[ad_1]
Just two years ago, online novelty retailer Wish was a darling of the ecommerce category.
The online dollar store brand had passed $1 billion in revenue in 2020, hitting unicorn status. It went public at $24 per share and seemed to be reaching a higher stratosphere in the business world thanks to the low cost items available on its marketplace.
But the IPO turned out to be the brand’s inflection point—shares are not worth just 69 cents.
In the ContextLogic-operated platform’s most recent quarterly earnings, the company saw revenues of $134 million, a decrease of 80% YoY. Core marketplace revenues were $54 million, down 86% YoY. According to Business of Apps, Wish’s monthly active users have fallen from 90 million in 2021 to 27 million this year.
Behind Wish’s fall from grace was its failure in two key categories: poor product standards and an unpredictable shipping model. Many consumers complained about item quality; on top of that, products often arrived extremely late compared to its expected time of delivery.
Now, the brand is looking to rebuild its relationship with consumers amid a rebrand with a new logo and an updated app. “There have been a lot of changes on the product side, and we’ve improved the consumer experience a lot,” Wish chief product and customer officer Tarun Jain told Adweek.
Coaxing the genie out of the bottle
To improve its customer experience, Wish has worked to address both delivery timing and product quality. Jain said the brand has worked on its logistics supply chain and accurately disclosing when products will arrive at the point of purchase. The brand’s on-time rate is now north of 95%. Wish did not provide Adweek with any figures about what its on-time rate was the year prior.
Wish has also addressed the quality of products sold on its platform. It implemented the Wish Standards program, an initiative that offers incentives for quality sellers. Merchants selling on the site can be featured on the app, earn commission discounts and faster payment terms if they have positive customer reviews and deliver items on time.
The brand has released two ads over the past few months. “Get Lost in the Shop” sees a potential consumer scrolling through Wish’s platform on her phone. She is magically transported to a metaverse-like world where she tries on different outfits and discovers some of the items at the shop.
Another ad, “Get Ready for Real Smiles,” is a slightly creepy clip of a consumer struggling to smile because he’s unhappy with gifts he’s received. A Wish portal delivers a bagpipe that finally puts an authentic smile on his face.
Jain said the brand was going for fun and wacky with its recent ads. Wish senior creative director Martín Rossetti said much of Wish’s previous ad work has been very product- and price-driven, and the ad’s theme was a way for the brand to showcase some more personality while centering its app.
Both ads lean on the brand’s focus on discovery within its platform. Earlier this year, Wish launched Wish Clips, a shoppable feature that allows merchants to create short videos to demonstrate how products look or are used.
Jain said users on Wish prefer discovery over search. According to data Wish shared with Adweek, more than 70% of the sales on its platform do not involve a search query and instead come from personalized browsing.
Despite the bells and whistles, Wish is still focused on discounting.
“We are a platform that values products at lower prices,” Jain said. “With everything going on in the macro economy, we have a good moment right now to reach out to our customers and offer them the products that they want to buy at much better value prices.”
On shaky ground
Despite the increased advertising, Wish still has a battle to stand out in a declining ecommerce market.
Its internal problems are a challenge, but there are also external factors at hand. According to Salesforce’s Shopping Index, digital sales experienced a 3% decline YoY in June, a first in the tracker’s nine-year history.
“The cost of doing digital commerce business increased in recent times, and coupled with shifting consumer behaviors, it has impacted many digital commerce brands’ growth aspirations, including those of Wish,” senior director analyst at Gartner Ant Duffin said.
“Operational costs of digital commerce continue to grow for brands in terms of talent, marketing and last-mile fulfillment, all of which is impacting operating margins. Furthermore, consumers are feeling the effects of inflation, which is impacting nonessential spending that will impact topline revenue.”
Senior leadership is also a concern. Wish CEO Vijay Talwar left after just seven months on the job in August. Joe Yan, operating partner at venture capital firm GGV Capital, has taken over as interim CEO since then.
Talwar was brought in to succeed Wish founder Piotr Szulczewski in January. He was to lead the company’s revamp of all of its products, and the fact that he departed the role mid-rebrand has to be a concern for the future of the ecommerce outfit.
Despite the brand refresh and recent marketing efforts, Wish’s turnaround can only happen if the brand continues to improve the consumer experience and the items users receive.
“The worst thing you can do is great marketing for a bad product,” Jain said. “A big focus for us was our product has to live up to the expectations of what we are promising.”
[ad_2]
Source link
