Furniture giant Wayfair returns with a bang and will restart its physical store business

Wayfair , based in Boston , announced on Tuesday that it will open three physical stores in the greater Boston area next year to showcase the work of its two in-house brands . It also said it will open physical stores for five of its brands within the next two years .

Karen McKibbin, head of physical retail at Wayfair , said that with the launch of its first offline stores for the AllModern and Joss & Main brands , the Wayfair platform will bring consumers a new omni-channel shopping experience.

McKibbin mentioned that these stores will display tables and chairs , bedding, bath and seasonal products , etc. Customers will be able to make purchases in the store and choose home delivery . The company also plans to open larger physical stores for its Perigold and Wayfair brands in the coming years .

Wayfair has been involved in offline stores in the past. The company launched a series of pop-up stores in 2018 to test offline physical sales , and opened its first retail store in Natick Mall in 2019 .

The store not only displays products such as sofas and tableware , but also provides customers with a technological experience . Customers can use augmented reality equipment to see how furniture will fit into the room , and work with staff to design the interior furniture arrangement by themselves.

However, the store was forced to close in December 2020. The decline in shopping mall traffic caused by the epidemic and the high rent for the 3,700 square feet space posed severe challenges to the store's operations .

But Wayfair is clearly learning from its Natick store experience by opening physical stores for its AllModern and Joss&Main brands , and people familiar with the matter said Wayfair's move is relatively low risk because property managers are offering deep discounts on rent .

In fact, opening physical stores is also a good way for Wayfair to collect customer data and attract young customers. Most Generation Z users enjoy the in-store shopping experience , and Wayfair 's various designs and technological elements undoubtedly add to the shopping fun for these customers.

Wayfair 's sales soared during the pandemic as people worked from home and spent billions on desks, patio furniture and other home goods. But this year, as the pandemic eased , people's spending returned to restaurants and travel.

Although the epidemic has emphasized the importance of the home environment to a certain extent and changed people's online and offline shopping habits in the short term, the physical retail industry should not be ignored and is still a part that must be considered for the company's future development .

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