How This Retro-Chic Clothing Company Built Their Brand to 36,000+ Sales in Two Years
Names removed to protect the innocent.
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IMPORTANT: Before publishing this deep dive into a successful company, I shared it with the company's owner. They were uncomfortable with me sharing their name and imagery, stating, “The article, in its current form,” is an invasion of privacy.
I strongly disagree with this view, as everything I researched was publicly available. That said, I’m honoring their request. Any references to the owner or the company will be labeled [Qwner] and [Company], respectively. I’m also removing any proprietary images, and I’ve chosen not to share links publicly.
Despite the removal of those bits of content, there is still tremendous value in this post and some lessons for others to take, even without the visuals.
I spend a reasonable amount of time persuading people away from selling on Etsy because I have little faith in marketplaces that do not allow sellers to maintain direct communication with their customers.
Ironically, Etsy relies on and rewards sellers when they bring potential customers onto the platform, but then Etsy does everything possible to keep people from leaving, even promoting other shops to that referred customer.
Etsy is a raw deal for artists, designers, and makers of all sorts, but there are exceptions to every rule, and I stumbled across one of the most exceptional shops on the site.
[Company] is a UK-based casual fashion brand founded by an illustrator with a flair for 70s-style “cottage core” with a focus on positivity, mental health, and…[check notes], frogs!
Big Ideas From Humble Beginnings
For some time now, I’ve wanted to do more deep dives on small creative businesses doing the right things to get found and grow their business. This is the first in a new series that breaks down the success markers for you and gives you actionable ideas for growing your creative business.
Today, I’ll share what I believe are the actions that [Company] took to reach 36,000+ sales (at the time of this post) and earn what I estimate is nearly $700,000 in the last two years.
Like Mushrooms in Shade
How did [Company] grow so quickly? Although I don’t have all the data, some indicators indicate [Owner] ’s meteoric success.
Perfectly executed aesthetics: [Company] ’s branding is on par with some of the most successful streetwear brands and maintains the metaphor throughout everything they do.
Purposely redundant messaging: Between prominently displayed promotions on their shop banner and continued messages within product descriptions and images.
Driving attention offsite: They make a solid effort to direct casual shoppers to their social media apps where they can retain a future relationship, which is difficult on Etsy.
Customer service and outsourcing: To ensure their products are produced and fulfilled quickly, [Company] maintains print partners in the US, UK, and Europe.
Newsletter marketing: Their inbox messages are simple, consistent, and focused on creating FOMO with buyers.
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Perfectly Executed Aesthetics
Everything about [Company] is on point, from product designs and banners to product photography and social media. Their designs are cohesive, and when I look up other items on Etsy, I can now spot a [company] design immediately.
Their color palette is universal, varying only slightly when testing breakout design ideas. Their font choices are limited and selective.
The product models were shot wearing blank products, and the designs were added afterward; some photos were repeated several times across the shop. This is a common practice, but what sets [Company] apart is their use of what appears to be their models, or they’ve hired a photographer to take photos for them.
Building Trust
One thing that annoys me most about Etsy is when I find something cool there, I often find that the shop doesn’t have a cohesive look and feel to their other products. This breaks the trust of buyers like me because I don’t know what to believe. I may buy that one thing from that shop, but I won’t go back.
In contrast, [Company] takes special care to create uniformity across Etsy, social media, and their website, which builds trust with their buyers, some coming back over and over to buy from the shop.
Purposely Redundant Messaging
On the front page of [Company] ’s Etsy shop, the header banner shares clearly that you can get a discount for buying two or more items.
The same idea is mimicked in the shop announcement just below the banner and within the product description of every item.
Image of an Etsy shop banner including a promotional message
Buyers are Scanners, Not Readers
Customers do not examine every aspect of the shop announcement, product description, or FAQ unless they seek specific information. Repeating ideas throughout the shop helps [Company] get the attention of buyers, encouraging them to consider making multiple purchases to get the price break.
Driving Attention Offsite
Another way that [Company] uses purposeful redundancy is by leading people to social media. There’s a section of the shop’s front page, in the About section, where they share a link to their Instagram account, but only a dedicated customer would scroll down that far to find it.
Not satisfied with that link being obscurely out of the way, [Company] adds links to their Instagram and TikTok accounts within the product description of every listing.
They need to drive traffic from Etsy to their social media because that is where [Company] shares the link to their website.
Screenshot image of a product description with links to Instagram
This is an intelligent move for [Company]. Although they likely make most of their sales through Etsy, the stats could eventually flip. By selling on their site, they control who to promote to and how often.
Customer Service and Outsourcing
It’s unclear when [Owner] ’s business started taking off and when they hired their first employees, but it’s impossible to go alone when a company like [Company] makes 100 sales a day or more.
Whenever you see a successful Etsy seller trying to do all the work themselves, the first thing that goes is customer service. Messages aren’t answered, products don’t ship out on time, and things fall through the cracks.
[Company], however, has a perfect 5-star rating, which is impressive for a shop with nearly 8,000 reviews.
Image of a 5-star customer review and [Company] ’s response.
Outside Help
Several years ago, Etsy required sellers to claim any contractors or third-party vendors used to make products. [Company] has a small team to focus on customer service and fulfillment, which allows [Owner] the flexibility to design new products and manage the finances.
They also have dedicated print shops in the US and Norway. I can’t say for sure, but I wonder if these shops are print-on-demand companies doing all the fulfillment for the products they print for [Company].
Whatever the situation, [Owner] is managing their business very well, and I wouldn’t doubt that they’ll hire more people soon or move away from print-on-demand to a professional screen printer for some, if not all, of their designs.
Image of an animated GIF from [Company] ’s email marketing
Newsletter Marketing
I joined the [Company] email list (although I had to actively seek out the sign-up form) to see the frequency of their messaging and if they maintained the same aesthetic cohesiveness throughout.
Unsurprisingly, the visuals in the emails are on point, custom-created for each message, which is a nice touch.
The emails are simple, not drawn-out, and share precisely two things: A product (or collection) and a discount; that’s it.
Message Frequency
Since joining on August 10th, I’ve received six messages, including the welcome message, and though that is frequent, it hasn’t felt intrusive.
Also, the message timing is consistent but not necessarily scheduled. They send email blasts as notable things occur, like new product drops and special dates.
I’m assuming [Owner] is a fan of astrology because last week, I received an email promoting their items for Virgos on the day the astrological calendar switched over from Leo.
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Moving Forward
[Company] is doing many things right, and with the business savvy that [Owner] has shown already, [Company] will thrive and become a much larger player in the casual wear scene.
There are a few subtle things that [Company] could start doing today that would help them reach that next level: some easy fixes to help gain and keep the attention of passive shoppers.
Explore New Territory
Most design trends have a shelf-life of 18 to 24 months, and the cottage core style prominent in [Company] will be no exception.
[Qwner] embraces new style ideas, but they may get different attention than their more popular designs. This is dangerous territory for new brands because they lean into what works so much they forget to look ahead and innovate.
[Company] should keep its eyes peeled on what the more prominent streetwear brands are doing, lean into emerging trends, or be bold and forge a new direction. They could become trendsetters, but this also requires attention in other areas.
Branding With the @
Etsy is very touchy about the ways you redirect people away from the marketplace. Using direct links to your shop can break Etsy’s TOS (terms of service) and could get a shop shut down. [Company] seems very aware of this, and they don’t share the link to their website anywhere on their Etsy shop.
However, they do share links to Instagram and TikTok, and the username on those accounts is consistent with the shop name on Etsy. I would add @[Company] in all of these places.
Shop Banner
Product images
Product descriptions
About Section
Hot Tip: Use the phrase, “Find @[company] everywhere.”
Their primary goal is sales, of course, but the secondary goal is to drive passive viewers away from Etsy and to a platform that…
Allows them to maintain a connection with potential buyers.
Presents a link to their website.
Be More Social
Despite their massive success, [Company]’s social media accounts are pretty small. This is partly because they aren’t driving as much traffic as possible to their social apps using the strategy above.
Also, they’re not very active, and now is an excellent time to step up their social game.
I dig that [Owner] is comfortable sharing their personality and behind-the-scenes content in their videos. If they leaned into more of that, mixing in content about new designs, they could grow the social accounts quickly.
Image of a Facebook Ad
I also noticed [Company] produced its first ads this week through Facebook, which is an excellent idea for them. I’ll pay attention to their advertising efforts and hope they continue. However, they need to fix one other thing right away.
Speaking of Facebook, the [company] business page is vacant. It would be a simple fix within Instagram to send any IG posts to the Facebook page automatically. As an advertiser, I highly recommend it.
Facebook can get touchy about companies advertising that don’t show any activity on their business page, and [Company] is risking getting their ads account closed.
On the other hand, if you start seeing these ads in your feed, you can be a good one.
Ask For the Address
As active as [Company] is with their email marketing, they aren’t getting as many people on that email list as possible. I would make these changes immediately.
Instead of sending people from social media directly to the home page, use a link that sends them to a sign-up form, including a coupon code for a sizable discount on the first order. Be okay with eating profit on this first one because it’s more important to consider the lifetime value of that customer relationship.
Change the top announcement bar on the website from “Free Shipping” to “25% Off and Free Shipping.” Then, instead of that banner linking to the catalog, send them to the email sign-up form.
Add a pop-up on the Home and About pages. I know pop-ups are annoying, especially on mobile, but THEY WORK! Every Company should strive to remain courteous to buyers, but you’re also running a business. You can be nice once they sign up for the list.
This one is a bit dicey, especially for Etsy, but worth testing. Within the About section of the Etsy shop, add a link to the About page on the website. This technically doesn’t break the TOS, and once someone is there, the pop-up will show them how to join the list.
Email marketing and newsletters have always been the gold nugget of promotional strategies. [Company] is doing a good job sharing. Now, they need to do a good job getting people on that list.
News, Updates, and Personality
[Company] ’s emails are well-executed, and I would make one adjustment. [Owner] has shown their personality on social media, and I think it would be nice to get some of that personality once in a while in the emails.
Sharing our human sides between the flood of marketing emails we get daily will give people more reason to open and read the emails.
More opens means more potential sales, and if all [Company] is sharing is new products and discounts, readers may grow weary and unsubscribe.
Overall, I believe [Company] ’s stratospheric success will continue doing exactly what they’ve been doing, and they have so much potential to do more.
This deep dive into [Company] has been quite the experience, and my hope is you found some gold nuggets to take away and use for yourself.
Quite a breakdown. Lots to learn from this shop in this article. Powerful stuff.