Wayfair Inc. reported earnings results from its fiscal first quarter ended March 31. Wayfair total net revenue in Q1 declined 1.6% to $2.7 billion.

“The first quarter ended on an upswing,” said Niraj Shah, Wayfair CEO, co-founder and co-chairman. “Our revenue was down just under 2% year over year for Q1, which marks our sixth straight quarter of share gain. Shoppers are increasingly choosing Wayfair, with year-over-year active customer growth once again positive and accelerating compared to last quarter.” 

Wayfair ranks No. 10 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest online retailers in North America. Digital Commerce 360 categorizes it as a Houseware & Home Furnishing retailer.

Wayfair Q1 revenue and other results

U.S. net revenue slightly outperformed total revenue, declining 1.0%. It continued to make up the bulk of revenue, accounting for $2.4 billion of the $2.7 billion total revenue. Meanwhile, international revenue declined 5.8% to $338 million. That was on top of declining in each quarter of 2023.

The retailer recorded a net loss of $248 million for Q1. That was an improvement over the net loss of $355 million in the year-ago period. 

Wayfair cited some promising data about customer behavior in the quarter. Active customer count increased 2.8% year over year to 22.3 million at the end of March. Orders per customer also grew slightly, to 1.84 from 1.81 in Q1 2023. Repeat customers placed 7.7 million orders in Q1, an increase of 1.3% year over year. Those were 80.5% of total orders.

However, total orders delivered in the quarter fell 1.0% to 9.6 million. Average order value also fell slightly, from $287 to $285.

Wayfair’s brand refresh

Wayfair is in the midst of a brand refresh, the retailer told investors in a May 2 earnings call.  

“This is the most substantial evolution to our brand strategy, creative expression, and marketing presence since 2018,” Shah said.

“Our logo has become the foundational brand element that defines our entirely new storytelling platform, the Wayborhood,” Shah said of the campaign.

The advertisements feature influencers and celebrities including Shawn Johnson, Kelly Clarkson and Lisa Vanderpump. Shah said the goal is for these ads to become as well-known and synonymous with Wayfair as the gecko is to insurance company Geico. 

As part of the brand refresh, Wayfair will also open its first retail store later in May. The 150,000-square-foot store will be located in a Chicago suburb, Wayfair said. The store is an experiment, Shah said, to see what works before scaling up.

“We don’t necessarily expect that you get that right out [of] the gate. You probably have to iterate some. And so, that’s why we’re not opening 20 stores at once,” he said.

Suppliers introduce new products

Wayfair said that the state of supplier relationships is in a good place compared to recent years.

“For the first time since pre-pandemic, we’re seeing suppliers introducing large groups of new products into their catalogs as they look to build momentum for the next stage of growth,” Shah said. “Across the board, we’re hearing their enthusiasm to partner with Wayfair and substantial interest to lean in behind our entire offering — joining our curated brands, being featured in our promotional events, leveraging our fulfillment solutions, taking advantage of supplier advertising, and having shelf space in our stores.” 

Wayfair has grown its number of suppliers and diversified where it sources products from. That can help mitigate challenges from tariffs or other economic factors, it said.

Wayfair results

For the first quarter ended March 31, Wayfair reported:

• Total net revenue declined 1.6% to $2.7 billion.
• Net loss was $248 million.
• Active customers increased 2.8% to 22.3 million.

Percentage changes may not align exactly with dollar figures due to rounding.

Check back for more earnings reports. Here’s last quarter’s Wayfair update.

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