• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, November 2, 2022

Etsy, known for ads that celebrate emotion along with crafty makers, is getting extra sentimental this season. New ads from 72andSunny New York salute those going the extra mile to find a gift as special as the person it's meant for.

The first ad is called "To the travelers" and takes that mileage literally, focusing on those journeying home to loved ones. A second, "To the New Parents," is set to debut in the weeks ahead, celebrating the intimacy of new parents in their first holiday together.

A spokesperson for the Brooklyn-based company says the holiday campaign also includes two direct spots, "The Tree" and "The Table," offering snapshots of handcrafted items at all price points. She says those spots are the first to use "Etsy has It," its new creative platform.

At the same time, the ecommerce platform is rolling out a feature that allows iOS app users to use images to search the marketplace rather than typing in keywords to sort through Etsy's 100 million-plus items. Users can snap or upload photos and start scrolling through similar items in seconds.

Separately, the company reported third-quarter financial results, showing millions of shoppers still love the folksy ecommerce platform. Consolidated gross merchandise sales eased by 3.3% to $3 billion. But adjusted for currency fluctuations, those sales gain 0.7%. And consolidated revenue climbed 11.7% to $594.5 million, buoyed by recent increases in transaction fees.

Etsy posted a loss of $963.1 million, compared to net income of $89.9 million in the year-ago quarter, reflecting impairment charges related to its recent purchase of fashion resale marketplace Depop and Elo7, known as the Etsy of Brazil.

The company says the loss "is largely due to starkly different market conditions and increasing macroeconomic headwinds," including COVID closures and inflation. That's led to lower-than-expected performance.

"This accounting charge does not change Etsy's confidence in the long-term growth potential of Depop and Elo7," it says. "We have strong conviction that we are in the extremely early days of realizing value from Etsy's overall House of Brands strategy."