Wayfair CEO on How Suppliers Are Reacting to Economic Uncertainty

Economic uncertainty is the sentiment du jour in global supply chains as a result of the tariff wars, but consumer spending remains resilient for now, according to the CEOs of Wayfair and logistics giant C.H. Robinson.

In a panel discussion at the recent Semafor World Economy Summit, Niraj Shah, CEO of eCommerce retailer Wayfair, and Dave Bozeman, president and CEO of transportation and logistics giant C.H. Robinson Worldwide, shared insights on what they’re seeing amid the economic disruption.

“The temperature is uncertainty,” said Bozeman, whose company serves 83,000 customers worldwide.

“Supply chains have been changing since the financial crisis and getting more resilient. … However, when you have the two largest economies [U.S. and China] going head-to-head, no one can really anticipate that.”

Despite these challenges, consumer behavior hasn’t shown significant signs of weakness yet, according to Shah, whose company works with more than 20,000 suppliers offering more than 20 million items sourced from over 100 countries.

“Consumer spending has held pretty steady, so that there’s been no real drop-off,” Shah said. “The question really is … what will happen in three- or four-months’ time if prices go up and availability gets more limited?”

Consumers haven’t seen tariff-induced price increases yet since there’s still one to three months of existing inventory on average out there, Bozeman said. Once that pre-tariff inventory is sold, new inventory will reflect higher prices.

Bozeman already sees early warning signals, including reduced shipping from China and companies planning around existing inventory. “We’re watching inventories along with reduced sailings,” he said. “You don’t want the global supply chain to kind of grind down.”

At Wayfair, Shah said sellers are taking varied approaches to manage risk. “Some folks are continuing to flow bestsellers. Some folks are really holding on to everything [in inventory]. Some folks are saying they’re going to absorb the cost increase for a period of time.”

Meanwhile, a March 2025 PYMNTS Intelligence report shows that even high earners are feeling the pinch. In one year, the share of high-income earners who are planners fell by 25%, according to “New Reality Check: The Paycheck-to-Paycheck Report.” Planners are consumers who always pay off their credit card balances and have $2,500 or more in savings.

Read more: Survival or Surrender: Will Tariffs Force Small Businesses Off the Global Stage?

Disruptions Aren’t That Uncommon

Both executives said the supply chain has seen several disruptions in recent decades and thus has been growing in resilience.

In retail, goods were made domestically for a long time, then moved to China in the 1990s. Starting around 2000, anti-dumping duties pushed production to other regions. In 2019, China put on 25% tariffs, and now six years later, potentially higher tariffs, according to Shah.

The supply chain network is “constantly evolving and it actually has not been standard for any long period of time,” Shah said. “It just feels very sudden when the latest turn shows up right in front of you.

“It’s all navigable. The question is, just how do you do it as adroitly as possible?”

Shah described this trade pattern as a “pendulum,” reflecting countries constantly balancing economic growth with independence and security concerns. He said Wayfair sellers have been diversifying their sourcing away from China in recent years, with Brazil, India and Turkey emerging as growing alternatives besides the U.S. and nearby nations.

Bozeman said he approaches disruptions with a “three-horizon strategy” — looking at immediate needs (up to three years), medium-term planning (three to seven years), and long-term positioning (over seven years).

“Disruption is here to stay,” Bozeman said. “The best thing you can do is start to think out in those different horizons, work with your customers, give them options, and drive those solutions.”

The executives also discussed how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming their operations. Bozeman described AI as a “game changer” that has driven 30% productivity improvements over the past two years at C.H. Robinson.

Previously, human workers would have to handle hundreds of thousands of requests for quotes to move products. Today, the company’s large language models handle every quote and respond conversationally with much more detailed specifics — all in 90 seconds versus almost 30 minutes previously, Bozeman said.

At Wayfair, which employs about 2,500 people in its tech division, AI is enhancing customer experiences by doing such things as improving digital imagery capabilities and filling in missing product attributes.

Shah said that Wayfair recommends listing 200 attributes for each item for sale — product dimensions, color, style, and other features.

“On a given item, we’re missing some number of attributes, always,” Shah said. “We can now fill those in accurately using generative AI. So now, all of a sudden, the customer search navigation experience can be heightened.”

Both companies have prioritized AI adoption throughout their organizations. C.H. Robinson builds its own large language models, while Wayfair has provided AI access and training to its entire workforce.

“We started with about a dozen use cases about a year ago and we started driving them through the organization,” Shah said. “Now it’s becoming part of what everyone does.”