Today In Retail: Wayfair Exceeds Estimates; Carvana Sales Surge; SA Company Pivots With Pandemic

These are the top stories in retail for Tuesday (Nov. 3).

Wayfair, Home Furnishings Sector Looks Past COVID Winter

Bloomberg reported this week that Boston-based home décor eCommerce giant Wayfair turned in strong third quarter financials, noting that the firm’s quarterly results “exceeded analysts’ estimates, suggesting the wave of home improvement inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic is lingering.”

For its Q3, Wayfair gained 51 percent more active customers, rising to 28.8 million from a year earlier.

“Shoppers are spending slightly less per order, at $243 compared with $252 during the same period a year ago,” Bloomberg reported.

Included in those results is the fact that “repeat shoppers made 71.9 percent of overall orders in Q3 2020 in contrast to 67.3 percent in Q3 2019. Those repeat shoppers made 11.3 million orders in Q3 2020, marking a jump of 84.4 percent year over year,” PYMNTS reported.

Fast And Furious: Used Car Sales Surge For Carvana During Pandemic

The automotive market is surging during the pandemic, and companies like Carvana are reaping the benefits.

The company reported a stellar third quarter as used cars and contactless delivery are driving the market. Carvana, which sells both used and new cars, has been one of the main innovators in the space, with its high-profile vending machines in several major markets.

By the numbers, in Q3 the company sold 64,414 units, an increase of 39 percent. Revenue totaled $1.544 billion, an increase of 41 percent; total gross profit was $261 million, an increase of 90 percent. In its four years of existence, Carvana has improved its gross profit margin by almost 12 percent and has grown unit sales by 10 times.

SA Company Takes The COVID Pivot Outside — Literally

A lot of direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands are being funded these days, as the digital-first economy continues to gain traction. However, not a lot of that funding goes to 29-year-olds. The exception to that rule is CEO Tom DeSernia, who has grown and now funded one of the outdoor categories’ fastest-growing firms, SA Company.

Founded in 2014, SA Company has evolved with the pandemic and is on its way to getting a capital investment and operational expertise from one of its venture capital and marketing partners, TZP Group. After being named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2019, DeSernia has led the company from its foundational outdoor apparel and accessories to its most recent pivot of creating and selling its face shield line of gaiter-like tubular bandanas.