Together we accomplish some pretty amazing things. We get excited when we can tell the world about our successes because when we increase sales on Etsy, that means more money in the pockets of creative entrepreneurs like you. Etsy only succeeds when Etsy sellers succeed.
Today, we’re excited to share our financial results from the second quarter of 2019 (April through June) and give you a peek at how Etsy’s recent television advertising is already bringing more buyers to Etsy.
In the second quarter, Etsy sellers sold about 1.1 billion USD in goods – we call this gross merchandise sales or GMS. That’s a 21.4% increase in GMS compared to the second quarter of 2018. Active buyers on Etsy increased 19% from the prior year, to 42.7 million.
International GMS, or transactions where at least one person (buyer or seller) is outside the United States, was 38% of overall GMS and increased 37% from the prior year, adjusted for changes in exchange rates.
We’re excited to share updates on some of the projects we’ve told you about this year, and tell you about our new advertising platform that will take the guesswork out of increasing traffic to your shop.
Coming soon: Etsy’s new advertising platform
You’ve told us you need simpler tools to help you grow. You want to spend more time on the creative parts of your business and less time experimenting with advertising tools. Today, we’re excited to announce that in a few weeks we’ll be introducing a new advertising platform: Etsy Ads. We designed Etsy Ads for business owners like you who want to grow without all the guesswork.
With Etsy Ads, one campaign makes it easy for shoppers to discover your products on both Etsy and Google and make a purchase from your shop. Instead of managing two separate campaigns through Promoted Listings and Google Shopping, you can set a single daily budget and see your advertising performance in one place.
Using Etsy’s data insights and expertise, we’ll identify the right places and times to show your ads. By optimising your campaign for you, we get you the best results for your budget. That means more traffic, more shoppers, and more ways to grow. Stay tuned for more details – Etsy Ads will be available in just a few weeks.
Shoppers are loving Etsy’s TV ads
We’re excited to share that the television ads we launched earlier this year are working! Etsy’s television ads were more likely to be watched all the way to the end when compared to competitors’ ads. Plus, our research indicated that shoppers who visited Etsy after seeing the ads were 20% more likely to make a purchase, compared to customers who hadn’t seen the ads. Increasing the number of visits to Etsy that result in a purchase means more sales for shop owners like you.
Television advertising will continue to be a part of Etsy’s marketing strategy this Christmas season. And running your own Etsy Ads campaign can help bring those shoppers straight to your listings. From April to June, when our television ads were running, we saw an increase in traffic from channels such as Google Shopping ads. Once Etsy Ads is available, running your own campaign can help bring shoppers who are searching for Etsy after seeing our television ads straight to your listings.
We’re making it easier to meet shoppers expectations around free delivery
In July, we introduced our US free delivery initiative and announced plans to reserve the top spots of US search results for items that are delivered for free and shops that offer free delivery when shoppers in the US spend 35 USD or more in the same shop. Lots of sellers have already started offering a US free delivery guarantee. On 30th July, we began making the updates to Etsy search live for shoppers in the US. Now, when shoppers in the US search on Etsy, it will be easier than ever for them to find items that are delivered for free. This Christmas season we’ll also be prioritising these items wherever Etsy advertises in the US – in email marketing, social media, and television ads. Set up a US free delivery guarantee.
Things our lawyers make us say: This post contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements include statements related to our product improvements and launches. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical fact. Forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. These risks and uncertainties include our ability to implement our business strategy; our ability to attract and retain an active and engaged community of Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers; macroeconomic events that are outside of our control; our ability to enhance our current offerings and develop new offerings to respond to the changing needs of Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers; the effectiveness of our marketing efforts, and other risks and uncertainties that are more fully described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 30th June 2019, and subsequent reports that we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements represent our beliefs and assumptions only as today’s date. We don’t have any obligation to update forward-looking statements, except as required by law.
Words by Etsy Staff
