WAYFAIR'S DWELLSTUDIO FOCUSES ON
TO-THE-TRADE ATTENDEES AT FIRST
MAISON & OBJET AMERICAS
Wayfair takes its eclectic DwellStudio brand to Miami, where it introduces its rapidly growing to-the-trade program to show attendees. On the left, Jodi Pavia, B2B marketing and events senior associate, poses with Sarah Cazeault, a trade accounts manager.
|
MIAMI -- Wayfair's DwellStudio brand debuts at Maison & Objet America 2016 using the show as platform for not only generating excitement among M&O shoppers but also to educate to-the-trade attendees about its two-year-old Trade Services by Wayfair program for interior designers, Sarah Cazeault, a Wayfair trade accounts manager, told RugNews.com at the show.
Rugs have been an important category for the online retail giant -- one that the rapidly growing Boston-based company is expanding, a Wayfair spokesperson said.
The new trade program has increased tremendously in the past year, according to Cazeault, who added that the program is targeting residential and hospitality designers, and real estate developers and stagers. "The progarm is growing so much that we had 40 account executives last year, and for this year, we have 150 and counting."
Members of the professional program receive exclusive trade pricing, access to trade-only products and a personalized account manager across all of the Boston-based company's brands: Wayfair, DwellStudio, AllModern, Wayfair Supply, Birch Lane, and Joss & Main. Program participants also receive access to idea boards and project price quotes.
DwellStudio offers a range of rug modern rug styles, from flatweaves to cowhides and hand-knotteds. Shown an assortment of hand-knotted rugs including Baxter, bottom right in pearl.
"The program has been around since 2014 but has seen tremendous growth. We have 36,000 interior designers, contractors and developers signed up for benefits -- and they receive access to 12 million products across our family of brands," the Wayfair spokesperson said.
Wayfair saw its direct retail revenues for the first quarter of 2016 increase by a staggering $342.5 million to $711.8 million, up 92.7 percent from the same period last year, according to company documents.
"We are excited to report yet another quarter of exceptional revenue growth as we continue to take about 40 percent of the U.S. online dollar growth in our categories in the last twelve months," CEO Niraj Shah, stated. "We are seeing tremendous traction with both new customer growth and repeat purchases as we focus on leveraging technology and innovation to reinvent the way customers shop for home and build a truly differentiated retail experience. "
THE TECH CONNECTION
In fact, during High Point Market earlier this spring, Wayfair participated in a technology summit and hosted a virtual reality demo at the company's Trade Services by Wayfair tent, where designers could test drive some of the new technologies the company is developing, including virtual reality simulator goggles.
The digital retailer, which just announced a new tech R&D lab (
read more) is leveraging cutting-edge technology to create unique shopping experiences for the home, introducing trade customers to those advances before the general buying public. In fact, the company says it expects to accelerate the shift to buying home furnishings online by transforming the way consumers are able to visualize products into their designs.
"Traditionally, when shopping for furniture at a brick and mortar store, the customer is only able to view a limited selection," said Wayfair's tech guru Mike Festa. "Increasingly, people are shopping online as well as browsing in store and, over the past few years, our browsing and searching tools have come a long way, making it easier for them to find exactly what they are looking for."
"Today, however, most items can only be experienced through a few 2D images. The next step is to build 3D representations of the product that allow the customer to see it from every angle, and then project it into their homes using augmented reality This will allow them to place a piece of furniture right where they want it, see how it fits, and view it from any angle." Which is what the High Point demo offered a taste of to designers who stopped by.
A longwool sheepskin rug, like the one above, graces the DwellStudio booth at M&O Americas. In slightly larger than 5x7 size, the rug costs consumers $1,599, but Trade Service members pay less.
The new hand-knotted abstract-styled painterly Bexley features touches of metallic. A 6x9 retails for $1,978.