Etsy's (ETSY 0.49%) earnings already were starting to take off before the pandemic. The marketplace for handmade goods posted double-digit growth in revenue, gross merchandise sales (GMS), and profit for the full year 2019. But the pandemic offered Etsy an extra lift. That's as people opted for online shopping -- and ordered items like face masks on Etsy.
But Etsy's growth isn't set to end with the pandemic. And a particular operation may even offer it a boost that eventually could equal billions of dollars in revenue. I'm talking about Etsy's acquisition of Elo7, a Brazilian marketplace for handmade items. Etsy completed the operation last year. Why is this such a valuable asset for Etsy? Let's check out the following two charts.
Image source: Getty Images.
Location, location, location
First, a clue. I'll start with an old quote regarding what's most important in real estate: "location, location, location." Well, this can be applied to the Elo7 acquisition. What's key here is the company's market of Brazil. And that brings me to our first chart.
This chart shows the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) forecast of e-commerce in 19 major countries. The time period is from this year through 2025. And Brazil's CAGR of 20.7% tops all of the others. It even well surpasses the global CAGR of about 11%.
Image source: Statista.
Now, let's move on to our second chart. This one shows e-commerce sales made on mobile devices in six Latin America countries. The years shown are 2021 and 2025. Here, too, Brazil comes out ahead -- in both years. Brazil's mobile e-commerce sales last year totaled $23 billion. And they are expected to rise to $52 billion in 2025. Its closest Latin American competitor is Mexico with an estimated $41 billion in mobile e-commerce sales in that year.
Image source: Statista.
Strength in two areas
These statistics are significant because they show Brazil's strengths in e-commerce growth and in the actual level of sales. And this means Etsy's move to buy Elo7 could benefit from both of these elements over the next few years -- and possibly beyond.
Etsy CEO Josh Silverman clearly was aiming to get in on this promising market.
"We see significant potential in Brazil's e-commerce sector, which is still in early stages of development and fueled by one of the largest economies in the world," Silverman said last July when Etsy completed the deal.
Etsy's business already is offering amazing growth. For example, in the most recent quarter, GMS reached a record $4.2 billion. Revenue and adjusted EBITDA also hit record levels. The Elo7 purchase might have looked like just a plus for an already booming business. But, due to its high-growth market, it could be much more significant than that.
