Etsy Ventures Into Wholesale, Engages More Consumers
By Hannah Ash, contributing writer
E-commerce Website Partners With Major Retailers To Expand Reach
This month e-commerce website Etsy, founded in 2005, announced it will launch Etsy Wholesale in August of this year. The e-commerce platform boasted over 30 million users as of August of last year, with transaction figures projected to skyrocket more than $1 billion dollars. Etsy Wholesale has been in beta for more than a year with Etsy having partnered with major retailers Nordstrom, Whole Foods, and West Elm. Etsy Wholesale has been inching toward its August launch for some time. Etsy’s first step toward wholesale occurred in 2012, when the platform acquired artisanal wholesale goods supplier Trunkt. Etsy’s acquisition of Trunkt was described by FashInvest as a way to leverage in-store sales for increased customer engagement, “when small hometown boutiques or even larger retailers carry the items, users can be exposed to the options on Etsy and even turn to using the site.”
Etsy and West Elm then introduced the in-store Artists In Your Backyard line with West Elm’s vice president of marketing, Shane Brogan, commenting, “We’ve been highlighting Etsy sellers in our catalog and through special events for a few years. Adding wholesale collections in our new stores is an amazing way to connect our customers with artists in their own backyard, and make each of our stores a true reflection of their local community. ”In March 2013, Etsy partnered with Nordstrom to launch the “Nordstrom + Etsy” present collection featuring home goods from two prominent Etsy sellers that produce terrariums and pottery, respectively. Whole Foods began offering a line of reusable shopping bags, produced by an Etsy seller in late 2013.
Etsy Wholesale will function similarly to Etsy itself; the e-commerce provider nets a fee from every transaction it facilitates. The transaction fee per sale is slated to run sellers 3.5 percent with Etsy charging sellers who choose to participate in the service a one-time sign-up fee of $100. This week the e-commerce platform made another big move to expand its reach with an announcement that it is acquiring Grand St., a platform for purchasing independently made technology. Etsy’s acquisition of Trunkt has led to Etsy Wholesale, begging the question: what will the acquisition of Grand St. mean for the e-commerce platform’s future?