Etsy: annual gross merchandise sales 2005-2023

Following a rise in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the e-commerce platform focused on vintage, handmade, and specialty wholesale items, Etsy, continued to see the results of its popularity in the following years. While gross merchandise sales peaked in 2021, in 2024, Etsy's gross merchandise sales volume still amounted to over 13 billion U.S. dollars.

Attaining and retaining consumers

Following the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the e-commerce platform maintained its jump in popularity in 2021 and 2022. In 2022, the company spent about 22 million dollars more on its global advertising expense than in the previous year. Etsy's advertising spend has been consistently rising since 2016. In addition to advertising spend, Etsy also made sure to increase its global marketing expense, both dependable methods in order to attract new users towards buying or selling on the platform.

Bridging the gap between artists and buyers

Even though, or precisely because, Etsy operates on a niche market model, the online marketplace has managed to attract a large number of sellers and buyers over the past few years. Following the e-commerce boom triggered by the coronavirus, the number of active sellers on the platform went from 4.4 million in 2020 to 7.5 million a year later. Similarly, the number of buyers grew by nearly 18 percent in a year, with approximately 96 million users making at least one purchase in 2021. In 2022, while growth has declined, it has not been by much. The platform still retains 7.47 million sellers, along with 95 over million buyers.