Wayfair has announced that Steve Oblak, chief commercial officer, will retire in the first quarter of 2024 after 14 years of leadership. The company also provided a business update.
Jon Blotner
Jon Blotner will become Wayfair’s new chief commercial officer, the company noted. He has overseen Wayfair’s exclusive brands and specialty retail brands, which include AllModern, Joss & Main and Birch Lane, as well as its visual media, 3D operations and technology, merchandising as a service, advertising, and supplier acquisition and onboarding functions, after serving as president of gemvara.com until it was acquired by Berkshire Hathaway in 2016.
As for operations, Wayfair maintained that quarter-to-date gross revenue is strengthening and is now trending in the negative mid-single-digit percentage range year-over-year. The improvement versus the company’s last business update has been driven by total order growth turning positive year-over-year during the period, offsetting lower average order values and the impact of deflation.
“We have been very pleased by how our team’s efforts have rekindled the flywheel that has powered our business for 20 years,” Niraj Shah, Wayfair CEO, co-chairman and co-founder, stated. “Our core commercial offering is stronger than ever, and we see momentum in the topline as our vast selection, sharp pricing and fast, seamless delivery all resonate with customers to drive better results. We continue to take market share and execute tightly against our cost-efficiency plan, driving us to adjusted EBITDA profitability in Q2. It’s nice to be on offense again, and we’re excited about the opportunity ahead.”
In regards to the upcoming retirement, Shah added, “Steve has served as a critical part of our leadership team and played a pivotal role in Wayfair’s growth, helping us grow from a $250 million business when he joined to $12 billion in net revenue today. He oversaw countless milestones, from helping to launch the Wayfair brand as we brought together hundreds of sites into a single platform, to launching new categories, business lines, and geographies while overseeing our North American and European businesses, to leading our debut into physical retail. He leaves us in great hands with Jon, who has been instrumental in building and growing a wide range of our commercial offerings over the last seven years. I look forward to seeing Jon take the helm of our commercial organization and build on this momentum as we further solidify our position as the leader in home.”
