Home Depot, Lowe’s and Lumber Liquidators have a new online competitor to cope with after Wayfair.com announced ambitious plans to sell and install flooring.
Wayfair Inc. is launching a feature called the One-Stop Flooring Shop, designed to offer customers a single destination for managing and completing home flooring projects. One-Stop Flooring Shop includes a broad assortment flooring materials and tiles. In addition, the service provides access to a dedicated flooring concierge team and a national network of pre-screened contractors.
Other features include the ability to order free samples, secure measurements and estimates for final installation, and free shipping on orders of more than $1,500. Customers can also seamlessly book consultations with pre-screened and certified contractors without leaving Wayfair.com.
“Through a vast selection of materials, dedicated concierge services and installation services, we make it possible for homeowners to tackle just about any flooring project,” said Steve Oblak, senior VP and general manager, Wayfair.com. “Homeowners can now visit Wayfair.com to seamlessly manage their entire flooring project with confidence from start to finish.”
Wayfair is launching One-Stop Flooring Shop at what seems to be a highly opportune time. The housing market has been showing signs of recovery for some time, and with the job market picking up steam many experts are predicting 2016 will see consumers investing in home projects they were putting off during tougher economic times.
In addition to challenging home improvement retailers like Home Depot and The Tile Shop, Wayfair is also entering an increasingly crowded online professional home services marketplace. Once largely the domain of Angie’s List, online professional home services have also seen big-name competitors like Amazon and Google make entries in the past 12 months.
However, Amazon and Google have been slowly testing home services marketplace offerings and rolling them out in select markets. Wayfair is jumping right in with a full-scale offering. Time will tell whether this maneuver is bold or foolhardy.