Wayfair or Wait Forever? The Choice Is Easy for Furniture Shoppers
Using a large network of suppliers and smart logistics, the home-furnishings site is escaping bottlenecks that have plagued rival retailers.
Wayfair conquered the supply chain, with significantly shorter delivery wait times — in some cases none at all.
Photographer: Scott Eisen/Bloomberg
For investors looking to turn the world’s great supply-chain bottleneck into a payday, don’t forget to check between the couch cushions. Months-long manufacturing and shipping delays for furniture is turning Wayfair Inc. — with its large network of suppliers and smart logistics — into a big winner, even if the market hasn’t caught on yet.
Shares of the home-furnishings e-commerce site are down 5% over the past year as reopenings were seen as a negative for online shopping. Meanwhile, manufacturers and retailers more broadly are grappling with rising costs and shortfalls amid high demand. A shortage of truck drivers, understaffed factories and difficulty sourcing key materials are preventing all sorts of items — cars, electronics, shoes, sofas — from getting made and delivered to customers.