Wayfair brings popular customer loyalty program north of the border
Boston-based e-commerce company Wayfair Inc. is bringing its paid membership program to Canada in hopes it proves as popular here as it is with customers in the United States .
The loyalty rewards program was launched in the U.S. a little over a year ago and already has more than a million members, said Connor Delaney, general manager of Wayfair Canada. Canada will be its first international market.
The cost of membership $39 a year, for which customers get rewards of five per cent back on all purchases, access to exclusive member-only sales events, discounted pricing, priority service and free shipping, among other benefits.
“So these are benefits our customers have loved in the U.S., and I’m excited about getting them out to our Canadian customers as well,” said Delaney.
He said members can easily recoup the program’s annual fee with the redemption rate on high-ticket items such as couches or tables. For the Canadian launch, the company is hosting its first members-only sale from March 11 to 13.
In July last year, Wayfair opened its first outlet store in Burlington, Ont., its only physical store in the country. The company employs 400 people in Canada, has a corporate office and warehouse in Toronto and a second warehouse in Vancouver.
Wayfair said it gathered 26 million visits on its Canadian website last month and has a total of nine million customers in the country.
For customers looking to support local suppliers and buy Canadian products, Delaney said Wayfair added a feature on its website to filter curated items made in Canada .
Delaney said tariffs in the industry are dynamic and changing, so the company leverages working with thousands of suppliers who source products from around the world. He said Wayfair has suppliers and manufacturers in Asia, the U.S, South America and Canada.
“(Canada’s) a mature market that’s incredibly important for us. We’ve been at it for 10 years,” he said. “This is the first geography outside of the U.S. that we’re expanding the loyalty to and our investments in the area signify our commitment to the market.”
• Email: dpaglinawan@postmedia.com