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The category of goods of origin has seen its share of turns and turns in the last five years: a rise from the pandemic era and then a fall when consumers turned to trips and experiences instead of physical items. Now, it faces winds against tariffs and an uncertain economy, and generative AI could be changing the way people buy.
Kate Gulliver, CFO and administrative director of Wayfair, spoke with CFO Brew about her career and about her company’s plan to shoot with the blows.
From the beginning to the leader of the category: Somehow, Gulliver has grown together with Wayfair. After working in private capital, he joined the company as head of relations with investors in 2014, and helped manage his OPI. At that time, it had about $ 1 billion in sales and 2,000 employees, Gulliver said. She describes it as “a high -growth super company but relatively immature from a perspective of systems and processes.” Today, Wayfair employs about 12,000 people and obtained $ 12 billion in revenues from June 2024 to June 2025.
Of the relations with investors, Gulliver became a world chief talent, and was appointed CFO and CAO in 2022. His career in Wayfair has evolved organically.
“I largely let my career be guided by the opportunity more immediately in front of me,” he said. “I have never tried to guide to ’10 years from now on, this is where that role is receiving me. ‘Is it more’ Is this the next correct movement? ‘ “
As a combined CFO and administrative director, Gulliver has a lot in his dish: human resources, finance, real estate, legal and compliance, corporate issues and communications inform him. She enjoys the amplitude of double role, which she gives her an idea of the “spine” of the company. “Intellectually”, the many departments that supervises “can feel very different day by day, which is fun,” he said.
A turbulent five years for retail trade: As a seller of discretionary goods, Wayfair has been on a rock trip in the last five years. He was able to capitalize on the rise of pandemic home products, when buyers trapped at the closure were buying items for their spaces. But as the restrictions were built and consumers turned towards spend on experiencesHe saw net losses for three consecutive years. Wayfair had to restructure and underwent several rounds of layoffs, cutting around 13% of its workforce, or 1,650 jobs, in 2024.
Now, however, the category is “beginning to stabilize,” said Gulliver. Wayfair had a second quarter of this year, with the income that increased 5% year after year.
“We currently feel good with the impulse,” he said.
Wayfair still does not see the softness of the consumer due to tariffs and economic uncertainty, Gulliver said, although he is seeing more strength in his high -end lines, such as Perigold, Allmodern and Joss & Main, than in his “central mass” lines. (“There is no doubt that the high -end market is stronger than mass,” said CEO Niraj Shah during a recent gain call). However, the company is monitoring the macroeconomic image. He is making many forecasts, incorporating both his internal data and his third -party entries, such as credit card data and real estate market trends, Gulliver said.
Until now, tariffs have not had so much impact, Gulliver said. That is partly because Wayfair is a market. Sellers publish many articles without brand that resemble each other, so they are competing largely at the price, he said. The lowest prices also allow a better location in Wayfair’s search results, which increases sales. Sellers, said Gulliver, are finding ways to absorb or compensate tariffs at different points throughout the supply chain, which is “helping to isolate consumers” with higher prices. “Consumers are still seeing similar prices,” he said.
Ai, how about the modern of the middle of the century? Wayfair also anticipates changes that the generative AI could make to purchase habits. It is being associated with some important suppliers of AI in the development of agents shopping tools, Gulliver said. And it is added GENES CHARACTERISTICS To their website and application that show customers how furniture can be seen in different spaces inside a house, along with recommendations for similar Wayfair products. “It is a fun way to capitalize on how consumers could change the way they buy,” Gulliver said.
At the same time, the retailer made a surprisingly analog movement: opening brick and mortar stores. His Chicago store has resulted in a “halo” effect, increasing sales and recognition of the brand in the Chicago area, Shah said in a earning call. Three more physical stores are planned in the coming years.
As a truck buyer and a home design design (“that is what I read in my free time”), Gulliver understands what consumers are looking for. But even its wide remite, he acknowledges, only comes so far. “I always go to the brand or merchant team” and asking: “Have we thought about obtaining this product?” He said. “And they say:” Kate, stay in your lane. ”
This report was Originally published by Brewer.
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