5 Easy Ways to Boost Holiday Revenue for your Craft Business
For most craft businesses and Etsy shops, the months leading up to Christmas generate the most revenue.
Here are 5 easy ways to boost that holiday revenue even higher this year.
1 – Gift cards/certificates
Sell digital gift cards that can be redeemed in your Etsy shop, on your craft business’s website, or even in person at a craft show.
It’s the perfect item to sell to:
- Last-minute shoppers
- Shoppers who don’t know what to get for someone
- Shoppers who need to buy something for someone in another location
You may offer the option for buyers to have a physical gift card shipped to them, but most shoppers will appreciate a digital gift card they can buy, print, and gift in the same day.
You may encourage more sales with text such as:
>> “Not sure which gift is right? Try a gift card!”
>> “Need a last-minute gift? Buy, print, and give a gift card in the same day.”
>> “Shopping for someone across the country? Digital gift cards can be delivered today!”
Make sure your shoppers know about your gift cards and see the benefit of purchasing one from you.
2 – Express processing upgrade
As a small business, it likely takes you a few days to process orders (create or pick items, package items, create a shipping label, and make it to the post office).
Offering express shipping is always a great option during the holidays (to appeal to those last-minute shoppers). But express shipping earns the postal service money.
Offering express processing is a good way to boost revenue for your business.
In most cases, processing one order (the one that paid for express processing) before another order (the one that didn’t pay for express processing) won’t cost you much more money.
You’re simply processing orders in a different sequence; instead of first-come first-served, you’re serving those who pay for express processing first.
Of course, this is only beneficial to the customer if it gets their package into the hands of the postal service faster too. So you may also require an additional trip to the post office (depending on your current shipping schedule).
I’ve received “your package is ready to ship” or “a shipping label has been created” messages from online retailers, only to wait another week for the postal service to pick up the package and begin the shipping process. That’s not helpful.
How much you charge for this service will depend on your business.
Your “express processing” fee will depend on factors such as: how much extra time and money is required to increase your processing time, your price points, shipping fees, etc.
Most holiday shoppers are willing to pay an additional $5 – $10 to receive their item a fewl days earlier than normal.
However, if your product prices are higher, processing an order quicker requires much more effort from you, and express processing speeds up an order by several days, your customers may be willing to pay more than $10.
3 – Gift sets
Make gift giving easy for your shoppers by bundling items together and packaging them in a nice way.
Sure, shoppers can simply add several items to their cart, but seeing the items bundled as a gift set will encourage more people to buy the multiple items together (especially when packaged beautifully).
It will be even more encouraging if the price of buying the items as a set is slightly less than buying them separately.
In most cases, offering a discount won’t harm profits by much since you’re likely increasing your average units and revenue per transaction (if on average, your customers purchase 2 items in a transaction, include 3 – 5 items in your set so you’re increasing your average UPT and RPT).
However, be sure to account for the added cost of packaging.
Your gift sets should be packaged in a gift-worthy box, basket, or container, which will increase your costs slightly. So crunch your numbers before setting a price.
Find gift boxes at wholesale prices; the more units you’re able to buy, the lower the price/unit will be.
A website like Paper Mart has several gift box options, and depending on size, style, and quantity you’re buying, your costs can be anywhere from $0.14/box to $8.89/box. The more “luxury” your brand is, and the higher your price points, the more high-end you’ll want the gift box to be.
4 – Gift wrapping add-on
To appeal to shoppers who are buying a gift online to be shipped directly to the recipient, offering a gift wrapping service is a must.
There are also many consumers who don’t have the time, ability, or desire to wrap gifts to put under the Christmas tree. A gift wrapping option will also appeal to them.
Find wrapping paper, ribbon, gift boxes, gift bags, tissue paper, and/or gift tags/cards at wholesale prices so it only costs you pennies to gift wrap a purchase.
Because you’ve already accounted for overhead expenses in the price of your products (here’s how to do that) pricing your gift wrapping service is simpler.
Take the cost of your gift wrapping materials per product, plus the cost of your time to wrap an item, then add a markup so you’re profiting on the service.
Take photographs of your items gift wrapped beautifully and include them in your product listing photos. Add a note in your product description that notifies shoppers of your gift wrapping service.
Add “gift wrapping” as an option customers can add to their order (create a variation on Etsy).
If you have your own website, you may add an extra step in the checkout process with a page that asks “Would you like to add gift wrapping for $X?”
If you’re selling your products at a craft show, use signage to advertise your gift wrapping service or ask each customer during the checkout process if they’d like you to gift wrap their purchase for $X.
Depending on how busy the event is and what your gift wrapping entails (e.g. gift bag and tissue paper, gift box, or wrapping in paper), you may need a helper so they can quickly gift wrap items while the customer waits or browses the rest of the event.
5 – (Helpful) gift guides
Many consumers need help when it comes to what to get for each person on their list.
It’s not as simple as showing one of your products and saying it will make a great gift.
Gift guides should explain who an item is perfect for, what it can be paired with, and paint a picture of how exciting it will be to give the item, and for recipients to receive it.
Of course, gift guides should promote your products, but your products shouldn’t be the only items on the list.
For a gift guide to be truly helpful, it should offer several gift options per person and help consumers shop for several people on their list. It’s unlikely your product line is able to do all that.
Plus, if you mention other business’s products in your gift guide it makes it more likely others will share the guide and your products will reach more people.
Reach out to each business you feature and let them know you included one of their products in your gift guide, and ask if they’d like to share the guide with their audience.
Consider your target market and who you currently reach through your social media channels. Then create helpful guides specifically for them.
For example, I might target moms of toddlers. So I would create a “Best Christmas gifts for toddlers (2023)” or “10 products busy moms need on their gift wish list” for my target market.
Alter your list based on your target market and what you sell.
Try to make your gift guides more helpful than self-promotional. That will increase the likelihood of them being viewed and shared.
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Hey, I’m Erin 🙂 I write about small business and craft show techniques I’ve learned from being a small business owner for almost 2 decades, selling at dozens of craft shows, and earning a diploma in Visual Communication Design. I hope you find my advice helpful!