Wayfair and the digital era: are suppliers prepared?

Suppliers can find it complex when trading with multiple retailers, particularly in the digital era, where trading partners rapidly need information to meet the consumer demand and fulfil orders.

Online retail growth in recent years has increased the pressure on suppliers to be able to exchange trading documents digitally (inventory, sales, shipping notices etc.) with trading partners increasingly mandating an EDI connection to facilitate this. Read more: Managed marketplace connectivity for Amazon, eBay, Wayfair and more.

Here we explore how the influence of big players in the online retail space, such as Wayfair, are driving the shift towards more efficient supply chain processes with their trading network.

The way forward: Wayfair

So how can suppliers future-proof themselves in a digital retail era?

Following the unprecedented events of 2020, every business is looking to improve their internal and external processes to:

• Be more efficient
• Be more competitive
• Improve customer satisfaction
• Improve productivity
• Eradicate human error
• Save internal costs

On top of this, online marketplaces have exploded in recent years.

Wayfair alone has increased its customer base consistently on a yearly basis, from 2.09 million in 2013 to 31.19 million active customers in 2020 (according to statista.com), meaning there are great opportunities for suppliers to cash in on this success.

Wayfair has a broad range of suppliers offering an extensive variety of household goods becoming one of the biggest players in this online market with a huge 125 million website hits a month (US website ranked 71/100 on semrush.com). So naturally there is great demand to be a Wayfair preferred partner to supply products.

To do this however, suppliers will need to plan and implement a robust warehouse and supply chain management strategy which can allow for the rapid digital exchange of data with their trading network.

Wayfair support the exchange of a specific set of digital data messages with their trading network, facilitating real-time stock level updates and enabling an efficient supply and demand model.

Suppliers need to be able to support the order to invoice process and maximize digital trading efficiencies.

By not adapting and implementing these digital capabilities, suppliers risk jeopardising their trading relationships with online retailers, they will be behind their competition, and they will lose market share.

To be able to maximise digital trading with Wayfair, businesses will need to be able to digitally send orders, invoices, dispatch notices & inventory reports by using an efficient EDI solution.

What our clients say

Wayfair trading is something Transalis eDI™ manages for many customers, we take the complexity away and help you reach your business objectives. Read more: Wayfair EDI integration through Transalis, step by step.

With Transalis eDI Essential™, we get our clients online within 24 hours!

Transalis customer, Simplehuman, entrusted Transalis to fully connect their trading network, automate their order processing, and transform the efficiency of their supply chain. From the moment of implementation Simplehuman saw results, with faster turnarounds, reduced manual processing, better customer experience across over 50 of their trading partners, including Wayfair.

Ian Tofield, from Simplehuman, gives his insight on how Transalis set themselves apart from other providers…

“Businesses need the capability to exchange digital inventory data and the importance of efficient communication in supply chain fulfilment planning is critical.”

“Connecting with Wayfair was painless and fully up and running within a month.”



Ian Tofield, Simplehuman

Ian also added that Transalis was also able to mitigate the unforeseen requirements when conducting cross-border trade, demonstrating the value of Transalis’ knowledge and the importance for businesses to understand the validation & mapping configuration relating to global VAT regions.

How to keep up

We know that every business is different, with individual business needs and supply chain complexities…

That’s why we offer our bundled EDI solutions, all with unlimited message volumes. We keep everything transparent, supporting our customers all the way from their initial enquiries through to implementation.

Ultimately we put our customers in control, getting them EDI live sooner with no hidden fees!

Get ahead of the competition and engage us in the digitalisation process of your trading network.