Etsy.com shareholders had a reason to celebrate as the etailer posted profits beyond analysts‘ expectations.
The online marketplace for handmade goods saw revenue for the fourth quarter of 2015 rise by 35.4% year-on-year, reaching £62.7m. Seller Services profits jumped by 53.9%, and gross merchandise sales 21.3% to $741m.
At the same time, market spending increased 53.8% year-on-year to $22.5m, reducing earnings-per-share and contributing to an overall net loss of four pence per share.
On the one hand, this shows a proven ability for Etsy to attract and satisfy new customers during the busy Christmas period. Active buyers rose 21.4% to 24.05m during the period, whilst active sellers rose by 15.5% to 1.56m.
On the other hand, as the company continues to grow Etsy will increasingly have to compete with the likes of Amazon, as well as more traditional retailers with increasing online capabilities. Despite this, Etsy has predicted a 20-25% revenue growth over the next three years.
Over the period, 61% of visits to Etsy were made via a mobile device, with around 44% of gross merchandise sales coming from m-commerce during the quarter. As such, the company announced an emphasis on mobile development for 2016.
“We hit many important milestones that are the building blocks for long-term, sustainable growth,” said CEO and Chairman at Etsy Chad Dickerson. “We executed against our strategic priorities, particularly in mobile, where we began to narrow the gap between mobile visits and mobile GMS.
In 2016, we remain committed to reimagining commerce and are focused on launching more products and services that will allow us to build long-term value for our community.”
