Germany has been an important part of the retailer’s European presence for the past 15 years, serving as one of the original entry markets into Europe, alongside the UK.
However, in the past years, scaling the company’s market share and improving the unit economics in the German market has proven challenging due to factors such as the weak macroeconomic conditions for the furniture category in Germany, the lower maturity of the retailer’s offering, their current brand awareness, and their limited scale, which lead to the decision to relocate funding and operations, shared the retailer.
Reportedly, the market exit also incurred in the lay-off of 730 employees, with the possibility to relocate to the UK and other international markets.
In future, Wayfair plans to continue to focus on operations and investments in its international markets—Canada, the UK, and Ireland, and expand its stationary presence.
