Online global furniture retailer Wayfair has reported a decline in first quarter sales as well as a fall in active customers.

According to its latest trading update for its first quarter ended 31 March 2023, total net revenues fell 7.3% to $2.8bn, or down by $219m year-on-year.

Its native US sales were down 5% to of $2.4bn, while International sales, including the UK, were down 20.4% to $359m, a fall by $92m.

Gross profit was $821 million or 29.6% of total net revenue, with Adjusted EBITDA at a loss of $14m – improving from a loss of $113m. Wayfair said that active customers totalled 21.7 million during the period, a decrease of 14.6%.

Niraj Shah CEO, co-founder and co-chairman, Wayfair, commented: “This was a strong quarter for Wayfair, and we are pleased to be seeing consistent market share gains and a significant improvement in cost structure versus last quarter that gets us to nearly Adjusted EBITDA breakeven in Q1. Most exciting is that we expect to have positive Adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter. We have always known, and now we are clearly demonstrating that the Wayfair model is inherently profitable and that there is considerable opportunity in front of us to rapidly drive further margin expansion.

“Last August, we shared a roadmap laying out our path to profitability and we have been executing against that plan. Through a focus on our three core initiatives of driving customer and supplier loyalty, nailing the basics, and cost efficiency, we have made significant strides in improving our offering and customer experience, simultaneously reducing our cost structure while investing for future growth.”