The summer season is here and Etsy shoppers are on the hunt for the next big thing! If you’re eager to dazzle the marketplace with your handmade magic, this is your sun-soaked moment.

In the following sections, we’re spilling the beans on the sizzling hot niches that customers can’t get enough of.

Let’s dive right into it.

Separating popular summer trends into categories

When exploring the niches that are creating waves on Etsy this summer, it’s essential to organize your findings and pay attention to detail. This will help you stay on track with your discoveries and never miss out on important information.

Laying out the foundation of our summer niche discovery process, we’ve split our uncovered markets into three separate categories:

1. Seasonal
2. Holiday-related
3. Event-related

Let’s explore what each one has in store for Etsy sellers this season.

Seasonal

Dissecting seasonal trends, we’ve identified two dominant themes – beach-oriented handmade items and Boho-style gems. Although these two niches are naturally attractive during the hot months, we backed our theory with factual insights from Sale Samurai.

Beach

Let’s start with beach-inspired handmade goods. A quick browse on Etsy shows that there are more than 2 million products ranking for the keyword “beach”. Sale Samurai confirms the aggressive nature of the market, with a competition level of 3,018,203. At the same time, the search volume of this specific phrase is not that astonishing (only 1,830).

Rather than scratching the surface, we dug deeper into some of the popular sub-niches. We uncovered that a lot more shoppers are interested in particular products, like “beach towels”.

Here’s a snapshot of some of the trending beach-related products that are selling well this summer:

• Beach towels – 3,317 – 145,006
• beach decor – 943 – 1,059,238
• beach tote – 304 – 137,517
• beach hat – 278 – 69,208
• beach t-shirts – 52 – 195,225

Next to each phrase, you can see its monthly search volume and competition level.

This data positions “beach towels” as the most attractive item on the list, with more than 3,000 users searching for this product on Etsy per month. The competition level is not that high (only 145,006 compared to 2,959,912 for broad terms like “beach”). This makes the segment lucrative for sellers, as it enables quick and satisfactory rankings. As a consequence, you can enjoy more traffic and higher sales potential.

Boho

The next big trend during the summer season is the Boho market.

The Boho style gains popularity in the summer as its lightweight, airy fabrics are well-suited for warm weather. At the same time, the earthy colors and patterns resonate with the season’s vibe. Additionally, summer festivals, which often embrace a bohemian aesthetic, further drive the trend.

But let’s see what Sale Samurai has to say.

Typing “boho” into Etsy’s search box, we received a total of 5,266,289 results. This translates into a competition level of 7,313,839 on Sale Samurai. Overall, more than 26,202 consumers search for the term on the platform.

Things look even more interesting when examining different sub-niches:

• Boho rug – 26,600 – 300,400
• Boho wall art – 3,427 – 684,777
• Boho decor – 3,141 – 1,490,940
• Boho jewerly – 962 – 3,167,303
• Boho dress – 878 – 356,567

Evidently, Boho rugs are a real hit among Etsy buyers. It’s seldom that a broad keyword like “boho” generates the same search volume as a sub-niche phrase, such as “boho rug”. However, in this case, both words are equal in terms of popularity.

Furthermore, the Boho market offers sellers other alternatives to tap into, with attractive search volumes. For instance, both “boho wall art” and “boho decor” receive more than 3,000 monthly searches. And not to mention that there are plenty of sub-niches to delve into from these broader trends.

From the analysis above, we’d strongly recommend exploring Boho rugs as one of the most opportunistic choices. Not only is the search volume more than 26,000, but the competition level is significantly low (300,400). This results in higher ranking possibilities, discoverability, and ultimately – sales.

Holidays

The summer months are full of exciting holidays that inspire Etsy shoppers to hop on a shopping spree for handmade goodies.

Two of the most eminent holidays on the platform are Father’s Day and Independence Day.

Father’s Day

Taking place on June 18th, Father’s Day is a long-awaited occasion to show some extra love to dads around the world. Interestingly, phrases like “father’s day gifts” appear in the top searches on Google Trends, confirming the interest towards this special day.

Checking on Etsy, we saw that more than 1,433,047 results appear when searching for “father’s day”. According to Sale Samurai, the phrase generates a search volume of 26,609 and comes with a competition level of 2,309,276.

Just like in the examples from above, opting to rank high for this phrase as a new entrant would be like fighting a losing battle.

Luckily, there’s a way to be more strategic and successful via specific categories and niches:

• Father’s day shirt – 26,642 – 483,832
• Father’s day gifts – 26,621 – 1,744,400
• Father’s day card – 3,436 – 216,211

Let’s make some comparisons.

Say you decide to sell Father’s Day gifts. You’ll be competing with more than 1.7 million other listings for the interest of around 26,000 shoppers.

Now, imagine that instead, you plan to tap into the Father’s Day shirts market. In this case, you’ll only be competing with roughly 500,000 sellers for the attention of the same amount of buyers.

The conclusion? Father’s Day shirts are likely to be the much more profitable option.

Independence Day

The second big holiday during the summer is Independence Day or the 4th of July. Raising the spirits of patriots around the country, this occasion goes hand-in-hand with hefty Etsy shopping for gifts and handmade merch or decor items.

Here’s what we unveiled by researching both phrases:

Independence Day

541,697 results

SV – 1,071

Competition – 815,644

4th of July

286,485 results

SV – 26,185

Competition – 457,549

Right off the bat, it becomes clear that customers are fonder of “4th of july” when they perform Etsy searches. Surprisingly, however, this keyword has half the competition level of “Independence Day”. Naturally, it would be the better avenue to explore.

But all of these conclusions are based on a comparison of broad terms. What about the sub-markets?

Here are some of the interesting sub-niches we extracted from research:

• 4th of july earrings – 26,185 – 12,322
• 4th of july shirt – 26,180 – 213,960
• USA shirt – 26,127 – 342,575
• American flag – 3,431 – 412,351

What does this list tell us? That entering the “4th of july earrings” niche is bound to reap the sweetest results. Why? Because it has the highest search volume, yet the lowest competition level.

Events

Finally, there are summer shopping trends that aren’t necessarily linked to a holiday or seasonal wave. Nevertheless, they are related to an occasion that inspires shoppers to increase their activity on the platform.

One such example is Pride Month in June.

Pride month

Although Pride or LGBT handmade products sell all year round, June is the peak time for sellers to exploit a high demand.

Using Etsy’s search box, we were presented with 615,123 results when typing in “pride”. The keyword attracts 26,595 searches every month and has a competition level of 891,493. Compared to other trends we inspected earlier, the phrase has one of the lowest competition levels.

Still, optimizing your listing just for “pride” won’t take you to the top. You’ll need a specific niche to target.

Here are a few suggestions based on our Sale Samurai findings:

• Pride shirt – 3,312 – 268,995
• Pride flag – 862 – 66,809
• Pride pin – 774 – 39,483
• Pride earrings – 398 – 31,920
• Pride bracelet – 391 – 24,906

As you can see, Pride shirts, flags, pins, earrings, and bracelets are all categories triggering user activity on Etsy.

But if you had to choose one, we’d suggest going for Pride shirts. This phrase generates the highest search volume, yet doesn’t have a striking amount of competition. As a beginner in the niche, it would be easier to see your listings ranking higher and making your products discoverable.

In a nutshell

The summer season has a lot to offer when it comes to profitable and trendy niches. In this article, we’ve only touched upon some of the most lucrative options.

However, a plethora of alternatives await.

Use Sale Samurai throughout your research to gain a granular vision of different niches and make the best decisions for your Etsy shop.