Etsy posts huge Q2 as sellers meet demand for COVID-19 face masks

Etsy on Wednesday reported substantial second quarter growth, driven by buyers and sellers turning to the online marketplace in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The platform gained nearly 12 million new buyers on its platform in Q2, compared to 19 million for all of 2019. 

All told, the company saw 60 million active buyers on its platform in Q2, a 39 percent increase. Repeat buyers grew 51 percent to 26 million. 

latest developments

Coronavirus: Business and technology in a pandemic

From cancelled conferences to disrupted supply chains, not a corner of the global economy is immune to the spread of COVID-19.

Read More

The huge jump in activity on Etsy was attributed in part to the demand for face masks. Etsy sellers sold more than 29 million masks in Q2, creating nearly $350 million in mask-related  gross merchandise sales (GMS). “Face mask” was the top Q2 search term on Etsy, with approximately 11 mask searches per second. 

New sellers accounted for 23 percent of mask GMS. New sellers were up 100 percent in the quarter. 

Etsy’s net income for the second quarter was $96.4 million, with diluted earnings per share of 75 cents. Revenue was $428.73 million, up 137 percent. 

Analysts were expecting earnings of 39 cents per share on revenue of $329.95 million. 

“Our extremely strong second quarter results… are a testament to the agility of our team, the strength of our brand, the innovation of our sellers, and the unique and special nature of inventory on our core Etsy marketplace,” CEO Josh Silverman said in a statement. 

Etsy’s consolidated GMS (sales on the platform) came to $2.7 billion, up 147 percent. 

While mask sales were huge, other categories also saw significant growth. Non-mask sales were up 93 percent. The Home Living category was up 128 percent year-over-year, and Craft Supplies was up 138 percent. 

For the third quarter, Etsy expects revenue in the range of $366 million to $426 million. 

Article source: https://www.zdnet.com/article/etsy-posts-huge-q2-as-sellers-meet-demand-for-covid-19-face-masks/#ftag=RSSbaffb68