Wayfair happy with ‘strong start to 2019’ despite widening losses

Wayfair, the ambitious US home and interior design e-tailer, has said it is “excited to report a strong start to 2019” despite widening losses at the firm.

Pre-tax losses for its first quarter trading period to the end of March stood at $199.79 million (£152.61m), wider than the $107.53m it reported for the same period last year.

But net revenue jumped 39% to $1.9bn, as the internet firm continued to invest in logistics, new teams and international markets, including the UK and Germany, and strives to win market share in the worldwide home category.

“We are excited to report a strong start to 2019 marked by another consecutive quarter of exceptional growth,” said Niraj Shah, chief executive, co-founder and co-chairman of Wayfair.

“Our ongoing investments in building our logistics infrastructure, deepening our product offering, and finding new ways to serve our customer, are just a few of the many areas that are driving the momentum we are seeing today.

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A Wayfair team was at ISH courting international bathroom brands  

“Once again, Way Day, our biggest retail event of the year, was a tremendous success for the business breaking our record for the highest revenue grossing day in company history.

“We look forward to the sizeable opportunity ahead as we continue to transform the experience of shopping for the home and remain well positioned to take share of the dollars that are coming online in the home category.”

Wayfair said new and repeat orders were both growing, while more than half of orders delivered were placed through a mobile device, compared with 49.2% in the first quarter of 2018.

Earlier this year, Wayfair revealed that expanding its bathroom category was one area of focus for the business, suggesting that it was keen to grow its product range in the branded space to meet customer demand.

Following the leading bathroom trade fair in Frankfurt, ISH, a few months ago, where a Wayfair team was combing the halls, Joseph Bill, senior furniture category manager at Wayfair told kbbreview: “Suppliers at ISH showed a broad range of products and innovations that we hope to soon begin offering to our customers in the UK and Germany.

“We firmly believe that, with the close support of our partners, we are well positioned to become the destination for bathroom and kitchens online across Europe.”

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