On Wednesday, the online marketplace Etsy announced that its long-time CEO, Josh Silverman, will step down by the end of the year. Kruti Patel Goyal, who currently serves as Etsy’s president and chief growth officer, will become the company’s next chief executive officer. After leading the marketplace for eight years, Silverman will transition into the role of executive chairman.
Goyal has a long history with Etsy, having worked there for more than ten years before being named the CEO of Depop, a social-commerce platform that Etsy acquired four years ago. She has been in her current role as president and chief growth officer for approximately seven months.
Etsy has recently faced significant challenges in growing its business, and the company may be looking to Goyal’s experience leading Depop to help revive its growth. In the third quarter ended September 30, the number of active buyers on Etsy fell by 5 percent to 86.6 million compared to the same period last year. The company also experienced a user boycott in July after it allowed the sale of merchandise branded with “Alligator Alcatraz” on its site.
The number of sellers on Etsy declined by 10.9 percent to 5.5 million in the third quarter. Gross merchandise sales for the quarter dropped 2.4 percent to 2.4 billion dollars.
In contrast, Depop has performed very well. The number of active sellers on that platform rose 40 percent to 3 million, while active buyers increased 38 percent to 6.6 million. Depop’s gross merchandise sales jumped 39.4 percent to 292.1 million dollars.
Following the announcement of the leadership change, Etsy’s shares were down nearly 9 percent.