How Etsy Is Boosting Sales With Machine Learning
Etsy shares were up slightly on Tuesday after a Wall Street Journal reported that the online crafts firm is using machine-learning technology from Alphabet to boost sales.
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The Wall Street Journal reports that online crafts firm Etsy Inc. (NASDAQ: ETSY) is using machine-learning technology from Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL | GOOGL Price Prediction) to boost sales.
In 2017 Etsy signed a five-year deal to make Google its primary cloud provider. Mike Fisher, chief technology officer, joined the company in August 2017 and initiated a shift to the cloud. The goal was for Etsy’s engineers to “start working on problems closer to customers,” which includes how artificial intelligence can be used to improve search function.
Since 2017, the company has moved all of its customer-facing websites and applications to the cloud.
According to the report, Etsy’s engineers are developing complex machine-learning models that can look at a product category, such as home décor, and automatically assign it a specific style.
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Also, engineers are looking at ways to use more contextual data, such as location and time of year, to suggest relevant products.
In its most recent quarterly report, Etsy said that it had $0.24 in earnings per share (EPS) and $169.3 million in revenue. Consensus estimates had called for $0.14 in EPS and $170.06 million. In the same period of last year, Etsy said it had EPS of $0.10 on $120.91 million in revenue.
Gross merchandise sales (GMS) increased 18.9% year over year to $1.02 billion. GMS per active buyer on a trailing 12-month basis was up nearly 2% and had generated growth of nearly 2% or higher for the past three consecutive quarters.
Shares of Etsy were last seen up about 2% at $58.39, in a 52-week range of $28.60 to $73.35. The consensus price target is $74.62.
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Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics. Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications. A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.
