Research
Interview Synopsis

Wayfair – near-term online home goods retail momentum & competitive landscape

  • Public Equity
  • Consumer
  • Europe

The home goods sector has solid prospects going forward. It should “continue to grow rapidly over the next 12-18 months as part of this broader secular shift that’s taking place within the industry, which is that the category continues to move from predominantly offline or bricks-and-mortar to predominantly online, enabled by e-commerce,” a former associate director from Wayfair Inc told Third Bridge Forum.

Focusing on what this has meant for Wayfair, the specialist explained that, as well as an approximate fivefold jump in sales, the company “saw an increase in a lot of its key metrics, including new customers, newly active customers, repeat customers [and] repeat order growth.”

Demand for home office equipment was heightened during the pandemic, but for how long will this continue? The former associate director explained that we’re in a “very murky macroeconomic environment right now”, with virus variants creating uncertainty over the widespread return to office work.

Another category that has seen strong demand is outdoor home furniture – “I do think that the shift we’ve seen of people spending more time at home and around their homes is a secular shift, and so I think that there will continue to be an elevated demand for outdoor furniture and patio furniture relative to before the pandemic.”

Likewise, there is strong potential for Wayfair’s B2B department in this category, explained the specialist. It “is really well positioned to service those types of businesses, like restaurants… and so that is arguably a net new source of outdoor furniture demand and a  market size that probably wasn’t that big before the pandemic.”

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The information used in compiling this document has been obtained by Third Bridge from experts participating in Forum Interviews. Third Bridge does not warrant the accuracy of the information and has not independently verified it. It should not be regarded as a trade recommendation or form the basis of any investment decision.

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