Wayfair Inc. Overview

Wayfair Inc.

Introduction

Formerly known as CSN Stores, Wayfair Inc. is an American e-commerce company with its headquarters located in the heart of Boston city–the Back Bay section of Boston,  Massachusetts. Wayfair, Inc. primarily deals with the sale of furniture, home goods, and appliances online. As of now, according to research, Wayfair, Inc., currently sell more than 14 million goods online from over 11,000 global vendors and suppliers. Wayfair, Inc., builds its offices strategically in major locations across the globe. Currently, aside from its presence n the United States which serves as the company’s home country, Wayfair, Inc., also has branches located in such major countries as Germany, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. The company controls and operates under five branded retail websites which are: the official Wayfair website, AllModern, Joss & Main, Perigold, and Birch Lane. In this piece, however, you would be shown a comprehensive and extensive review of this astounding company, Wayfair, Inc.. As such, all relevant information detailing from its historical background to its mode of operation, its teams of management, to its financial overview, as well as its pros and cons would be concisely covered to enable you to grasp the major key points of the company as quick as possible.

History

The history of the company began in August 2002, when two brilliant individuals Niraj Shah and Steve Conine conjoined to co-found a company which was temporarily headquartered in Conine’s nursery located in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. These two individuals, Niraj and Steve were college mates; they bagged their university degrees from Cornell University, and the duo had also in time past run two firms under the name XL and Simply Mobile which was then a global consulting company.

The company was formerly known as CSN Stores an acronym that was a derivative of the founders’ initials Conine and Shah. The firm began its operation under the website name racksandstands.com, which basically focus on selling storage furniture and media stands. The website was technically designed to enhance the user interface (UI) and to avail visitors with a seamless experience and easy navigation. As time whirls by, Wayfair, Inc., experiences several expansionary hits, as such, the company extends its catalog beyond its initial scope by including office equipment, home decor, institutional equipment, furniture,  kitchen utensils, home appliances, bath and bed materials, dinning furniture, lightning and luggage, home improvement goods, amongst others.

Transition and Milestone

2002 – 2006: In 2002, CSN Stores was founded. In 2003, CSN Stores onboarded suppliers of gardens and patio goods so as to add gardens and patio-related items and goods into its stock. In the same year, the firm also integrates additional three online stores, with the addition of more than a dozen staff added to its operation team. In the same year, the company moved its apex branch to occupy an office space located in Newbury Street, Boston, Massachusetts. And in 2006, CSN Stores recorded a total sum of 100 million USD as its sales revenue.

2007 – 2010: In the year 2007, due to the company’s growing pace, it expands its market beyond the shore of the United States and lunched itself into the international market. In 2008, the company started shipping its goods major part of the world. The company established it customer base in countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, and several other major companies in Europe. In the same year, the company was ranked as the #1 Fastest-Growing Private Company in Massachusetts, and #4 Fastest Growing Private Company in the entire United States by Business Journal. In 2009, the company extends its market network and established it self in the German market. And in 2010, CSN Stores moved its headquarter from its former office space to occupy 10 floors of office spaces at 177 Huntington Avenue. In the same year, the company launched a membership-only online store under the name, Joss & Main.

2011 – 2019: In 2011, CSN Stores recorded ownership of over 200 million online stores, and these stores are by extension shops tailored to provide a variety of shopping niches. However, to further proffer a strategic action to cater to its ever-increasing customer and create a centralized platform that accommodates its consumers, the name CSN Stores was changed and rebranded to Wayfair, Inc.. In the same year 2011, the company took action to nurture its newly created brand through fund raising from investment companies like Spark Capital, HabourVest, Battery Ventures, and Great Hills Partners, and on the 1st of September, Wayfair.com was launched. In 2012, the company merged all its subsidiary websites into the unified Wayfair.com, however, with the exclusion of AllModern and Joss & Main. In the same year, the company launched a unified chain of supply, the only access to all its affiliated clients under the name, Wayfair Supply. In 2013, August, Wayfair Inc., purchased a New York City-based retailer and design house that deals with  family and modern home furnishings under the name, DwellStudio.

In 2014, Wayfair Inc., became the largest online-based retailer for home furniture in the United States, while ranking 33rd among the overall largest online retailer across the United States.

In 2019, May, Wayfair Inc., was listed amongst the Fortune 500 company for the very first time since its inception, ranking #446 In the same year, Wayfair Inc., recorded the total sum of 1,500 employees as its human strength.

In 2020, Wayfair Inc. won the Webby Award for Shopping in the Mobile and Voice Apps category. In 2022, Wayfair Inc. launched a peculiar store located outside Philadelphia, in the heart of King of Prussia’s Mall. In 2002, August 19, Niraj Shah the company’s CEO sent a circular to all staff while announcing the company’s intention to turnover approximately 900 staff due to a projected post-pandemic effect and necessary adjustment.

Board of Directors

Niraj Shah

Co-Founder, Co-Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and Director

Steve Conine

Co-Founder, Co-Chairman, and Director

Michael Choe

Director

Jeremy King

Director

Andrea Jung

Director

Michael Kumin

Director

Anke Schaferkordt

Director

Jeffrey Naylor

Director

Michael E. Sneed

Director

Financial Overview

The figures listed below give an overview of Wayfair, Inc.’s financial position.

Revenue: 13.71 Billion USD

Operating Income: 94 Million USD

Net Income: 131 Million

Net Income: 131 Million

Total Assets: 4.57 Billion

Total Equity: 1.62

Brands

 WAYFAIR (The Mother Brand)

 ALLMODERN

 JOSS & MAIN

PERIGOLD

BIRCH LANE

Pros

Frankly speaking, Wayfair, Inc. offers both its customers and employees a lot of benefits, however, for the sake of brevity, the succeeding lines enlisted some of its pros with a concise explanations.

Enhanced User Interface (UI): Wayfair, Inc. offers high-tech websites tailored to give customers seamless and easy navigation.

Free Shipping for Most Items: Most of the items listed under Wayfair, Inc., attracts zero cost shipping fee and this can be on of the great benefits Wayfair, Inc., customers enjoy compared to other online retailing company.

Flexible Working Hours for Employees: According to a research on Glassdoor, employee at Wayfair, Inc., enjoy flexibility in their working schedule.

 Quick & Easy Ordering: Wayfair, Inc., avails customers with an enhanced artificial intelligent and machine learning website, as such, customers can shop and order for goods easily with get their orders in timely manner.

Door-to-Door Delivery: Wayfair, Inc., also offers its customers a door-to-door step delivery, as such, all goods ordered through Wayfair, Inc., websites, and its affiliate would be delivered to the provided address f the buyer.

Staff Welfarism and Career Progression: Employees at Wayfair, Inc., enjoy such amazing perks like health insurance, bonuses, access to gym, travel allowance, study allowance, amongst others. Additionally, the company’s policy avails its employees of the opportunity to progress in their career pathways.  

Cons

Payment for Returned  Unsatisfactory Goods is Required: When customers orders for goods them eventually feel it’s a bad purchase, they would still have to make payment for such item.

Rigid Return Goods Policy: According to Wayfair, Inc., return goods policy any issues on purchased items must be reported within 30 days of delivery to be eligible for a refund or change of item, however some customers complain this to be a rigid policy.

Shipping Sometimes Takes Time: Conversely to what was mentioned above about swift delivery, some customers complain that some items ordered from Wayfair, Inc., sometimes take time to arrive.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, although Wayfair, Inc., is still new in the commerce industry like its counterpart, Amazon which has been in the industry for several years now, nonetheless, the milestones and achievements of Wayfair, Inc., as proven the company to be a with prospect and on the off chance that it keeps its pace, it would soon be a leader in the e-commerce industry and by extension, be come to an example to other online retailing companies. That being said, I trust you are able to absorb all relevant information presented in this piece and that it would aid you rationality in whatever decision you would have to make as regards the Fortune 500 company, Wayfair, Inc.

14/09/’22