Etsy will advertise its Home Furnishings category in 2023, Etsy CEO Josh Silverman said during a presentation at the UBS Global TMT Conference on Tuesday.
The CEO said everything Etsy has done to date has been horizontal – it’s a one-size-fits-all approach, he said, such as improvements that make search and the user interface better “everywhere.”
But that will change in 2023, he explained in response to a question about a category-based approach.
Here’s how he answered the question:
“Most of our marketing has been about Etsy and why Etsy is better generically. We are looking at leaning in more into vertical experiences.
“So if we’re going to talk about home furnishings in our TV campaigns, which we plan to, and really say, Etsy is a place you should really think about first – start your search on Etsy for home furnishings, what’s the landing experience look like when you come to the Home page and do home furnishings
“Right now the taxonomy looks weird, frankly. When you’re searching for home furnishings, you’re used to searching by living room vs kitchen, right? Or mid-century modern vs boho.
“Etsy is not organized that way, because it’s a lot of Machine Learning, figuring out what is going to drive the most conversions in the moment.
“So you’ll see us clean up a lot of those experiences and really lean into some more verticalized experiences starting in 2023.
“How do we really make, for example, home furnishings feel like a more organized and better experience, particularly for newer and less savvy buyers who aren’t as good at the sort of “Etsy hat” that our more that our more experienced buyers are good at.”
EcommerceBytes reported on Etsy’s decision to take a vertical approach in 2023 in this November 24th AuctionBytes Blog post, where you can see what other readers had to say about the new approach.
Well, if any of My Items show up in Etsy’s TV commercial, it’ll be a miracle.
If they have a High End category, that would help.
In as much as my items sell themselves, a TV commercial featuring them would do Etsy good.
***Etsy follows the Money***
During Covid lockdowns, the U.S. consumer spent good money on home improvement and continues to spend, post Covid.
Latest economic reports from Home Depot and Lowes is that consumers continue to spend heavy on home improvement as noted by their latest quarterly reports. With a fear of an economic downturn due to inflation, both Home Depot and Lowes reported that their sales are still strong. This could be a good move for Etsy, as Etsy “follows the money”.