Etsy Patents Video-Streaming Shopping Service on Heels of IPO Filing (March 11, 2015)
Following last week’s IPO announcement, Etsy Inc., a Paybefore Award-winning online and offline marketplace for buying and selling homemade items and artisanal products, has received a patent on its method for video-streaming interactive shopping events. Etsy’s concept, revealed this week in a U.S. patent application, could involve a new way to sell goods live while enabling buyers and sellers to demonstrate and discuss products. Observers say the platform could mimic cable TV shopping events made popular by the likes of QVC and Home Shopping Network, and provide an alternative to online auctions that lack a real-time element.
Etsy, a 2013 Paybefore Awards winner for its Etsy Gift Card, has steadily gained stature since launching in 2005. Though still unprofitable as expansion costs continue to outpace profits, Etsy—which says 89 percent of its sellers are women—saw net revenue soar 58 percent last year to $122 million from $77.2 million in 2013. In its regulatory filing, Etsy projected that its IPO could generate as much as $100 million in working capital.
In a blog post this week, Etsy told users the company plans to soon add Apple Pay as a mobile-shopping checkout option for U.S. buyers with the iPhone 6, iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3. Mobile commerce through Etsy’s mobile app, first launched in 2011, accounted for 53.2 percent of all e-commerce traffic, according to the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based firm.
