Seattle-based online retailer Zulily Inc. has laid off an undisclosed number of corporate employees, a company spokesperson on Wednesday confirmed with the Business Journal.
Zulily announced the layoffs to employees on Monday in move meant to match operating expenses with revenue, the spokesman said. The company declined to say how many employees were let go.
"We are grateful for the many contributions of the impacted team members," the spokesperson said in a statement to the Business Journal. "Impacted team members will receive support to aid in their transition, including severance payments, continuation of some benefits and outplacement assistance."
Zulily has about 1,940 employees listed on LinkedIn. The company was founded in 2009 and went public in 2013. It was acquired for $2.4 billion in 2015 by Qurate Retail Inc., then known as Liberty Interactive Corp.
Both Zulily and its parent company have taken hits to their revenues recently. In Qurate's full-year financial results, released in March, the company said it generated $12.1 billion in revenue in 2022, down from $14 billion in 2021. Zulily generated $906 million last year, down 38% from $1.45 billion in 2021.
“2022 was a challenging year for the company,” David Rawlinson, president and CEO of Qurate, said in the earnings release. “We have taken action to strengthen the balance sheet, improve execution and aggressively cut costs, including meaningfully reducing excess inventory and undergoing a structural reorganization."
Customers can use Zilily's site to shop for clothing, electronics, home goods and more. The company has long been known for its flash sales, but has recently invested more in becoming an online superstore.
"We tested different product categories and partnered with brands to start expanding selection," John Lohnas, chief merchant at Zulily, previously told the Business Journal. "We watched the data and what we saw were our moms coming to us for new products every day, wanting to build their carts more broadly, to include products that would be less about the newness on the site every day but more about a continual offering from us."
