Online furniture and homewares retailer, Temple & Webster, has returned to year-on-year growth according to a recent ASX announcement.
With trading up 10 per cent in the last month, sales were still down five per cent which is a slight improvement compared to the seven per cent for the first five weeks of 2H23.
CEO Mark Coulter says that despite turbulent macroeconomic conditions, it’s great to see Temple & Webster back in growth mode.
“We recognised early that in this inflationary environment, customers would be looking for choice and value and we have successfully adjusted our range, promotional activity, pricing and on-site merchandising to reflect these changing customer needs,” he says.
“The Australian furniture and homewares category remains highly underpenetrated in terms of its shift to online compared to other leading markets such as the US and UK. As the pure-play online market leader, we believe this period will allow us to aggressively grow market share as we leverage our data capabilities, asset light model and strong balance sheet.”
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is still high on the online retailer’s agenda with its recent increased investment in Israeli startup Renovai to help digitise the interior design process and enhance the customer shopping experience.
“We have been excited about the potential game-changing technology of AI for many years now, with our first investment in Renovai in 2020. The pace of this next technology revolution is only getting faster. As the leading pure play online retailer, we have the resources and capabilities to ensure we are at the forefront of this revolution.
“For an online-only business without physical stores or in-person sales staff, the potential for AI to significantly lower our CODB percentage, drive conversion and customer benefits is going to be material. We believe this will further drive our competitive advantages and allow us to win market share.”
