Carey Pearson, head of brand and integrated marketing at Wayfair – and one of speakers at this year’s ChannelX event – spoke to InternetRetailing managing editor Amanda Vlietstra about how creators, social content and TikTok are powering Wayfair’s next phase of growth.
Wayfair has undergone a significant digital transformation in recent years, modernising its technology stack and embracing a new wave of growth that has seen it evolve as both a marketplace and a brand. Social and content now play a central role in that strategy, as Pearson explains.
“We see content that really resonates with the UK customer, delivered via the channels where they’re spending more and more time — social platforms — as a powerful way to connect with them in a deeper, more inspirational way than a standard performance ad, like a PLA on Google search,” she says. “If we can address customer needs throughout the funnel, then conversion is naturally stronger.”
That shift means embracing new platforms such as TikTok, which is fast becoming a significant growth engine for Wayfair. As customers increasingly look for experiential and personalised shopping experiences, homeware is a particularly strong fit for socially led discovery — albeit one that requires careful product and channel strategy.
“While we have huge breadth, we are constantly curating products that are truly relevant for customers,” Pearson says. “We drive a lot of personalisation through our own platforms, and we’re increasingly using social platforms to create shopping experiences that are both exploratory and inspirational.”
She gives the example of a customer shopping for a grey sofa. “We’ll use brand channels and creators on TikTok and Instagram to inspire them,” she says. “If they ultimately just want to click through and buy a grey sofa, that’s fine, but we want to show them different possibilities: a beautiful velvet sofa, boucle textures, corduroy, and so on. That’s how we’re mainly using these platforms at the moment, through influencers and creators.”
Discovery on social, conversion elsewhere
Across categories, Wayfair is seeing a clear pattern in how customers use social channels — primarily for discovery, with purchasing often completed elsewhere.
“People might discover a product on TikTok or Instagram, maybe even add it to cart from there,” Pearson says. “But they’ll often do their due diligence — comparison, research, reassurance — on desktop or mobile web. Smaller items lend themselves more naturally to direct social and app journeys, whereas larger, more expensive items tend to end up being completed on more traditional platforms.”
While Wayfair is currently using social channels from a sales perspective primarily through influencers and creators, Pearson expects them to become increasingly central to future strategy.
“Over the next 12 to 18 months, we expect TikTok and social commerce more broadly to become cornerstones of both our commercial and content strategies,” she says. “The sales opportunity, the brand-building potential, the exposure — it’s immense. I think in the UK and Europe, we are still at the tip of the iceberg in terms of what’s possible.”
Wayfair is still in the early stages of testing TikTok Shop in the UK, but Pearson is optimistic. “We haven’t fully integrated TikTok Shop into our UK experience yet; we’re in the early stages of testing. But as the platforms evolve from an API and tech standpoint, I’m very positive it will become part of our near-future experience.”
Working with creators — and letting go of control
One of the biggest challenges of social commerce is control. For large brands, there is an understandable tension between unlocking creator partnerships that drive growth and protecting brand integrity.
“You have to be brave and accept that you can’t control everything,” Pearson says.
Wayfair works with creators across multiple strategic and commercial models, designed to support the entire funnel. At the top, flat-fee partnerships are typically used for awareness, while affiliate or commission-based structures are more performance-focused in the mid to lower funnel.
“We think about it in two ways,” Pearson explains. “First, we have what we’d call ‘creators’, where we give a more structured guideline brief. Then we have ‘influencers’ in more of an affiliate or publisher-driven setup.”
The difference lies in tone and reach. “What we’re looking for from influencers is them driving that message to their audiences, not just to our existing audience. We want the content to be authentic — we don’t want it to feel overly commercial or very rigid. We want somebody to have their own voice. What we want is for our product and brand to feel natural in their purchase process and their decision process.”
Authenticity, she says, is non-negotiable. “We’re looking for people who can genuinely drive inspiration. We choose creators who feel realistic and relatable for our customers. We really are a business with something for everyone, no matter budget or life stage, so we have young couples, families, older couples, men and women, people with and without children.”
The goal is to reflect the breadth of the Wayfair marketplace itself. “We want our creators to be a reflection of who the customer is in the UK.”
Lessons for smaller retailers
While Wayfair operates at global scale, Pearson believes the fundamentals of social success hold true for retailers of any size.
“Relevance is essential,” she says. “If you can give people a clear reason to believe you belong on that platform, half the battle is won.”
Standing out in crowded feeds is critical. “You want customers to be scrolling down and saying ‘oh, what’s that?’ or ‘I’ve never even considered this — it’s absolutely something I’d pay money for.’”
“Price can only do so much,” she adds. “If the product is something interesting and special, and the perceived quality is there, whether it’s £15 or £1,500, the customer will consider buying it.”
Learn more at ChannelX on 17 June
Wayfair’s approach to social, creators and commerce shows how discovery-led channels are reshaping the homewares customer journey — not replacing traditional buying behaviour, but enriching it through inspiration, relevance and authenticity. Pearson will explore these themes further when she takes the stage at ChannelX on 17 June at Convene, London, sharing practical insight into how marketplaces and brands can harness creators and emerging platforms to drive long-term growth.
Find out more about the event – and book tickets – here.
