Have you ever been stuck between choosing a brand or local merchants who create authentic products or say it’s more aesthetic! Then it would be best if you always went for the artistic things, as they are more pleasing.
Considering this, the importance of Etsy is prominent in the online marketplace with growing demand. Well, continue reading because you will be filled upto the rim by the crucial information about building one marketplace like Etsy.
About Etsy clone
Etsy is an online platform providing space for buying and selling products. It has a similar business platform as the other. It differs from a vertical approach about creativity and creating things focussing on a specific industry or market. So, if you are only interested in buying vintage or, say, classic products for your space, then you might explore Etsy. The other platforms like Amazon or Flipkart work on the horizontal business model, where they tend to cover almost all the groups of people by selling everything under the roof.
Bilateral marketplace
Etsy as a connector has a bilateral model in the marketplace, which joins the buyers and sellers worldwide. Various artists and small-scale manufacturers have the freedom to sell their handmade products to buyers interested in antiques and classics.
Providing the best customer experience produces worth and value among people, groups, and users.
Etsy’s USP
The value of a company that makes it different from others is its USP (unique selling proposition). It defines the position and idea in the market and gives the status of your offers which includes some elements mentioned below:-
- Unique products: Etsy offers various handmade, customized, and classic products. For example, Vintage shoe brushes, doll hair, even animal skulls! You will discover everything there.
- Worldwide Reach: It consists of products from every corner of the world. Either it’s a bead necklace from Kenya or a wabi-sabi vase from Japan. Etsy assists in maintaining international growth by making shipping easier in other countries, discovering opportunities in Germany, India, France, and more.
- Mobile Experience: Mobile is seemingly the crucial part of eCommerce and online trade. It made mobile a center to enhance the customer experience. Etsy’s aspect is allowing purchases on mobile devices. The total number of downloads for both iOS and Android is 56 million.
Etsy Clone working Model
Following is the procedure of the Etsy marketplace:-
- A seller must create an Etsy account, add a username, profile picture, bio, and fill in other necessary details.
- Once the seller makes a profile, he needs to click on the ‘sell on Etsy’ option and open a shop.
- After the store is ready, sellers create a portfolio by adding pictures, descriptions, prices, and shipping charges.
- Buyers searching for the products can compare them as per their wish and make the payment by leaving some reviews.
How does Etsy make a profit?
The current financial results of Etsy for its second quarter, which was organized on June 30, 2020, disclosed a 125% increase in GMS in the quarter. However, below is the revenue model of Etsy:-
Listing costs: starting with listing products on Etsy, you will need to pay $0.20. The difference .20 will make is that All listings besides pattern-only listings expire after four months.
- Sales charges: dealers ought to pay a commission/ transaction fee of 3.5% of the total amount for each sale.
- Promotions/advertising: Etsy permits sellers to advertise their products and shop on their platforms for a certain amount. The advertising includes paid promotions and search engine ads such as Google Shopping, Bing, and Facebook.
- Membership costs: Etsy gives sellers free tools to help manage their shop. The second is the subscription charges, where sellers have to pay $10 a month to get additional tools and features. The features include advanced customization options, discounts, business cards, refill requests from shoppers, and more.
In addition to this, the brand also earns money from its seller services involving direct checkout, payment processing, and reduced shipping labels.
The hidden reason for the success of Etsy
Online platforms like Amazon and eBay offer the service of purchasing things online. However, Etsy provides many classic products; whether vintage shoes or jewelry, you can get it all there at once. Further, the points of striking success are as follows:-
1. A well-suited Market
Many businesses focus on people ready to pay for your target solution. It is a niche market. There is lower competition in such markets, and hence it becomes easier to stay on top. Etsy provides selected results to targeted people. For instance, people are looking for earrings which are a basic item. Therefore, they are relatively to search for a platform that offers a wide range of varieties. However, few might be searching for a hand-crafted bead earring. And platforms like Etsy are the ones for getting things like that.
2. Word of Mouth promotion
According to Nielsen, 92% of consumers believe in references from their friends and family over all forms of advertising. Word of mouth advertising seemingly gained fame for Etsy through this form of advertising. On the platform, 67% of its total consumers are women, which might be the main reason behind the growth, because of the recommendations to their friends.
3. The API
API, or application program interface, is vital for any business to grow. From the technical part, API permits one computer program to use the abilities of the other program, hence facilitating the contact between two systems. Etsy has its API, which lets creators hop into the Etsy community and build their empowered applications for the web, desktop, and mobile devices.
Steps to Build an Etsy clone
- You are starting with creating a unique selling point that will take your business up as an Etsy clone. For example, the brand coca-cola diverts the focus on “refreshment” as their unique selling point. Just like that, you also need to have that one point, from which you can show the difference of attracting customers towards your platform.
- Once you decide on the USP, choose the business model between horizontal and vertical. If you decide to build on the vertical business model, like Etsy, then you might be able to connect sellers and buyers on one platform from around the world, and in return, the profit will become yours!
The next step is to develop a product catalog, where you can mention all the product details for the users to browse once before making any purchase. Make sure to build a strong catalog that enhances the customer experience. Follow the basic things mentioned below to organize your catalog better:-
- A clear view of the audience you hope to target.
- Use Content Management Systems like WordPress to organize your product content.
- Make use of different design tools to strengthen the features of your catalog.
Prominent Features
Make sure to add in these particular features in your clone marketplace for the users to have an easy interface:-
- Social Login
- Smart Search
- Shopping Cart
- Buyer-Seller Chat assistance
- Payment Gateway
Final words
After you read the whole article, we hope that you got your valid answers for the questions you had in your mind for building applications like Etsy clone. Lastly, do not forget to be clear about the target audience, a well-detailed strategy, including advanced features to level up the efficiency of your online store.