Dive Brief:
- Joining other retailers in appointing chief technology officers, Etsy has named Rachana Kumar — currently the vice president of engineering — to become its chief technology officer, effective Jan. 1. Kumar will replace Mike Fisher, who will depart the company to spend more time with family and pursue other interests, according to a Thursday press release.
- Kumar has worked at Etsy for more than eight years, during which time she has been overseeing the company’s product development, mobile app strategy and buyer growth, the company said. Kumar helped launch Etsy’s regional office in Mexico City where the team has expanded to almost 130 employees over the past 18 months.
- Kumar will work from Etsy’s Brooklyn, New York headquarters and report to the company’s CEO Josh Silverman. Fisher, who will remain CTO until Dec. 31, will transition into an advisory role at Etsy through April 2023.
Dive Insight:
Etsy and other retailers have tapped experienced executives to lead their digital arms. Prior to joining Etsy in 2014, Kumar worked with the United Nations Council on Foreign Relations and ran a nonprofit organization. Along with Etsy, other companies, including Stitch Fix, Nordstrom, Francesca and Kohl’s, have recently brought on new chief technology officers to guide their digital operations.
“Rachana has demonstrated an extraordinary ability to lead complex projects, leverage new technologies that improve our velocity and performance, and serve as a coach and mentor to her colleagues,” Silverman said in a statement. “I also want to thank Mike – affectionately known internally as ‘Fish’ – for helping lead Etsy through a period of transformation and growth over the last five years. He is a remarkable leader, and his impact has extended far beyond scaling our technology infrastructure and building a world-class team.”
June 2021 was a particularly pivotal month for Etsy. The e-commerce company announced its plans to acquire Depop, the re-sale clothing platform, for almost $1.63 billion, bringing in its 30 million users. That same month, the company purchased Elo7, another online marketplace for handmade goods based in Brazil, for $217 million in cash.
But the past year or so hasn’t been all pleasant for the platform. When the company announced that it planned to raise its transaction fee, the move sparked a backlash online in April. Sellers began posting tweets with the #EtsyStrike hashtag, calling for more transparency.
