Squarespace Hits $1 Billion in Revenue as It Takes on Payments Facilitator Mantle

Squarespace announced its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2023 on Wednesday (Feb. 28), revealing a milestone: The company that helps individuals and businesses to build brands online surpassed $1 billion in revenue for the first time, marking a 17% growth for the year.

“Q4 was an excellent finish to 2023 with faster bookings and revenue growth than we saw for the full year, also aided by the addition of our customers coming over from Google made,” Squarespace’s founder and CEO Anthony Casalena said on a call with investors and analysts.

In other key figures, Q4 bookings surged by 23% to reach $286 million. Google Domains, acquired in September 2023, fueled roughly half of this growth during the quarter, with additional contributions stemming from website activities. Additionally, unique subscriptions and price increases across subscription offerings were significant growth drivers, representing 60% and about 30%, respectively, of top line growth for the full year.

According to company executives, last year was also pivotal for establishing the groundwork to propel multiyear growth, pointing to the roll out of Squarespace Payments in Q4 as a significant step to bolster the company’s ambitions in the commerce space.

Dan Chandre, the company’s vice president of acuity and payments, discussed the launch in an October interview with PYMNTS, telling Karen Webster at the time that the firm has embraced the role of payments facilitator as it caters to the “long tail” of sellers that form the backbone of its customer base.

This network, Chandre explained, consists of a diverse array of smaller businesses and 4.3 million subscribers spanning various industries, all experiencing significant transaction volumes amid the continuing shift to online commerce.

Overall, Squarespace said it made significant strides in empowering small businesses, with two standout achievements being the expansion of its Domains business and the introduction of Squarespace Blueprint, a user-friendly, interactive design system that helps users, particularly beginners, to easily create personalized websites.

According to Casalena, Squarespace Domains is now the fourth largest registrar in the world, with renewals from migrating Google customers surpassing expectations. “And it acts as a natural place for us to inject an array of generative AI features that help guide customers through setup,” he further said, noting that these improvements will be released throughout the year under the banner of Design Intelligence.

Commerce and International

Company executives pinpointed commerce as one of the three foundational pillars propelling the business forward into 2024, the first being “enabling small businesses.”

In line with this strategic focus, Squarespace has introduced a sub-tool that enables clients to transact and engage with their customers through selling digital content, physical goods and services, providing them with a versatile platform to effectively connect with their audience.

“Acuity scheduling has proven to be an important driver of GMV growth,” Casalena pointed out, “and underscores our increasing focus on services sellers, where we believe we will offer meaningful product differentiation.”

With Squarespace Payments now fully implemented across the United States and receiving favorable feedback, the company said it has shifted its focus to its third pillar: international expansion. Notably, Squarespace has recorded double-digit subscription growth across all major international markets, underscoring the company’s commitment to global outreach and accessibility.

Moreover, the design-driven platform operator expanded its payments offerings by adding support for 18 new currencies in 2023, allowing customers worldwide to pay in the manner most convenient for them.

As Casalena said, “International is a key growth driver for our business as we look to bring our ecosystem to new markets. We are focusing resources on markets where we see clear synergies with our differentiated design and where our product market fit is well supported.”