Online home furnishings retailer Wayfair posted its largest quarterly year-over-year dollar growth in its history in its fourth quarter even as its loss widened.
Wayfair’s revenue rose to $2.01 billion from $1.44 billion, beating estimates of $1.97 billion. Direct retail net revenue, consisting of sales generated primarily through Wayfair’s sites, jumped 40.6% to $1.995 billion.
Wayfair’s net loss widened to $143.8 million, or $1.59 a share, in the quarter ended Dec.31, from $72.8 million, or 83 cents a share, in the year-ago period. The adjusted loss per share was $1.12, compared with analysts’ estimates of a loss of $1.28 per share.
The number of active customers increased 38% to 15.2 million and orders per customer increased to 1.85 from 1.77. The average order value declined to $227 from $229.
“We remain focused on our long-term approach to investing in the business, and believe the Company’s outsized growth at scale is a testament to the strength of our brand and platform as we redefine the shopping experience in our category,” stated Niraj Shah, CEO, Wayfair. “Our offering is resonating more and more with our customers in North America and Europe, and we see clear parallels in the progress of our businesses in Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany and the successful course of Wayfair.com in the U.S. at similar stages of development.”