Wayfair Continues to Surge with 67% Sales Growth

The direct-to-consumer housewares retailer had its second consecutive profitable quarter and has nearly 29 million customers.

Need to Know

  • The online housewares and furniture retailer reported a net revenue of $3.8 billion for Q3, a 67% year-over-year increase.
  • Wayfair’s active customers for the period hit 28.8 million, up from 19.1 million last year.
  • The company posted its second consecutive profitable quarter, with a net income of $173.2 million; one year ago, Wayfair posted a net loss of $272 million for the same period.

Analysis

Wayfair posted huge Q3 gains this week, with the direct-to-consumer home goods retailer reporting $3.8 billion in net revenue.

This marks a 67% year-over-year increase for the company, which has thrived amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as consumers gravitated towards both online retail, and home goods purchases. The spike in sales led Wayfair to its second consecutive profitable quarter: the company reported a net income of $173.2 million, a remarkable turnaround from its net loss of $272 million during the same period last year.

“Though the initial shock of the arrival of COVID-19 is arguably behind us, consumer behavior in both North America and in Europe is undeniably changed as a result of the pandemic,” Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah said on Tuesday. “As the e-commerce business focused purely on the home, Wayfair continues to benefit from both increased online penetration and heightened spend on the category.”

Wayfair found itself in a strong position at the start of the pandemic, as its online-only retail model was a natural fit for a retail landscape that, due to COVID-19 safety concerns, pivoted strongly towards e-commerce. The company’s Q3 profitability marks only the second time Wayfair has ended a quarter in the black; Wayfair had failed to turn a profit every quarter since its 2014 debut until Q2 of this year.

The company reported 28.8 million active customers in Q3, up from 19.1 million last year; repeat customers, meanwhile, placed around 11.3 million orders during the period, which accounts for 71.9% of orders overall. Roughly 60% of orders were made via mobile devices in Q3, compared to 53.8% in 2019, while the average order value was $243, up from $252 at this time last year.

Shah anticipates this momentum to continue for the company heading into the holiday season: “We expect the home to be even more important than usual when it comes to celebrating the holidays this year,” he said.