• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, November 2, 2023

After three months of testing, Michaels is launching MakerPlace by Michaels, an online-only marketplace. Similar to platforms like Etsy and Facebook Marketplace, it also offers artist-led classes, how-to guides, and Michaels’ supplies, all in one platform.

The Irving, Texas-based company says the idea stemmed from research, with three out of four makers saying they wanted better platforms for selling their goods. Heather Bennett, executive vice president of marketing and ecommerce, tells Marketing Daily about the new business.

Marketing Daily: What made Michaels launch this business, and why now?

Heather Bennett: We think of ourselves as owning the creative cycle, which starts with inspiration and education. We’ve always invested in classes, online classes, and project lists to help people improve their crafts.

But for the last piece of the creative cycle -- when people wanted to sell what they’d made -- we had nothing. And we want to connect it back to our ecosystem, including the loyalty program. When people buy their componentry from us and then sell it on our website, they can maximize the amount of money they put into their pocket.

Marketing Daily: How will you make money?

Bennett: This is a whole new business model for Michaels. It’s fairly similar to how other marketplaces work, including Etsy. The difference is that our fees are substantially less. So, we are offering sellers a way to make more money. Part of that is through our loyalty program. But our fees will be so much less that they’ll sell more, and product listings are free.

And our classes and how-tos are also different. Makers will also earn money as affiliates when selling Michaels’ products. So, let’s say you buy a scarf, but the seller also offers instructions on making it yourself. You can click through to buy the recommended yarn from us, for example, so they are helping to sell Michaels products.

Marketing Daily: There’s plenty of discontent among Etsy sellers about high fees. But in return for those fees, they benefit from Etsy’s advertising. Will there be ad support for MakerPlace?

Bennett: Absolutely. Since we’re just moving out of our beta phase, we haven't done any marketing outside seller acquisition. As we move into buyer acquisition, we have a competitive advantage. We've got an email database with millions and millions of people. We can market directly to them. And we will do a separate standalone campaign specifically for MakerPlace, which should launch later this year.

Bennett

Marketing Daily: How different are potential sellers, presumably quite expert at their craft, from your other customers, who are often novices?

Bennett: From a general marketing standpoint, our motto is that everyone is welcome at our crafts table. We aren't just speaking to the people who are the super makers, but everyone. That’s where our education comes in. Besides, someone could be an advanced knitter but know nothing about painting and want to learn that.

Marketing Daily: Besides sales on the platform, what metrics will you watch most closely?

Bennett: We’ll want to make sure we are helping our sellers. Do we have the right ratio of buyers to sellers? We want to create something that is seller-focused and seller-friendly. As we looked at the white space around this marketplace, we found many mass-produced products on Etsy, and that’s not what we wanted. Our goal is to be handmade. We’ve got processes in place, and we know we’ll never be 100% perfect. But our goal is to make sellers proud to be on our platform

Marketing Daily: What’s available now?

Bennett: You’ll find very sophisticated things, right down to people selling their first five products. We're trying to make it as easy as possible for [everyone] to succeed. Some tools can help sophisticated sellers manage a bigger shop. And for the non-sophisticated sellers, we can walk them through the process. They need a little bit more handholding. We offer a lot of tips, and our content spans that spectrum.