A Comprehensive Guide to Develop an App Like Wayfair [Updated]

Last updated on December 28th, 2023

A number of popular online furniture-buying platforms have emerged today such as Wayfair. Wayfair apps are making huge profits from their business. Furthermore, most customers prefer online platforms for buying furniture since they have an array of furniture.

The demand for an online marketplace for shopping by customers has helped furniture retailers expand their businesses online. Furthermore, investors and entrepreneurs can succeed in entering this market without having a furniture shop by connecting furniture sellers and buyers on their platform and taking commissions on every sale.

Find out how you can build an online platform that is similar to the Wayfair app by reading this blog. Before we start, let’s discover how to use the Wayfair app.

What is the Wayfair App?

Wayfair is an American E-commerce business that offers kitchen appliances, furniture as well as home decor, and other related products.

The company offers its digital platform for customers to make online purchases. Additionally, Wayfair provides sales on its merchandise and products regularly.

The platform on the internet Wayfair offers a variety of filters to customers’ searches to make it easier for them to locate and pick products with ease. The filters cover prices, colors, customer ratings, decor styles, and brands, among others.

How does Wayfair earn money?

Wayfair operates on the basis of a drop-shipping business model. Instead of purchasing stock, the companies have an extensive range of supply companies that ship their furniture and other related products to the addresses of their customers.

Wayfair serves as a mediator between buyers and sellers of furniture through its online platform to negotiate deals. When customers place an order for the products listed on the Wayfair website, the vendor is notified and delivers the goods to the purchaser’s address.

After a user pays through the Wayfair app, the company receives a percentage of each order made by the user. Another way that Wayfair earns money is through advertising. Wayfair advertises the goods of its suppliers to its customers and also earns money. To fully understand the functions of Wayfair’s app, let’s look at its business model.

The business model behind Wayfair app

To comprehend the functioning of the Wayfair app Let’s look at their business models. 

The business model can aid you in tracking your work. The business model behind the Wayfair app is divided into nine components

1. Key partners

Wayfair collaborates with diverse business partners in order to provide its services. They are referred to in the following manner:

• Delivery companies.
• Payment processors.

2. Key activities

These are the principal tasks that Wayfair does to run its business.

• Platform development
• Catalog & Supplier management

3. Cost structure

After the development of the platform the business will need to invest capital in the following aspects

• Advertising & Marketing
• Employees

4. Value proposition

The Wayfair brand is able to draw many more people to the website because of its focus on

• Finding the perfect product.
• A wide selection of products

5. Customer relationship

They assist the brand in building a positive image with its clients. The brands accomplish this in various ways.

• Taking customer feedback
• Customer support

6. Customer segments

The platform of Wayfair comprises two distinct customer segments. They are the ones responsible for the management of Wayfair’s business. 

• Buyers of product
• Sellers of product

7. Key sources

They are among the key assets that allow Wayfair in establishing its business strategy.

• Brand
• Technology platform
• Contracts with sellers

8. Channels

The platform has been operating its e-commerce operations by establishing its platform on the following digital platforms.

• Its official website
• Wayfair mobile App

9. Revenue stream

These are the means by which the Wayfair app earns money through its platform.

• Product sales​
• Advertising

Additionally what makes the Wayfair app stand out from its competitors is the ability for customers to see the images of their items using Augmented Reality.

What makes the use of AR the best option for your app for furniture stores?

The use of AR can help users get a feel for the design of furniture, and other products distinctively. In addition, the app’s creator will also gain from incorporating AR into their e-commerce applications in various ways.

All the advantages of AR are as the following:

1. Boosting sales & minimizing returns

A lot of customers steer clear of buying items when they can’t find an AR feature that allows them to see the furniture’s visuals within their home. The addition of AR can increase the likelihood of turning store visitors into customers.

Additionally, AR limits the rate of product returns since buyers can make the final purchase decision. With Augmented Reality, it is possible for them to not need to be concerned about the interiors of the room by seeing the visuals of furniture within the room.

2. Better Customer engagement

Examining the visuals of a room with the addition of virtual items by using AR provides a fascinating opportunity for customers to test the latest products. If a customer was impressed by a particular furniture item or product they’d either buy or add the item to their wishlists for future purchases.

3. Assists with the formulation of product recommendations

After collecting the data of customers through AR to gain an idea about the appearance of items in the room the app’s creator can make use of the AR-based data to create a customized experience that can increase sales and bring additional revenue for the company.

Additionally, you can add numerous advanced and exclusive features to your e-commerce application to make it better than the competition.

Essential capabilities for stores that sell online such as that of the Wayfair application

1. Augmented Reality

AR can help people see the style of furniture they have in their rooms. AR will help users visualize the look of furniture in their rooms. AR can also provide another method of collecting the data of users so that you can give individual product recommendations to your customers.

2. 3D room planner

The room planner assists users to design their space virtually. Users can personalize their virtual rooms using different design styles, layouts, dimensions, etc.

3. Product Wishlist

A wishlist can be a great option for users to store their most loved items. It’s possible to include this feature to allow customers to save their most-loved products so that the app can keep them in mind to purchase them in the near future.

4. AI-powered voice assistant

Application users are able to make use of an AI voice assistant to search for products for other commands using voice, like keeping track of orders, accessing their wishlist/cart, and more. The features will be beneficial to many customers who aren’t a fan of typing with their hands continuously. There are numerous benefits to adding AI to your application.

5. Recommendations for products based on ML

You can create specific product recommendations for your app’s users via machine learning. Product recommendations could improve sales on furniture-related online apps as customers will be more inclined to purchase relevant items based on their preferences and requirements.

In addition to these advanced features, you can also check the basic features you have probably encountered in every app. This helps provide a more enjoyable user experience.

Basic Features to Develop an App Like Wayfair

It’s more beneficial to talk about the most commonly used features in all apps, which includes applications that allow you to buy furniture for users as well as for administrators. Understanding these features will make sure you don’t leave out the essential elements of your application.

1. User Panel Features

These features can be beneficial to customers, right from creating profiles to buying products through your app.

• Quick Sign-in/ Signup

Quick sign-ups allow users to skip long registration processes. You can also add social media integration into your app in order to allow users to perform a simple registration on your app.

• Push Notifications

Notifications can help your app improve user retention. Notifications also increase the sale of products as you remind them of deals for the items they’ve added to their carts or wishlist in the app.

• Multiple payment options

The ability to accept multiple payment options in your platform will allow users to make payments according to what they prefer to pay for. In this day of digitalization, many consumers like different payment options with cash-on-delivery options such as debit and credit cards, mobile wallets online banking buy now, pay later, etc.

• Multiple language support

In addition to the English languages, you are able to include a range of native languages that are in your target areas and countries. Utilizing the app using your language of choice will enable you to reach more customers who don’t feel comfortable using speaking in the English language.

• Custom search and filtering

It is possible to add a custom search and filter option that will enable users to locate and find the most relevant items in accordance with their needs and preferences.

Customers can find the products they need from the results of their searches faster through filtering, which improves the likelihood of more sales via your website.

2. Admin Panel Features

You or sellers can utilize these tools to control the orders of customers and the products that you sell on your platform. etc. Similar to the Wayfair application, you could offer an admin panel for the sellers who are registered through your website.

• Management of the product category

The sellers are able to manage their merchandise using their platform. The inventory management tools help suppliers make product descriptions, manage ratings, and upload images of their products as well as other information.

• Delivery and shipping management

Inventory suppliers can monitor delivery and shipping status in the admin panel with this management function. Also, it allows sellers to review the complete shipping and delivery history to see what items are selling the best on their website.

• Management of payments

This feature assists suppliers to control the payment process of their customers. The supplier is able to easily monitor the status of payments for all of their customers.

Review the process of app development to create an app like Wayfair. Understanding the process of app development can help you stay on top of your work.

• Customer Support

Customers can have questions by offering assistance to customers. Customers can seek help with their questions in various ways, such as in the FAQ section of your product or in your help area. Furthermore, you can provide live chat or call support in your application to offer customers a better shopping experience your customers by helping them clear any doubts.

It is possible to understand your app’s development journey from beginning to launch by knowing the process of development for developing an app that’s like Wayfair.

A thorough process to Develop an App Like Wayfair for furniture stores

It is possible to review a complete procedure to develop an app for the furniture store. Knowing the procedure can help you comprehend the steps involved in project development. Additionally, having proper knowledge of the process for developing apps will allow you to better communicate how you envision the idea to an app designer, giving better project outcomes.

1. App Planning and Strategy

The process involves extensive study of the market for e-commerce, particularly the furniture-selling market online. The research will help you identify the weaknesses and areas for improvement in the market of e-commerce.

Incorporating all the shortcomings of the furniture-based online marketplace by offering new features for each drawback could aid your app in attracting more customers to your site.

2. Selecting the development team

When you’ve come up with an idea for your app that is better Now, you must select a reputable and reputable software-making business to develop your online furniture store app.

Once you have selected your developers, it is your responsibility to explain the elements (maybe style) you would like to include in your app, as well as the platform you’d like the app to go live. You can also choose the hybrid or native app development for various platforms, the technology required for the creation of your app, and so on.

3. UI/UX design

The design of your app is equally important in providing a positive user experience. The stage would include the decision on the wireframe for your app as well as deciding on the orientation of the app making CTA buttons, etc.

Highly experienced app developers will assist you to create a functional application with a beautiful and clear User Interface choosing the right Wireframe Tools and color schemes as well as logo and graphics for your application.

4. Backend development

App developers will begin programming to create your application. The programmer will create APIs functions, classes, and functions to make your application fully functional from the backend.

5. Optimizing the performance of apps

In this phase, the primary focus will be on a variety of factors to help improve the performance of your application. It is the developers’ job to work to create a compatible app to handle the maximum amount of app usage and ensure that the app is able to function on various platforms.

6. Providing better app security

Better security for your app will help you gain the trust of your customers. Developers will be focusing on a variety of factors that create a secure app such as adding OTP verification and an encrypted payment gateway and many more security measures to develop apps.

7. Doing app testing

When your app is prepared to be published, prior to publishing your app, the development team will test the app a number of times to make sure that the app functions properly and is performing well.

If they spot any technical problems They will attempt to resolve them as quickly as possible and then focus on finding and fixing the other issues until they are able to solve all problems and disadvantages.

8. Expand the reachability of your app

Optimizing your app’s performance in the app store as well as other platforms is essential to expand the visibility of your app’s intended customers.

To extend the scope of your app It is possible to focus on:

1. Follow the guidelines of the app store
2. Offering a complete description of the app across different platforms.
3. Doing proper SEO,
4. Explainer videos about using your app, etc.

Understanding an online furniture store’s financial performance can help you comprehend the reasons why investing in this company can yield better returns.

Why should you Develop an App Like Wayfair furniture store online?

Furniture is the top choice for those who wish to upgrade their home’s interior. In addition to the homes, there are numerous areas that are in high demand for furniture like restaurants, offices as well as a myriad of other commercial locations.

According to Fortune Business Insights, the size of the global market of this industry was 493.6 Billion USD by 2021. This is projected to rise to 720.2 Billion USD, at an annual rate of 5.5 percent.

Additionally, you can see the way furniture-related keywords have managed to gain the highest priority in the eyes of web users using the data provided.

Understanding the technology requirement will allow you to estimate the degree of difficulty involved in this eCommerce-based application development project.

Team structure and the Tech stack required

Making your app requires the following technology platform and structure for your team. Understanding the requirements for development prior to the time of development will allow you to prepare better for the launch of your e-commerce company.

Let’s get to the conclusion of this blog, to sum up, all in one go.

Make improvements to your current business or start your scratch to Develop an App Like Wayfair?

After the launch of Augmented Reality (AR) technology in shopping apps, businesses have seen a greater level of engagement with their apps and have seen more sales.

You can reach iTechnolabs if you want to enhance your business by incorporating AR into your company. You can also call us to develop your own e-commerce platform created by our team of developers beginning with the basics.

Contact us for a complimentary consultation regarding your questions about AR technology or starting your own e-commerce company.