Wish

“Make affordable products accessible to everyone”

Founded: 2010 in San Francisco, USA

Category: Online marketplace

Primary office: San Francisco, CA (USA)

Core technical team: San Francisco, USA

Status: Private

Employees: 1715

Amount raised: $1.6 billion (9 rounds – August 2019)

OVERVIEW

Cross-border online marketplace that connects manufacturers and sellers of a wide variety of products directly to customers at highly affordable pricing
Digital shopping mall with products serving a large number of low-income earners and bargain-hunters from a wide socio-economic background.
Employs intense personalization/targeted ads such as limited-time offerings and discounts to influence customer’s behavior to buy

PERFORMANCE METRICS

ACHIEVEMENTS

Online and Mobile Apps (iOS and Android)
Use of low-cost postal agreements between China Post and the United States Post Office) – most products on Wish come from China
Partnership with local brick and mortar store for easy delivery/pick-up service – WishLocal
Direct suppliers-to-customers

Founder-led Management team
CEO/Co-Founder, Peter Szulczewski – former Google Engineer – with expertise in Search Optimization and advertising algorithms
Big data Analytics and Machine learning
Scalable e-commerce platform
Identified market for cheap, unbranded goods

Assets

Sophisticated ad algorithm, search optimization and personalization technology
Large network of global direct suppliers (mostly Chinese)
Global business operation with offices in USA, Canada, Europe (Netherlands) & China
E-commerce platform available in 13 languages

Processes

User-friendly omni-channel platform for easy click and buy
Intensely leverages social media feeds and Influencer marketing (e.g. NBA Lakers team) for wider reach adverts and to drive traffic to the application or site
Drives Customer reviews and feedbacks for purchase recommendation/assurance
Responding to quality control issues, hired new executive who organized approximately 10,000 Wish users to weed out shady merchants (providing such users with free goods and discounts)
Tracks every interaction
Culls 8 million products over a week – or 3% of all products on the site
Fines/penalties for suppliers of counterfeit products or other unethical behaviors; good behavior is rewarded

Priorities

Develop and sell products that address a problem, job to be done or a need that is shared by a large and growing number of individuals and organizations in various regions to increase sales.
Sell online using a variety of online and offline promotional channels to increase the number of new customers and the retention rate of existing customer
Increase value by arranging and directing a community comprised of groups that are external and internal to the company and connect everything needed to scale
Increase market share by applying digital technology to brand, market, sell, and service customers more cost-effectively than competitors
Increase the company’s value by continuously seeking and receiving funding to support the company’s plan to scale and improve its image in the marketplace
Continuously improve the user interfaces and applications that directly influence the entirety of the customer experience including personalized content, quality messaging, and the delivery and returns process to increase sales