What happened
Shares of Wayfair (W -1.44%) were moving higher today after the online home goods seller posted blowout sales growth over the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend, the biggest online shopping weekend of the year. As a result, the stock was up 13.5% as of 1:29 p.m. EST.
So what
Wayfair said that direct retail sales over the five-day weekend from Thanksgiving Day to Cyber Monday rose 58%, adding that Cyber Monday was the biggest sales day of the weekend, while Black Friday saw the most growth, a sign that Black Friday shoppers continue to shift from in-store shopping to online.
Image source: Wayfair.
CEO Niraj Shah said:
As expected and as in past years, the Thanksgiving holiday weekend was an exceptionally strong sales period for us. We anticipated the continued shift of dollars online and were well positioned to capture that growth on Black Friday and throughout the weekend with an unprecedented number of flash deals and holiday promotions. We see the overall cadence of holiday shopping changing with online becoming the clear leader throughout the holiday weekend, driving outsized growth. As the broader shift from brick-and-mortar to online shopping continues to gain momentum, Wayfair is capturing a leading market share in the home goods category.
Now what
Wayfair's sales growth accelerated from 43.3% in the third quarter to 58% over Black Friday weekend, but that surge tracks with the broader online retail sector, which saw 23.7% growth on Black Friday and 19.3% on Cyber Monday, after third quarter e-commerce growth of 14.3%.
Wayfair didn't offer any other financial numbers, so it's unclear how its margins performed over the weekend. The company recently launched its first-ever MyWay Members Only Sale with discounts of up to 75% through Nov. 30, which may have impacted the bottom line, but we won't know that until the company's fourth-quarter report comes out in February. Sales growth has been the company's primary goal throughout its history, and it clearly executed on that over the holiday weekend. Though concerns about profitability remain, the sales surge is a good enough reason for investors to cheer for now.
