The weekly ops routine for a small Etsy shop

Most small shops manage by feel and find out about a bad month after it has happened. Five numbers, checked weekly, turn that into something you can act on.

Short answer

• Check five numbers weekly: views, conversion, orders, average order value, and ad spend against sales.
• Refresh the three listings with the most views and the worst conversion before touching anything else.
• Keep one sheet for profit per product, with fees in it. Most 'profitable' Etsy products are not.
• Log every customer question; the same question three times is a listing edit, not a support task.

The five numbers

Views tell you whether the listings are being matched. Conversion tells you whether the listing page works. Orders and average order value tell you what the shop is actually earning per visit. Ad spend against sales tells you whether the paid traffic is buying or just browsing.

Write them down weekly in the same place. The value is not any single week; it is the fourth week, when you can see the direction rather than the noise.

The refresh loop

Sort listings by views descending and conversion ascending. The top of that list is where the traffic already exists and the page is failing — the cheapest place to improve. Rewrite the title, replace the first image, tighten the description, then leave it alone for two weeks before judging.

Records that stop surprises

• Profit per product, with the platform fee, payment fee, shipping and material cost in the sheet.
• Inventory for anything you make in batches, with a reorder point rather than a reorder panic.
• Suppliers, with lead time and the last price paid.
• A support log, tagged by theme.