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Tomorrow is the second annual Way Day, 36 hours of discounts and flash sales at furniture and home goods e-tailer Wayfair and most of its brands. If this sales holiday sounds familiar, it’s because Amazon created this playbook and has been using it since the debut of Amazon Prime Day in 2015. As our research has shown, Amazon scores big on Prime Day, and with last year’s inaugural Way Day, Wayfair’s sales increase was just as good.
At Wayfair.com and brands Joss & Main, AllModern and Birch Lane, U.S. sales the week of Way Day 2018 were 1.3 times higher than average weekly sales. This is even more impressive considering weekly sales were below average during most of late winter and early spring. Way Day week was so exceptional that only the week leading up to and the week after Black Friday were better: 1.4 times and 1.9 times Wayfair’s average weekly sales, respectively.
Way Day’s above-average sales are nearly identical to Prime Day results. The week of Prime Day 2018, U.S. sales on Amazon.com were also 1.3 times greater than the site’s weekly average. Although, in dollars, Amazon brings in a much bigger haul than Wayfair and its brands–both on shopping holidays and every day. Amazon’s 2018 average weekly U.S. sales were almost 30 times larger than Wayfair’s.
Way Day 2018 brought Wayfair an impressive boost in total sales and customers, making it at least a one-day win for a company that reportedly spends a lot of money attracting shoppers. But if Wayfair was hoping the event would bring hordes of new customers, they were likely disappointed. Thirty-seven percent of the week’s shoppers were first timers, compared to 33 percent in an average week.
Last year’s Way Day was on par with usual shopping trends in one other regard. The average purchase total was roughly the same as a normal week’s: $270.48 compared to $268.91. This stability was likely great news for Wayfair. As we’ve reported for other companies, deals often drive in customers, but they can also result in them spending less.
Curious about the ways Way Day 2019 will impact the company’s bottom line? Request a demo.
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