Etsy Shop Milestones: What to Expect

When you have a digital product store on Etsy, I always tell my members every step of your journey is something to celebrate. After building 18 successful digital product stores I have a pretty good idea of the emotional rollercoaster you are about to jump into – here is typically what happens along the way.

Just a small note before we jump in: every niche is different so depending on how competitive the category you decide to jump into is your phases may be slightly different.

👶10 Listings: The Newbie Phase👶
It’s so exciting to open a brand new store – this phase is all about refining your processes and uploading your very first products. Don’t forget to celebrate – its a big step opening a store 🥂

😡11 – 250 Listings: The Frustrating Phase😡
When you are just starting out, 11 – 100 products can feel, well, a little frustrating. It feels like you are creating a lot, and putting in the hard yards for little result – in fact it is very normal to not see any sales in a new store like this. It doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with the listings you have created. It takes time for your listings to establish themselves in the search and along with this you are honing your skills – success will come but the only way is through.

🏃‍♀️251 – 500 Listings: The Establishment Phase🏃‍♀️
With your creation systems in place, you should be starting to see regular sales and also starting to work with more speed. You should be batching common tasks and sticking to a well thought out production plan. Along with trends and foundational products, you should now be building in your higher price point bundles to your store.

✨501 – 1000 listings: The Momentum Phase✨
Something special happens at 500 products and I see it quite a lot with my members. Usually between 501 and 1000 you will start making daily or multiple daily sales and this momentum is really powerful as it fuels you to create more. Along with continuing your product creation, you should also be reflecting on your statistics and best selling products as a source of inspiration for what you create next. From 500 products we also recommend starting to weave in additional marketing to grow the number of returning fans to your store and increase your customer lifetime value (for example nurturing and selling to an email list).

🔥1001 listings & beyond: The Hyperdrive Phase🔥
Usually at 1000 listings your store will be established and you can make the choice whether you are going to continue to build the store, create an arm of your business off platform on your own website, or start another Etsy store.

How many listings should you aim to have in your store?
This is a fantastic question – the best way to find out is to research 10 stores in your niche and take an average of how many products they have. This should give you a great idea of what volume of products it currently takes to compete.

Final thoughts
While it’s really important to aim for a volume of products, it’s also important to make sure you have a good diversity of products, and are creating things that are currently in demand. Jumping on low competition high sales volume trends are a great way to warm up your store in general and bring in that extra traffic.

Thank you for reading and I hope this shed a bit of light on the process of building your store up. Wishing you every success, and don’t forget to celebrate the wins along the way.

Jessa B

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