by Online home furnishings retailer reports slight gains in Q4 revenues, narrows net loss for the quarter and full year
BOSTON — Online home furnishings retailer Wayfair reported slight increases in revenue for its fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, while also narrowing its net loss, largely the result of steep cost-cutting measures over the past 18 months.
The company said that total net revenues in the fourth quarter rose .4%, to $3.1 billion, an increase of $13 million from the same period in the fourth quarter of 2022. Meanwhile, U.S. net revenues totaled $2.7 billion, up .9% or $24 million year over year.
Overall revenues would have been higher had it not been for a decrease in international revenues, which were down 2.7%, to $404 million, a decrease of $11 million from the same period a year earlier.
The company’s net loss during the quarter was $174 million, or $1.49 per share, compared to $351 million, or $3.26 per share, in 2022. It reported gross profits of $944 million, or 30.3% of revenues, compared to $893 million, or nearly 29% of revenues a year earlier.
For the full year, Wayfair reported total sales of $12 billion, down 1.8% from $12.2 billion in 2022. U.S. revenues rose slightly to $10.5 billion, up .2%, or by $18 million year over year. International revenues totaled $1.5 billion, down 13.3% or $233 million from the year before.
Its net loss for the year was $738 million, or $6.47 per share, compared to a net loss of $1.3 billion, or $12.54 per share, in 2022. Its gross profit was $3.7 billion, or 30.5% of revenues, compared $3.4 billion, or 28% of revenues, in 2022.
“Q4 was another definitive step on our profitability journey and a reflection of the immense progress we achieved throughout the entire year,” said Niraj Shah, Wayfair’s chief executive officer, co-founder and co-chairman. “Even in a difficult macro environment, we generated a 3% adjusted EBITDA margin and had our third consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow. In fact, on a revenue base that largely mirrored 2022, our free cash flow in 2023 improved by more than 1 billion dollars.”
“Our efforts over 2023 led to large improvements in our core recipe across availability, speed and price competitiveness,” Shah added. “These improvements were directly responsible for our robust share expansion throughout the year and for the step-up we saw in customer loyalty, including year-over-year growth in our active customer count by the fourth quarter.”
Other highlights of the report were as follows:
+ The company reported 22.4 million active customers as of Dec. 31, up 1.4% from the prior year.
+ Net revenue per active customer over the past 12 months was $537 as of Dec. 31, down 3%.
+ Last 12 Month orders per customer divided by active customers was 1.84 for the fourth quarter, compared to 1.81 for the fourth quarter of 2022.
+ The company delivered 11.3 million orders in the fourth quarter, up 2.7% from the same period a year earlier.
+ Repeat customers placed 79.4% of total orders delivered in the fourth quarter, compared to 77.4% the same period in 2022.
+ Repeat customers placed 9 million in orders during the fourth quarter, up 5.9% from the prior year.
+ The average order value in the fourth quarter was $276, down from $283 in the fourth quarter of 2022.
+ Some 62.8% of total orders delivered were placed through a mobile device, in the fourth quarter, compared to 61.7% a year earlier.
