In this articleWFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTWayfair store in Wilmette, Illinois.Courtesy: WayfairWhat retail apocalypse?Online home goods retailer Wayfair is opening its first namesake store, near Chicago, following a string of other digitally native companies that have turned to brick-and-mortar for growth. In an ironic twist for a company that became a $12 billion powerhouse by persuading consumers to buy couches and beds online, Wayfair is leaning into the most basic building blocks of retail. That’s because no matter how far tech has evolved, shoppers still can’t try out a new mattress from their laptops or phones.”If you think about the categories we’re in, they’re typically very visual categories, or very tactile, or, you know, considered purchases, because it’s reasonably expensive and you’re going to put a lot of care into picking the right item,” Wayfair CEO and co-founder Niraj Shah told CNBC.”Depending on what purchase someone’s making, they may prefer the in-store experience and getting to work with an associate,” he said. “Or they may want to discuss financing or want design help, and we can provide all of those experiences. We provide them online as well, but sometimes, in-store can be either more pleasurable or more effective.” The 150,000-square-foot megastore in Wilmette, Illinois, is set to open May 23. Wayfair follows other direct-to-consumer brands that have opened stores, including Warby Parker, Figs, Casper, Glossier and Everlane.Wayfair’s retail ambitions come as online-only companies look to plot their next phases of growth in a landscape that has evolved since their companies were founded, making it harder than ever to run a profitable e-commerce business.[embedded content]Privacy changes on Meta and Apple iOS have made it more difficult for marketers to target customers in advertising campaigns. Companies also face more competition from Chinese-linked upstarts such as Shein and Temu.Returns and the scams that come along with them are a never-ending, money-losing game. With the proliferation of online marketplaces on Amazon, Walmart and Target, just about anyone can be a retailer — and brands can find themselves competing against their own manufacturers. Many companies that started by selling directly to consumers now offer their wares in department stores and big-box retailers, but even that brings pitfalls. Brands that earned their competitive edge by gathering enormous amounts of data on their customers don’t have as much visibility when they’re working with wholesalers, nor do they make as much money.They’re also subject to the whims of their partners and could be taken off the shelves with little notice or risk losing a primary revenue source if that wholesaler suddenly goes under or sees sales fall. When brands have their own stores in addition to websites, they have a lot more control over mitigating those risks.Plus, torrid e-commerce growth during the Covid-19 pandemic has moderated and fallen to be …
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnIn this articleWFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTWayfair store in Wilmette, Illinois.Courtesy: WayfairWhat retail apocalypse?Online home goods retailer Wayfair is opening its first namesake store, near Chicago, following a string of other digitally native companies that have turned to brick-and-mortar for growth. In an ironic twist for a company that became a $12 billion powerhouse by persuading consumers to buy couches and beds online, Wayfair is leaning into the most basic building blocks of retail. That’s because no matter how far tech has evolved, shoppers still can’t try out a new mattress from their laptops or phones.”If you think about the categories we’re in, they’re typically very visual categories, or very tactile, or, you know, considered purchases, because it’s reasonably expensive and you’re going to put a lot of care into picking the right item,” Wayfair CEO and co-founder Niraj Shah told CNBC.”Depending on what purchase someone’s making, they may prefer the in-store experience and getting to work with an associate,” he said. “Or they may want to discuss financing or want design help, and we can provide all of those experiences. We provide them online as well, but sometimes, in-store can be either more pleasurable or more effective.” The 150,000-square-foot megastore in Wilmette, Illinois, is set to open May 23. Wayfair follows other direct-to-consumer brands that have opened stores, including Warby Parker, Figs, Casper, Glossier and Everlane.Wayfair’s retail ambitions come as online-only companies look to plot their next phases of growth in a landscape that has evolved since their companies were founded, making it harder than ever to run a profitable e-commerce business.[embedded content]Privacy changes on Meta and Apple iOS have made it more difficult for marketers to target customers in advertising campaigns. Companies also face more competition from Chinese-linked upstarts such as Shein and Temu.Returns and the scams that come along with them are a never-ending, money-losing game. With the proliferation of online marketplaces on Amazon, Walmart and Target, just about anyone can be a retailer — and brands can find themselves competing against their own manufacturers. Many companies that started by selling directly to consumers now offer their wares in department stores and big-box retailers, but even that brings pitfalls. Brands that earned their competitive edge by gathering enormous amounts of data on their customers don’t have as much visibility when they’re working with wholesalers, nor do they make as much money.They’re also subject to the whims of their partners and could be taken off the shelves with little notice or risk losing a primary revenue source if that wholesaler suddenly goes under or sees sales fall. When brands have their own stores in addition to websites, they have a lot more control over mitigating those risks.Plus, torrid e-commerce growth during the Covid-19 pandemic has moderated and fallen to be …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
