The house items class has seen its share of twists and turns over the previous 5 years: a pandemic-era increase after which a stoop when shoppers pivoted towards journey and experiences relatively than bodily objects. Now, it’s going through headwinds within the type of tariffs and an unsure financial system, and generative AI could possibly be altering how individuals store.
Kate Gulliver, CFO and chief administrative officer at Wayfair, spoke with CFO Brew about her profession, and about her firm’s plan to roll with the punches.
From startup to class chief: In some methods, Gulliver has grown together with Wayfair. After working in personal fairness, she joined the corporate as head of investor relations in 2014, and helped to run its IPO. At the moment, it had about $1 billion in gross sales and a pair of,000 staff, Gulliver mentioned. She describes it as “a brilliant high-growth however comparatively immature firm from a programs and course of perspective.” Right this moment, Wayfair employs round 12,000 individuals and introduced in $12 billion in income from June 2024 by June 2025.
From investor relations, Gulliver turned world head of expertise, and was named CFO and CAO in 2022. Her profession at Wayfair has developed in an natural trend.
“I largely let my profession be guided by the chance most instantly in entrance of me,” she mentioned. “I’ve by no means tried to information towards ‘10 years from now, right here’s the place that function is getting me.’ It’s been extra ‘Is that this the following proper transfer?’”
As a mixed CFO and chief administrative officer, Gulliver has a lot on her plate: HR, finance, actual property, authorized and compliance, company affairs, and communications all report back to her. She enjoys the breadth of the twin function, which she says provides her perception into the “spine” of the corporate. “Intellectually,” the various departments she oversees “can really feel fairly totally different daily, which is enjoyable,” she mentioned.
A turbulent 5 years for retail: As a vendor of discretionary items, Wayfair has been on a rocky journey over the previous 5 years. It was in a position to capitalize on the house items increase of the pandemic, when customers caught in lockdown had been shopping for objects for his or her areas. However as restrictions lifted and shoppers pivoted towards spending on experiences, it noticed web losses for 3 consecutive years. Wayfair needed to restructure and underwent a number of rounds of layoffs, chopping round 13% of its workforce, or 1,650 jobs, in 2024.
Now, although, the class is “beginning to stabilize,” Gulliver mentioned. Wayfair had a bumper second quarter this 12 months, with revenues rising 5% 12 months over 12 months.
“We’re feeling good in regards to the momentum at present,” she mentioned.
Wayfair isn’t seeing client softness but as a result of tariffs and financial uncertainty, Gulliver mentioned, although it’s seeing extra power in its high-end strains, reminiscent of Perigold, AllModern, and Joss & Primary, than in its “core mass” strains. (“There’s no query the higher-end market is stronger than mass,” CEO Niraj Shah mentioned throughout a latest earnings name.) The corporate is retaining its eye on the macroeconomic image, although. It’s doing numerous forecasting, incorporating each its inside knowledge and third-party inputs reminiscent of bank card knowledge and housing market developments, Gulliver mentioned.
Up to now tariffs haven’t had that a lot of an influence, Gulliver mentioned. That’s partly as a result of Wayfair is a market. Sellers submit many unbranded objects that look just like each other, in order that they’re largely competing on value, she mentioned. Decrease costs additionally permit for higher placement on Wayfair’s search outcomes, boosting gross sales. Sellers, Gulliver mentioned, are discovering methods to soak up or offset tariffs at totally different factors alongside the availability chain, which is “serving to to insulate shoppers” from greater costs. “Shoppers are nonetheless seeing like-for-like pricing,” she mentioned.
AI, how about midcentury fashionable? Wayfair can be anticipating adjustments generative AI may make to purchasing habits. It’s partnering with some main AI suppliers on growing agentic purchasing instruments, Gulliver mentioned. And it’s added GenAI options to its web site and app that present clients how furnishings may look in numerous areas inside a house, alongside suggestions for comparable Wayfair merchandise. “It’s a enjoyable approach to capitalize on how shoppers is perhaps altering how they store,” Gulliver mentioned.
On the similar time, the retailer’s made a surprisingly analog transfer: opening brick-and-mortar shops. Its Chicago retailer has resulted in a “halo” impact, boosting gross sales and model recognition within the Chicago space, Shah mentioned on an earnings name. Three extra bodily shops are deliberate within the coming years.
As a Wayfair shopper and residential design fan herself (“That’s the factor I examine in my spare time”), Gulliver understands what shoppers are on the lookout for. However even her broad remit, she acknowledges, solely goes to this point. “I’m at all times going to the model group or the service provider group” and asking, ‘Have we considered getting this product?’,” she mentioned. “They usually’re like, ‘Kate, keep in your lane.’”
This report was initially printed by CFO Brew.
