Etsy Uses an Algorithm for Style

Interesting example, with forthcoming details.   Note its alliance to something most everyone does today, utilize e-commerce.  Look forward to seeing the details of the paper.

 How Etsy taught style to an algorithm  By Harry McCrackenin in FastCompany

From “romantic” to “rustic,” the marketplace for handcrafted goods that express distinctive aesthetics is teaching its search engine to know what’s what.

 ... After about a year of work, Fisher says, Etsy has trained a machine-learning model to effectively suss out the styles of items on the site, based on both textual and visual cues. The company is about to start testing results based on this new algorithm on the Etsy site. But it also believes that the technology it’s developed could have applications well beyond making e-commerce more relevant. Which is why three of Etsy’s data scientists have written a paper about it—coauthored with a Twitter employee—which they’ll present at the Association for Computing Machinery’s KDD (Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining) conference in August. .... " 

Modeling User Journeys

Have had a few explorations into 'User Journey's.  Its a trace of how people travel through coded interaction. From where they begin, what choices they make and where they end up. Ideally measuring how much the journey results in value.  Its a kind of business process model based on a path of interactions.  It can be used to plan, construct and even optimize user interactions.  Here an example by the marketplace Etsy.  with considerable detail regarding integration of machine learning.

Modeling User Journeys via Semantic Embeddings  Posted by Nishan Subedi in O'Reilly

Etsy is a global marketplace for unique goods. This means that as soon as an item becomes popular, it runs the risk of selling out. Machine learning solutions that simply memorize the popular items are not as effective, and crafting features that generalize well across items in our inventory is important. In addition, some content features such as titles are sometimes not as informative for us since these are seller provided, and can be noisy.

In this blog post, I will cover a machine learning technique we are using at Etsy that allows us to extract meaning from our data without the use of content features like titles, modeling only the user journeys across the site. This post assumes understanding of machine learning concepts,  specifically word2vec. ... " 

A good Tensorflow Tutorial on Word2vec.

Amazon and Etsy

Hardly opposite, but appealingly different.  Refreshing to go there.

Etsy succeeds with its Amazon-opposite approach  by George Anderson in Retailwire.

Etsy, the online marketplace for handmade and artisan goods, announced better than expected results during its first quarter as the site saw its traffic and revenue grow for the third consecutive quarter.

The site’s improving results, CEO Josh Silverman said on Etsy’s earnings call, are tied to its ability to differentiate in the marketplace.

“In a world where e-commerce is increasingly commoditized, Etsy provides a differentiated experience where extraordinary goods handcrafted by creative entrepreneurs all over the world are made for you,” said Mr. Silverman (via Seeking Alpha).  .... ." 

Connecting Designers and Developers

In The Verge: 
" ... after Etsy completed an IPO that valued it at $3.5 billion, the craft marketplace is expanding. The company is introducing Etsy Manufacturing, a new service that will link Etsy sellers — who often make items by hand — with small manufacturing companies. The operation is designed to help both sellers who've found success but have little time to fulfill larger orders, and smaller manufacturers, some of whom have lost business to huge manufacturers in countries where labor is cheaper.

Starting Monday, manufacturers will be able to create a profile on Etsy, part of a beta program for the new service during which the company will collate their details. Sellers will eventually be able to search through these manufacturers by criteria such as price, location, and the manufacturing services they offer. Etsy will review the applications of manufacturers, checking up on their size, their commitment to transparency, and how much work they themselves outsource, but the marketplace won't actively visit or vet the successful applicants. Instead, it demands that manufacturers featured commit to providing a safe work space and are transparent about their manufacturing processes.  ... " 

Macy's Taps Etsy

Recently did my first shop at Etsy recently for quality handmade items. Nice, simple, online experience. Surprised a retail giant like Macy's would engage.  To engage Millenials they say.   In Retailwire.  Interesting comments on the approach at the link.

Foxtrot Code for Focused Analytics

Brought late to my attention .... Seeking to build micro analytics for many problems.  A platform of and for analytics makers.  Some good thoughts.

' ..... “What we’re trying to do is create a revolution around analytics – getting individuals and people who could be microentrepreneurs to build analytics on our platform and sell them to larger companies who want to analyze data,” Ed Fullman told me.

Here’s how that works: Average people have insight and expertise into areas that data scientists don’t. A policeman knows more about public safety and crime prevention than a data scientist but won’t necessarily know how to best organize all of the data a city produces around public safety. So a policeman can throw out an idea, “I’d like to see how more liquor licenses affect traffic in a certain part of the city,” and a data scientist can build an algorithm to predict or analyze that. The programmer can then decide to release that open source on the Foxtrot Code platform or allow companies or municipalities to lease it for a fee.

That’s why Ed and Elena Fullman think the Etsy metaphor works: They see coders and programmers and data scientists as the next generation of makers. And Foxtrot Code wants to be the marketplace for that, like Etsy is for handcrafted goods.  .... " 

Creative Manufacturing

Via O'Reilly IOT Newsletter:
Etsy recently conducted a study on manufacturing and independent creative businesses. The maker movement provides an excellent growth opportunity for existing manufacturers and many successful creative businesses are looking to scale and work with manufacturing partners. Not surprisingly, the study found that these creative businesses were looking for partners who emphasize relationship, craft, and flexibility.... 

New Opportunities for US Manufacturing:  Partnering with Independent Creative Businesses
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