• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, October 18, 2023

Kelly Clarkson, who just relocated from Los Angeles to New York City, may not be the first celebrity that comes to mind for cowboy chic. But Wayfair hopes the new Montana Collection by Kelly Clarkson Home captures the TV personality’s love for her Rocky Mountain cabin -- and that the new line’s vintage classics and antiqued details will fit into any Zip code.

The company also revealed details on its second Way Day saving event this year, offering deals on more than one million items on Oct. 25 and 26. That includes up to 80% off some selections, with all shipping for free. Wayfair's also running sweepstakes, with one lucky winner getting $50,000 for a home makeover using the Boston-based ecommerce company’s design services.

Those deals include items from the Montana collection and brand names such as Dyson, KitchenAid and Sealy, and are also available during livestream shopping events on Instagram. Wayfair’s smaller retail brands, which include AllModern, Joss & Main, Birch Lane and Perigold, are also included in the sales event.

While these are challenging times for Wayfair, observers think the company may be better positioned to weather a consumer pullback than other retailers. Analysts will be watching the Way Day results closely, hoping they provide better insight into how consumers will spend in the holiday period.

In quarterly results released in August, Wayfair’s sales dropped 3.4% to $3.2 billion. The number of active customers declined by 7.6% to 21.8 million.

Seth Basham, who follows Wayfair for Wedbush, thinks the macroeconomic headwinds may be getting worse for the furniture company. While he expects the company’s results, scheduled for release in November, will be mostly in line with expectations, “mounting pressures of rising gas prices, the restart of federal student loan payments in October, dwindling excess pandemic savings and rising interest rates could take another bite out of consumer spending on furniture and home furnishings,” he writes in his recent report.

Wedbush's research on student loan repayments reveals that mass-market discretionary retailers, including Wayfair, are “very exposed” as consumers reduce spending to repay those college debts.

Basham says he continues to be optimistic about Wayfair’s “path to sustained profitability and its ability to gain market share,” citing data about improving web traffic trends. He continues to rate the company as likely to outperform its peers.