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Williams-Sonoma (WSM) Adds Services to Business to Business

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Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (WSM - Free Report) introduced new corporate gifting and custom merchandise services to its Business to Business offerings.

Customers can shop from Williams-Sonoma’s entire range for any customized gifting/branded merchandise needs. The respective experts will guide customers through the order process and assist with the delivery and fulfillment experience. The company’s in-house design capabilities will help customers to work with product design teams on tailored solutions to create unique and memorable gifts.

Senior vice president of Business to Business, WSM, Josie Driscoll, stated, “Having a dedicated team to help our customers create memorable gifts and custom merchandise is an exciting expansion of the services we provide to our existing customer base and also opens up an opportunity to engage with new business customers. We look forward to collaborating with event planners on custom party favors, human resource teams on designing awards and incentive programs and creating custom merchandise for both large corporations and small businesses.”

Williams-Sonoma’s shares increased 3.57% on Sep 28, post news release.

Product Innovation, Marketing & Digitalization Bode Well

Williams-Sonoma is a highly customer-centric company and focuses on enhancing customer experience through technological innovation as well as operational improvement. Also, technological and new product innovation helps it enhance customer engagement. Its new offerings will enhance its portfolio of brands that offers endless options to create memorable gifting experiences.

The company’s initiatives in e-commerce and real estate optimization strategies have been driving its channel mix shift. It has also been reworking the marketing strategy, emphasizing on digital targeted marketing and investing in store remodeling. Its newest division, Williams-Sonoma Inc. Business-to-Business, made significant progress.

Its B2B business had a solid quarter, driving a 32% increase in demand in the fiscal second quarter and staying on track to become a $1-billion operation in fiscal 2022. WSM continues to grow in this space by focusing on diversifying its product pipeline across a range of industry verticals. To drive the B2B growth, it remains focused on the continued development of the sales team and expansion of contract-grade product assortment.

Zacks Investment Research
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In the past three months, shares of WSM have gained 11.8%, outperforming the Zacks Retail - Home Furnishings industry’s 6.5% rally. The price performance was backed by a solid earnings surprise history, having surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in 24 of the trailing 26 quarters and met the estimates on other two occasions. Earnings estimates for fiscal 2022 have moved 3% upward over the past 60 days.

Williams-Sonoma has been benefiting from the intense focus on the e-commerce platform along with marketing and digitalization moves. Product innovation, the transformation of the retail fleet and a solid liquidity position are helping this multi-channel specialty retailer to increase its investors’ value.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Currently, WSM carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Some better-ranked stocks in the Zacks Retail-Wholesale sector are Tecnoglass Inc. (TGLS - Free Report) , Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (CBRL - Free Report) and Wingstop Inc. (WING - Free Report) .

Tecnoglass currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 24.4%, on average. Shares of the company have increased 20.7% in the past three months.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for TGLS’s 2022 sales and earnings per share (EPS) suggests growth of 28.2% and 47.7%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s levels.

Cracker Barrel currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). It has a long-term earnings growth of 6.9%. Shares of the company have gained 14.1% in the past three months.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CBRL’s 2022 sales and EPS suggests growth of 16.3% and 15.4%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s levels.

Wingstop carries a Zacks Rank #2. It has a long-term earnings growth of 12%. Shares of the company have risen 73.2% in the past three months.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for WING’s 2022 sales and EPS suggests growth of 24.5% and 16.3%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s levels.

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