Founded in San Francisco in 2011, Wish only launched its mobile shopping app in 2013. Yet it quickly became popular among middle-class consumers in America and abroad, creating a huge e-commerce platform where small shops could sell all kinds of low-priced goods directly to consumers.
Founded by former Google employee Peter Szulczewski, Wish's business model delivers goods directly from Chinese manufacturers to American consumers. Consequently, Wish products are often surprisingly cheap: sunglasses and watches for USD 1, children's toys for USD 2, sweaters for USD 8…
Many items are even labeled ‘free,’ with only shipping charged. Wish receives 15% of each order’s transaction value.
Of course, buying on Wish has the disadvantage that buyers must wait 2–4 weeks for goods sent from China. Nevertheless, consumers still seem to prioritize low prices above all. Wish claims to have 300 million users.
According to Sensor Tower, Wish's regular user base grew by 50% in the first half of 2017 compared with the same period the previous year. Szulczewski claims Wish's revenue has exceeded 1 billion USD and says it succeeds by serving the right customer group: low-income Americans who cannot afford to shop on Amazon.
This startup is currently raising a new round at a valuation of USD 8.5 billion. Wish has raised more than USD 1 billion in total so far.
Wish is also one of the few young e-commerce companies closely watched by Amazon, Alibaba, and Walmart alike. Reports once suggested that Amazon had offered to acquire Wish for USD 10 billion in cash.
Successful fundraising allows Wish to spend heavily on advertising even though the company remains unprofitable, according to Pitchbook. As early as 2015, Wish said it invested USD 100 million annually in Facebook advertising.
According to Sensor Tower, Wish ranked second in advertising spending on Facebook in quarter II/2017. Wish also ranked 4th in advertising spending on Pinterest and 6th on Google.
Recently, after the US NBA allowed sponsor logos on jerseys, Wish was one of the first companies to volunteer, signing a Los Angeles Lakers sponsorship deal worth USD 12–14 million a year. The contract's total value is around USD 30 million.
