Big changes are coming to Etsy in 2022. Changes that will make you totally rethink the way you operate and market your handmade business. And it’s all thanks to TikTok… Here’s how Etsy’s new seller app is changing the game.

Today, we’re taking a look at some pretty big changes that are in store for Etsy sellers in the immediate future. Changes that are being talked about in some seller circles, but are still widely unknown to the larger Etsy community.

Etsy’s New Seller App

So what are the big changes we’re talking about? Etsy is launching a new mobile app for the seller community! Right now, it’s called Etsy Seller Preview. It’s available in the App Store and on Google Play, so after this article go try it out for yourself!

This new app means that there will soon be a new home for Etsy sellers to run their business. A new place to add photos and listings. A new place to message buyers and view reports. But most importantly, a new way to sell your products. It’ll soon be available in Etsy’s new seller app which will be launching sometime in March.

What’s new with Etsy’s new seller app?

So what can we expect with this new app? Largely, it doesn’t seem exceptionally different from the previous seller app. It’s got a new user interface. Etsy’s doubling down as purple for the color of choice for the seller community. First the Star Seller badge, now this app.

But overall, the features seem pretty much the same, just packaged a little differently. More streamlined, as Etsy puts it.

We like that on the homepage, the app comes with some checklists and tips for sellers. This will be extremely helpful for new sellers trying to navigate everything that goes into opening a new shop and setting up their listings.

And we also like that we’ll be able to add photos and video to our listings directly from the app. While you could add listings photos in the previous app, it looks like the new app will make it a little more intuitive for a better user experience.

The biggest change we can expect

It looks like video will be the biggest change we can expect with this new app. If you haven’t already noticed, Etsy has been encouraging sellers time and time again to post more video content and process videos in their shops. And there’s a reason for that. Video is quickly becoming the largest social medium for all platforms. Just look at TikTok, Facebook & Instagram Reels, Pinterest TV, and of course YouTube. All social media channels are doubling down on video, and now Etsy is too.

In a future article, we’ll be taking a closer look at how Etsy, as a company, is learning from the TikTok playbook. So if that’s something you want to learn more about, make sure to subscribe to our newsletter.

Etsy’s new seller app is doubling down on video

So how do we expect the new seller app will use video? With a new feature, Etsy calls Explore. You won’t see this feature available in the app right now, since Sellers can only access it by exclusive invitation, but we expect it to be available in the final roll-out.

What we currently know about Explore is that it gives sellers an opportunity to upload photos and videos to a public news feed, similar to Instagram or yes, TikTok. So what it looks like Etsy is moving towards is full-fledged social commerce, similar to what you would find in Instagram shopping.

Stay ahead of Etsy changes with The Squeeze

If you read our newsletter regularly, The Squeeze, then you know that we like to talk about Social Commerce and how we expected Etsy to eventually roll out some more social commerce features, especially after their acquisition of DePop back in June of 2021.

We can expect that the social commerce landscape is here to stay in 2022, and it’s only going to get bigger. So if you want to stay up to date as it evolves, make sure you’re subscribed to our newsletter. We’ll pin a comment to it down below.

What we can expect with Etsy Explore

So back to Explore. While Etsy sellers will have the option to upload videos to Explore inside the new seller app, shoppers will be able to view explore from the regular Etsy app. So what this means is that shoppers will now have a version of social commerce available inside the Etsy app. 

Consider this, you’re an Etsy shopper and you pull up the app to browse for stuff to buy. You might decide to head to Explore to see what creators are coming up with. After browsing through Explore for a little bit, you come to a really cool video of an Etsy seller showing how they build little craftsman-style Birdhouses, complete with little bird furniture, and whatnot. Boom you have a buyer because your video is that popular inside Explore.

Popular videos on Etsy Explore

So what’s it going to take to create popular videos inside Explore? We can expect that videos on Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest are all going to be great sources of inspiration.

So now is the time to brush up on your social media marketing, because influencers and creators are going to have a whole new platform on Etsy in 2022.

Over to you

Etsy’s Seller Preview app is expected to go live in March of this year, so get it now in the app store and on Google Play. Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel right here and our newsletter that we send every Wednesday, to keep up to date with future changes on Etsy and in eCommerce.

Let us know what you think about this new app. Are you excited to use the new features in Explore? Or are you bummed that Etsy keeps making changes to their platform? Talk to us in the comments and we’ll make sure to respond.

 

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