Insights

There’s no two ways about it: without the arts, or with arts and crafts to occupy our minds, 2020 would have been considerably more difficult to contend with.

Today, we are delighted to report on the progress of the arts and crafts sector throughout the year - and boy have they done well!

An incredible peak can be seen in April and May (169 and 155% respectively!), as the Government continued to extend lockdown, and cabin fever was beginning to set in.

Following the initial peak, sales and revenue did decline between May and June, as can be seen above. Although performance reduced in June, retailers in the Arts and Crafts sector were still 52% up on average, when compared to the previous year. A similar trend was seen in the number of orders (74% on average in the months following May).

Hobbycraft, one of the largest UK Arts and Crafts retailers reported that the number of people visiting their website throughout lockdown had tripled.

Due to the anxiety that the global pandemic and the subsequent restrictions have created, consumers have been craving distraction, and prioritising their mental health. It has been reported by clinical neuropsychologist, Katie Carey Levisay that crafting can help reduce anxiety. This is because as the brain is totally engrossed in a project, it allows us to stop worrying about the future. Additionally, creating something for someone helps boost belief in our own abilities and that feeling in turn stimulates reward centres in the brain to release dopamine and endorphins.

Our very own Customer Support Manager, Lauren Dunthorne, has been trying her hand at embroidery throughout the last number of months, and we must say… we’re impressed!

What's next for the arts and crafts sector?

As we hurtle closer towards Christmas, we’d expect nothing less than an increase in seasonal crafting and DIY presents for family, friends and colleagues.

While, year on year, November is traditionally peak season, we expect that this year it will be even bigger than ever before, for a combination of reasons:

• To reduce anxiety
• To fill time more productively as we remain at home
• To gift in a more budget-friendly manner
• To reduce screen time
• To decorate the home for the season

How can arts and crafts retailers prep for the coming months?

• Utilise your data
  To scale your stock and inform your marketing message - you know what your specific customers will be interested in at this time of year, and you know what they were interested in as we were put into lockdown. Gingerbread houses, garlands, wreaths, homemade advent calendars.
  
  
• Utilise video content as much as possible
  For those new to a particular craft, producing how-to style videos could be a critical and useful point of contact, bringing new users to your website to convert them into purchasing customers.
  
  
• Bundles
  Crafting bundles are likely to be really well received during Q4, and particularly for those who are new to a craft - by bundling all items they may need to complete said craft in one bundle, not only are you providing an extra level of service, you will be increasing your average order value too!
  
  
• Maintain your ad spend wherever possible
  This doesn’t apply to just the arts and crafts sector - all retailers should be maintaining their ad spend wherever possible. With more users shopping online than ever before, now is not the time to pull back on your marketing investment, as you run the risk of getting lost amidst all the noise from competitors.

Want to find out more about how Visualsoft could help you? Simply let us know using the form or give us a call on 01642 633604.