Q&A: Wayfair travels ahead of the IT curve

Chain Store Agerecently visited Wayfair Next, the in-house innovation lab in the Boston headquarters of online home furnishings retailer Wayfair Inc.

Steven Conine, co-founder of Wayfair and Mike Festa, director of Wayfair Next, discussed the lab’s mission and the importance of innovation in retail.

What made you decide to launch Wayfair Next?

SC: We have a large engineering group and have always been a strong innovator as a company. There is a bunch of new technology coming along in its infancy it would be a disaster not to have mastered a year from now. We want to make sure we are in front of the pack, rather than running after new technology for marketing and selling products online.



Was it difficult to assemble the Wayfair Next team?

SC: Our engineering team already numbered in the hundreds. It’s a larger engineering team than the teams of many other Boston-area retailers combined. At the extreme end, it’s larger than the engineering team of some small start-ups. So we are positioned well for the future.



Are there particular new technology areas Wayfair Next focuses on?

SC: The main areas where we are focused are 3D, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). It’s easier to shop for your home from your home – you need to be in the space you want to buy products for. We are not really influenced by anything other retailers are doing.



MF: As opposed to traditional product renderings, we are using 3D technology to create photo-realistic renderings. They are more neutral than the promotional renderings provided by the suppliers, who may try to highlight certain features or shoot the product in a certain light. Other technologies will come to us after we complete our work in the 3D, VR and AR space. We’re looking for technology that can help make a better experience for customers.



Can you discuss any specific projects?

SC: Right now, we are working on VR decorating experiences using the Oculus Rift platform and HTC Vive platform. We have also launched WayfairView, an AR application built on the Tango platform that lets customers virtually place products in their homes. It then connects to our regular Android app to let customers make direct purchases.



MF: We know technologies like VR headsets are probably five to 10 years out from becoming inexpensive enough and having a form factor where they will be a mainstream consumer device. However, we want to start to get the early adopters on board now and then wait for the mainstream consumers to catch up. Some percentage of the population will have first-hand experience with VR in the next year.