Buying furniture has been a harder sell for retailers over the past few years.
When mortgage rates are high and home sales slow, consumers feel stretched
That tends to make shoppers delay big home purchases. A couch, dining set, bed frame, or outdoor patio set can usually wait longer than groceries, gas, or other essentials. This usually creates a difficult backdrop for home retailers, furniture chains, and online sellers such as Wayfair.
But new spending data suggests the category may be getting a better setup, especially for retailers that can capture shoppers online while also giving them more ways to see and test products in person. And for Wayfair, which built its business as an online home retailer but is now expanding deeper into physical stores, this report is important. The company reported first-quarter earnings on April 30, but a fresher signal came from May retail sales data, which was released on June 17.