During the holiday season, Etsy shoppers look for products that make gifting easy. With Etsy advertising their new Gift Mode, the platform aims to be a gifting destination for online shoppers this year. Offer your customers convenient and simple options by combining your products into bundles or gift baskets.
Summary (TLDR)
- Bundle your products: Offer convenient gift sets or baskets to attract holiday shoppers looking for easy gifting options.
- Etsy Gift Basket Standards: Ensure your gift baskets are themed, handpicked, and list all items in the description according to Etsy’s Creativity Standards.
- Listing options: Create variations or separate listings for bundles, or use Etsy’s new “Mix & Match” feature for discounts on multiple products.
- Enable gift wrapping and notes: Make gifting easy by offering gift wrapping and personalized gift messages but check if your Print on Demand provider supports these features.
- Prepare for holiday traffic: Optimize your shop for the holiday season, as Etsy’s Gift Mode will drive waves of holiday shoppers.
How Etsy Defines Gift Baskets
In July 2024, Etsy laid out their Creativity Standards. Among the products highlighted were gift baskets. These fall under the category of “Handpicked by a Seller” and according to Etsy’s Creativity Standards include:
An assortment of different types of items that the seller personally selected and creatively packaged to create a new, unique set. Gift baskets must have a clear theme that ties together a variety of different types of items that were individually selected by the seller. Generic concepts such as ‘candy,’ ‘clothes,’ or ‘mystery box’ (boxes with unknown contents or containing a single type of item in bulk) do not qualify as gift basket themes.
Please note that Etsy also requires that sellers must list every item contained in a curated gift basket or box in the listing description.
Listing Bundles or Gift Baskets
There are a few different ways to list bundles or gift boxes in your shop. Whichever method you choose, ensure that your listing’s title, photos, and description clearly indicates what customers receive with their purchase.
Variation within the individual items
If you sell each component of the bundle separately, consider adding a variation for “Bundle” or “Gift Set” with your higher price point. Add a photo in your listing photos showing the bundle and put the details in your listing descriptions.
Separate listing
Create a new listing solely for the bundle or gift basket. The thumbnail for this listing needs to show all products included in the bundle, and each item must be in the description as well.
New option
Etsy recently released their newest “Mix & Match” feature, which allows sellers to select up to three listings in their shop and offer a percentage discount when purchased together. Find more information about the Etsy “Mix & Match” option in Etsy’s article How to Set Up Sales and Discounts for Your Shop.
Enable Gift Wrapping and Messages
To make gifting easy for customers this holiday season, enable the gift wrapping option for your shop. This choice can make a world of difference for your buyers, especially if they are having you mail the gift directly to its recipient. To turn on this feature from your Etsy Shop Manager, click Settings → Options and scroll down to the “Offer gift wrapping” box. Please note that while you are able to set the price for gift wrapping, it is still subject to Etsy’s transaction fees.
Another option to consider is adding gift notes. These are messages from the buyer to the gift recipient. When printing packing slips, gift notes automatically print instead of an invoice and do not show the price of the item. Etsy provides a printed version for you to include within these packages. If the buyer also paid for gift wrapping, consider handwriting the gift note instead.
Please note that features such as gift wrapping and gift notes may not be available through Print on Demand (POD) providers. Double-check with your POD provider before enabling these options for your Etsy shop.
Prepare Your Shop
The fourth quarter is historically the busiest time of the year for e-commerce, so be ready for those buyers shopping for holiday gifts. With Etsy’s Gift Mode being front and center of their marketing campaigns, the platform is ready for waves of holiday shoppers. Ensure that your shop is ready by catering to those shoppers who want to purchase and have someone else handle the gift wrapping, gift notes, and shipping for them.
