other e-commerce brands looking to compete in the artisan goods market—namely Amazon’s Handmade (AMZN). It’s also important to get ahead in this game as Etsy cited the craft supply market is worth approximately $44 billion in the U.S. Alone, according to a 2016 study from the Association of Creative Industries.
Last spring, Etsy (ETSY) rolled out Pattern, a platform for developing custom websites—essentially another way to tie vendors closer to the Etsy ecosystem. Etsy has also forged alliances with established retail giants, such as Macy’s and Martha Stewart.
Etsy counted approximately 1.7 million active sellers and 27 million active buyers as of September 30, 2016.