2. CLICK Analysis
Competitive Advantage: Etsy is not just a place to sell
items, it is a community where you can message sellers
and buyers, subscribe to your favorite sellers and
collaborate on ideas with like-minded people.
Likes and Interests: Anything homemade and/or
vintage was of interest to Etsy’s founder. It was often
said that “Rob Kallin is interested in artists and
creators of the world.”
In Demand: Etsy satisfies the demand of many
Americans today to be able to able to buy American
made products. The uniqueness of their product helps
generate the demand for their product as well.
3. CLICK Analysis
Target Market: Vintage enthusiasts and consumers that
purchase homemade items. Small start up companies that
specialize in vintage and homemade items or skilled individuals
that to earn an extra income.
Knowledge and Background: Rob Kallins has a background in
art and business which is how we was able to see the need for a
place where creative individuals can buy and sell unique items.
4. SWOT Analysis
Strengths Weaknesses
*Offers a place to sell items at a low cost *Self-promotion is required to drive traffic to your
*Has an easy to operate site for anyone with basicproduct
knowledge *Limited ability to customize a sellers own Etsy
*Adds the community experience to buying and profile
selling *To utilize the forums as a marketing tool, sellers
*Offer a mobile site and IPhone app to keep must spend a lot of time on them
consumers connected *Limited number of tools for sellers to use to promote
their products
Opportunities Opportunities
*Increased demand for American made goods *Increased demand for American made goods
*Vintage styles are becoming more popular *Vintage styles are becoming more popular
*Large number of people looking to work from home *Large number of people looking to work from home
or earn a second income or earn a second income
*A target market to filter both sellers and buyers *A target market to filter both sellers and buyers
5. Competitor Analysis
Handmade Artists
Handmade Artists is just like Etsy in that it offers a place
for people to sell their handmade goods. According to
statistics found at Alexa.com Handmadeartists.com is not
nearly as popular as Etsy.com is, but they do offer some
great features that Etsy does not. The first being a monthly
subscription rate rather than a per item fee, members pay
5 dollars a month or 50 dollars a year. Handmade Artists
does not charge per item either. In our opinion these key
factors will help this company become more popular and
increase their revenue over the next year. This is mainly
due to the low cost and community feel.
6. Top 3 Problems
Opening a shop to sell handmade goods can be
expensive
Limited access to consumers when having own store/
website
No place to sell goods with an active community to
discuss and promote
7. Top 3 Solutions
Create a place for everyone to sell with a lower
price than running a store.
All stores can reach those in every state and by
using a search engine buyers can find your items
Include a community on the site for discussion
tutorials and many other useful and interesting
tips and tricks
8. Business Model
Business Model Canvas
KP#Key#Partners# KA#Key#Ac7vi7es# VP#Value# CR#Customer# CS#Customer#
# # Proposi7on# Rela7onships# Segments#
+ Commercial# + Pla9orm# # #
arts#and#cra3s# management# - Over 7 million + Self+service# + Online#shoppers#
suppliers# (IT)# searchable looking#for#
handmade + Automated# homemade#and#
+ Monitoring# and vintage vintage#items#
fraud#sellers# items + Community#
and#items# + Independent#
ar7sts#and#
+ Maintaining# - Attract a cra3ers#
user#community# global #
community of + Vintage#item#
shoppers sellers##
- Specialized
KR#Key#Resources# search options CH#Channels#
# such as #
+ Engineers# ShopLocal + Direct#
+ IT#systems# - Great side + Online#
+ Brand#
business for + Mobile#apps#
“hobby-
preneurs”
- Access to
comprehensiv
eSeller’s
ratings
C$#Cost#Structure# R$#Revenue#Streams#
# #
+ Pla9orm#costs#(IT)# # + Lis7ng#fee#of#20#cents#for#each#item#
+ Support#staff#
+ 3.5%#of#each#item#sale#
+ Marke7ng#&#promo7ons##
9. INDUSTRY IMPACT
Reduces enormous costs of opening up brick and mortar stores
to sell handmade and vintage items
Created an active online community of people who are
passionate about handmade items not found in mass retailers
Enabled independent artisans to easily start a business and
reach out to global shoppers without worrying about
transactional headaches
10. Alternative Business
Brokerage: Offer daily deals like Groupon in the shopper’s local area
to facilitate more personal relationships between buyers and sellers
locally and as a result promote repeat business
Affiliate: Offer buyers to promote their favorite shops to their friends
via email or social media platforms (e.g. Facebook) and provide
financial incentive if their friends and family purchase from the store.
Utility: Offer a free, easy-to-use visual online tool for buyers to
custom create their desired products and have sellers bid on
completing the project. This can bring back Etsy’s Alchemy services
which shut down because it was too cumbersome to use by both
buyers and sellers.
11. References
Adam, T. (2011, January 27). Etsy is phasing out Alchemy. Message posted to http://www.handmadeology.com/etsy-is-phasing-out-alchemy/
Alexa (nd). Etsy.com. www.alexa.com. Retrieved May 10, 2012, from http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/etsy.com#
Alexa (nd). Handmademusicinas.com. www.alexa.com. Retrieved May 10, 2012, from http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/handmadeartists.com#
A./Yahoo Contributor Network, N. (2009, July 10). Pros and cons of selling on Etsy. Yahoo Voices. Retrieved May 9, 2012, from http://voices.yahoo.com/pros-cons-selling-
etsy-3758966.html?cat=3
Chafkin, M. (2011). Can Rob Kalin scale Etsy?. Inc. magazine April 2011. Retrieved May 8, 2011, from http://www.inc.com/magazine/20110401/can-rob-kalin-scale-
etsy.html
Dissyb (n.d.). Selling on Etsy, E-Bay & Amazon. Dissybsbazzaar.blogspot.com. Retrieved May 9, 2012, from http:dissybsbazaar.blogspot.com/2011/03/selling-on-etsy-e-
bay-amazon.html
Drew. (2010, October 26). Is Etsy dying. Message posted to http://skinnyartist.com/is-etsy-dying/
Evans, T. (Editor). Creating Etsy’s Handmade Marketplace [Online exclusive]. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 13, 2012, from http://online.wsj.com/article/
SB10001424052702304370304575152133860888958.html
Etsy (nd). Etsy.com. Retrieved May 9, 2012, from http://www.etsy.com/
Handmade Artists (nd). Handmadeartists.com. Retrieved May 10, 2012, from http://handmadeartists.com/
Similar Sites (nd). Similar Sites to Etsy. Similar Sites . Retrieved May 9, 2012, from http://www.similarsites.com/site/etsy.com
Smith, J. (2011, November 17). Top 10 marketing tips from full time Etsy sellers. Retrieved May 8, 2012, from http://outright.com/blog/top-10-marketing-tips-from-full-
time-etsy-sellers/
(Untitled photograph of Etsy).(2012) Retrieved May 9, 2012, from: http://gigaom.com/2012/02/02/etsy-to-become-an-indie-biz-one-stop-shop/
Zhang, Y. (2011). The story behind Etsy’s do-it-yourself economy. Retrieved May 8, 2012, from:
http://catalystsdr.com/2011/06/the-story-behind-etsy%E2%80%99s-do-it-yourself-economy/
