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Etsy’s finally tying the knot.
The e-commerce platform has introduced a wedding registry that allows couples to register for personalized handmade and vintage items.
In the last three months, the company has seen an 872% YoY increase in searches for handmade gifts, it said in a statement, claiming couples are shying away from traditional wedding presents. Additionally, Etsy says its registry makes sense, as discretionary spending plummets amid rising inflation.
- In addition to gifts, Etsy has seen a bump in searches for floral wedding dresses (+78%), 3D flower veils (+35%), 3D flower dresses (+32%), and vintage wedding bands (+25%).
- Meanwhile, the company has seen a 71% drop in searches for solitaire engagement rings and a 48% decrease in diamond engagement rings.
Something new: The move comes as thousands of couples have dropped Bed Bath & Beyond from their registries, while wedding registry platform Zola is looking to pounce and grab some of BB&B’s former customers. Given the vacuum, Etsy stands to pick up some customers of its own.
- In discussing Bed Bath & Beyond’s bankruptcy and its wedding registry business, Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData, previously told Retail Brew that the lack of care the company had for that segment was a missed opportunity and another chink in its armor.
“I’ve seen stores where…the area where you go to organize the registry, it looks like a waiting room in a bus station,” Saunders said. “It’s depressing. It’s just basically a couple of plastic chairs in a kind of little alcove of store with boxes of stockpiles in it. This is really someone’s special day; it’s the best day of their whole lives. And you think this kind of environment to plan their gift list, their wedding list, is the right kind of tone to set? You look at it and you just think, well, they’re just putting no thought into the stores.”
+1: But it’s not just bad news for Bed Bath & Beyond. David’s Bridal also recently filed for bankruptcy and plans to lay off 9,000+ employees, though the company’s stores and website will remain operational through the restructuring process.