Meet Maurice Edwards
Meet Maurice Edwards
EVP of Omnichannel Development | Katapult
On how retailers can close the conversion gap by integrating lease-to-own across the omnichannel journey
About Moe Edwards
Maurice “Moe” Edwards brings over three decades of experience spanning Top 100 furniture and mattress retail, store operations, consumer finance, and omnichannel strategy. His career has taken him to every corner of the retail world — from managing an end-to-end retail ecosystem, to overseeing risk management on a global scale, to structuring a company’s finance program, to running field operations for a national retailer. Moe has seen it all. He has successfully navigated these experiences by partnering closely with merchant and marketing teams to create winning strategies that deliver results in a complex retail environment.
Moe’s perspective is distinct. He has sat beside merchants to figure out how to optimize product assortments; logistics teams to solve last-mile delivery challenges; finance leaders who were worried about managing credit risk and lease portfolio performance; and marketing teams focused on converting intent into action. These experiences have allowed him to build a deep understanding of how every function in a retail organization is connected. That full-picture view of how a retail business operates — not in theory, but on a busy Saturday afternoon when every department is under pressure — shapes his approach to growth, problem-solving, and the consumer experience.
Having worked alongside some of the industry’s largest furniture and mattress retailers, Moe has seen firsthand how disconnected customer journeys, operational friction, and limited payment flexibility can impact conversion and long-term growth.
Moe joined Katapult as EVP of Omnichannel Development after decades of navigating this retail ecosystem. Having spent years observing merchants struggle to convert customers because they didn’t have payment options that worked for them, Moe was confident that LTO could unlock meaningful growth for many merchants in the US. Beyond this value add for merchants and consumers, Moe was also impressed with how Katapult delivers its leading-edge products: with a focus on transparency and strong customer service.
Q&A: Bringing a Retailer-First, Consumer-Centered Lens to Furniture Omnichannel
Q: You have spent decades in furniture and mattress retail. What is the biggest shift you are seeing right now?
Consumers no longer think in channels — but the retailers serving them often still do. And in today’s environment of tighter budgets and lower discretionary spending, the stakes of that disconnect have never been higher.
“Consumers no longer think in channels — but the retailers serving them often still do.”
Furniture and mattress retailers continue navigating a complex operating environment shaped by inflation, elevated interest rates, housing softness, and shifting consumer spending behavior. Industry reporting from sources including CNBC, NRF, Furniture Today and broader investment and retail analyst commentary reflects a category still working through uneven demand patterns and changing consumer expectations.
The families we serve are navigating one of the most challenging discretionary spending environments in recent history. Inflation, elevated interest rates, and broader economic uncertainty are forcing consumers to delay even essential big-ticket purchases like furniture and mattresses. The need for durable goods has not gone away, but the ability to pay has become more constrained. That gap between intent and affordability is where retailers are losing sales.
“The need for durable goods has not gone away, but the ability to pay has become more constrained. That gap between intent and affordability is where retailers are losing sales.”
That is where the disconnect becomes a major challenge for retailers, especially in furniture and mattress, where the purchase journey is usually longer and multichannel. ECommerce, store associates, financing partners, logistics, marketing, and merchandising – each of these teams are working hard but often in silos. The consumer, meanwhile, is moving fluidly across each of those touchpoints, expecting a seamless, coherent experience. When something breaks down — pricing clarity, payment options, etc., the handoff from online research to in-store purchase — you lose them. In a category where fewer purchases are being made and decisions take longer, losing a willing buyer is not a traffic problem, it is a conversion failure that the industry can no longer afford.
“In a category where fewer purchases are being made and decisions take longer, losing a willing buyer is not a traffic problem, it is a conversion failure.”
Q: Where do you see the biggest gaps in today’s omnichannel experience?
If I had to point to one gap that is costing retailers the most, it is how alternative payment options — and specifically lease-to-own — are positioned across the shopping journey.
For too long, LTO has been treated as a last resort. A fallback. Something you offer after a customer has already hit a wall — a credit decline, a price barrier, a moment of hesitation. By that point, the sale is already in jeopardy. You are trying to rescue a transaction rather than enable one.
“For too long, LTO has been treated as a last resort. A fallback.”
But think about who that LTO customer actually is. They are not a marginal buyer. They are often a working family making a considered decision to invest in their home. They are willing to pay over time because they are managing their finances responsibly within the realities of their budget. That customer represents an enormous segment of the furniture and mattress market — one that has been underserved precisely because retailers have not made it easy enough for them to say yes.
The gap I see is not just in payment options – it is in how the entire ecosystem connects. Logistics and and the warehouse set the delivery promise. Merchandising determines what is available and at what price point. Marketing drives traffic and expectations. Operations and associates execute at the moment of truth. And financing — including LTO — can be the critical element that converts intent into a transaction. When those pieces are not aligned, the customer falls through the cracks. And in today’s market, we can no longer afford to lose the customers who are already walking through the door.
“You are trying to rescue a transaction rather than enable one.”
What I have seen work is when LTO is integrated early, consistently, and transparently across every channel — online, in-store, and even as a follow-up after a decline through tools like the Katapult app. When it is positioned as an empowering option rather than an emergency one, everything changes.
“When LTO is positioned as an empowering option rather than an emergency one, everything changes.”
Q: You have led teams across operations, financing, and risk. How does that full-spectrum experience shape your approach today?
It gives you a systems-level view that you cannot get from a single seat.
When you have managed warehouse operations, you understand how inventory availability and fulfillment speed directly affect a customer’s confidence in making a purchase. When you have worked in consumer finance, you understand how a single friction point in the application process can cost a retailer a sale they never even knew they lost. When you have run store operations, you understand how a Saturday afternoon with a full floor and three associates juggling six customers each is a completely different reality than what looks like a clean and seamless operation in a strategy deck.
Retailers operate a complex, interdependent ecosystem. Logistics, warehousing, operations, marketing, merchandising, and sales all have to work in concert for the consumer experience to feel effortless. When one link breaks — a delivery delay, a financing option that is hard to explain, a price that doesn’t match what the customer saw online — the whole experience fractures.
“I don’t look at growth as simply the output of demand generation, but rather as opportunities created when we remove friction from the entire system.”
I don’t look at growth as simply the output of demand generation, but rather as opportunities created when we remove friction from the entire system. The retailers that win in this environment are those that make it easier for both the customer and the associate to say yes — quickly, confidently, and with clarity.
“The retailers that win in this environment are those that make it easier for both the customer and the associate to say yes.”
Q: What does a retailer-first mindset actually look like in practice when the consumer is at the center?
It might sound like a contradiction, but it is not. A truly retailer-first mindset is consumer-first by definition because only retailers who obsessively focus on the customer experience will thrive long-term.
In practice, it starts with understanding how the store truly operates — not theoretically, but in the real world. On a busy weekend, when the floor is full, associates are managing multiple conversations simultaneously, and a customer is standing in front of a sectional trying to figure out if they can make it work financially — what happens in that moment determines whether a sale closes or walks out the door.
A retailer-first, consumer-centered approach means that every tool, every financing option, every piece of marketing, and every operational process is built around making that moment as seamless as possible. It means an associate can confidently offer a lease-to-own option without a complicated explanation. It means the customer sees the same messaging in-store that they saw online. It means the path from ‘I want this’ to ‘I can have this’ is short, clear, and dignified.
For the consumers Katapult serves — families navigating real financial realities — clarity and transparency are not just nice to have. They are the difference between a purchase that improves their lives and a missed opportunity. Our LTO product is designed to meet the consumer where they are, with options they can actually use and terms they can actually understand.
Q: What made you want to join Katapult?
I joined Katapult because I saw an opportunity to rethink how lease-to-own fits into the fundamental retail experience— and because the timing has never been more important.
The consumers who rely on LTO are the same families most affected by the challenges of the current economic environment. Inflation has compressed their discretionary budgets. Rising rates have made traditional credit harder to access. Yet their needs have not gone away. A family still needs a bed. A couch. A dining table. A set of tires. A refrigerator. The desire is there. The question is whether the path to purchase is accessible.
What stood out to me about Katapult is its commitment to making that experience transparent, seamless, and consumer-centered. Dignified. Not a financing product bolted onto the side of a retail transaction, but an integrated capability that travels with the customer across channels — online, in-store, and beyond the first purchase through the Katapult app, where customers can access their lease limit for additional essential purchases.
That kind of persistent, consumer-friendly relationship is exactly what the market is missing right now. And it is exactly what our retail partners need to convert more of the customers they are already reaching but not yet closing.
Q: What excites you most about the furniture and mattress space right now?
Honestly? The fact that it is a category ready for a real rethink — and that the pressure of the current market is forcing that conversation.
Furniture and mattress retail is still evolving its end-to-end customer journey compared to many digitally mature retail categories. But consumer expectations have only grown. People expect flexibility in how they pay, clarity in what they are agreeing to, and consistency, whether they discover a product on their phone at midnight or walk into a showroom on a Sunday afternoon.
The retailers who figure out how to deliver that — who align their logistics, merchandising, marketing, operations, and financing around a coherent consumer experience — will emerge from this challenging period with a significant competitive advantage. The environment remains challenging, but it is also creating opportunities for retailers and partners willing to do things differently.
Katapult is positioned to be a meaningful part of that transformation. Not just as a payment option, but as a strategic partner helping retailers serve consumers they might otherwise lose.
Q: Final question — what should retailers be focused on right now?
Take an honest look at where your customers are dropping off — and resist the urge to make it only a traffic problem.
Most retailers have more high-intent consumers than they realize. Traffic is showing up. People are researching online, visiting stores, and adding items to their carts. What is breaking down is conversion. There is a moment where interest becomes hesitation, and hesitation becomes abandonment, and this is where we can have a lot of influence.
In most cases, that hesitation is not about wanting. It is about friction. Pricing that does not match across channels. Financing options that are hard to find and even harder to explain. A follow-on experience that is disconnected from where the customer left off. Delivery timelines that feel uncertain. These are solvable problems — but only if you look at the full ecosystem: logistics, warehousing, operations, marketing, merchandising, and, finally, the sales experience itself.
The retailers who will win in this environment are not necessarily only those with the most traffic or the biggest marketing budgets. Retailers will also win when they make it easier for a willing consumer to complete the journey — with transparency, with flexibility in how they pay, and with the confidence that they are being served and not sold.
That is the opportunity. And for retailers willing to lean into it, the potential is substantial.
If your business is evaluating where alternative payment options fit into your broader omnichannel strategy, we can help you identify where they have the greatest impact. Get in touch today.
