I have to be careful when shopping on home goods sites like One Kings Lane or Wayfair.com because at some point, I lose the ability to distinguish between “pretty and sparkly” and “need right now and absolutely can’t live without.” You know what it is? It’s when I start thinking: “we don’t really need this right now, but it will add value to the house.” That’s the phrase that always seals the deal.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who does that—hence the reason why the U.S. home furnishings industry is valued at over $160 billion.
And now home goods online retailer Wayfair.com has announced a new $36.3 million round of funding from Battery Ventures, Great Hill Partners, HarbourVest Partners and Spark Capital. In June 2011, Wayfair.com raised $165 million, so this round brings the company’s total raised to $201.3 million.
The company plans to use the new capital to support the growth of its home goods flash sale site Joss & Main, which Wayfair.com launched two years ago. (Wayfair also has another brand called AllModern.com for modern design.)
“Wayfair.com provides a powerful platform to power Joss & Main and that platform really sets us apart and enables Joss & Main to acquire new members at a percentage of the cost that other players are spending,” Wayfair.com CEO Niraj Shah tells me. “We have seamless access and data integration with 3,000 suppliers and 10 years of experience shipping heavy and/or fragile items. No one knows the home space better than us.”
Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Wayfair.com exceeded $500 million in sales in 2011, and Joss & Main operates at an annual run rate of $100 million. Joss & Main released a mobile app earlier this year, which the company says helped drive sales up by 50% this holiday season.
Co-founder and General Manager of Joss & Main John Milluken says that every weekend, mobile represents one-third of all sales. Mobile shopping on Joss & Main reached 40% on Cyber Monday, and mobile is growing four to five times faster than the rest of Joss & Main’s business.
“Our mobile app members are 40% more engaged than our other members,” said Mulliken, in a statement.
Wayfair as a whole reported record Cyber Monday sales, which reached $6.4 million—a 60% increase over last year. Sales topped $16 million over the Thanksgiving weekend, with a 75% increase in the portion of revenue coming from mobile.
So what’s on the horizon for Joss & Main 2013?
“We plan to accelerate our membership growth and to continue to set the bar with unique storytelling and event curation that appeals to a broad base of shoppers,” said Shah.
I, meanwhile, will be broke and surrounded by nautical-themed home decor items.
