The head coach has changed three times in one year, and the top e-commerce companies are no longer in their heyday

Wish once rejected an acquisition by Amazon, became the largest mobile e-commerce platform in North America and Europe , and was valued at over 10 billion US dollars. These were all Wish's highlights. But now, when sellers talk about Wish, they only sigh.

Changing three coaches in one year, it's hard to return to the peak

Recently, Wish issued a press release announcing that its CEO Vijay Talwar will leave the company and its board of directors, and Joe Yan, operating partner of venture capital firm GGV Capital , has been appointed interim CEO, becoming the third CEO of Wish this year .

In February this year , Wish announced that Vijay Talwar would succeed Wish founder and former CEO Piotr Szulczewski as the new CEO, responsible for leading the strategic execution of Wish's transformation plan, improving the experience of users and merchants through interesting features, technological innovation and operational excellence , and enabling Wish to regain the market .

Before joining Wish, Vijay Talwar had extensive experience in retail and e-commerce . He had been responsible for the digital and operational transformation of many multinational companies . He also increased the company's sales, profitability and market share in the omni-channel retail business he was responsible for . His abilities are unquestionable .

Since the announcement of Vijay Talwar as the new CEO, the share price of Wish's parent company Contextlogic Inc. has risen 10% in late trading , which has restored consumers and sellers' confidence in Wish .

After joining Wish, Vijay Talwar was full of energy and expressed his optimism about the future of Wish . In just a few months since he joined Wish , the company has made significant progress in its transformation , such as doubling its NPS (word of mouth) and reducing refunds after delivery . These signs have made Vijay Talwar confident that consumers will return to Wish .

In addition, Vijay Talwar also stated during his tenure that he plans to launch some new initiatives in the coming months , including launching a women's fashion category and reshaping the Wish brand.

However, just seven months after taking office, he announced his departure from Wish.

The interim successor, Joe Yan, previously worked for internationally renowned companies such as Alibaba Group Holding, Alphabet Inc. and Amazon .

The announcement said ContextLogic's board of directors has hired a headhunter to search for a permanent CEO.

In announcing the latest appointments, Wish also reiterated its third-quarter EBITDA ( earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ) guidance, which is expected to achieve an adjusted EBITDA loss in the range of US$110 million to US $130 million for the three months ending September 30, 2022 .

Wish shares fell about 1% in after-hours trading following the announcement . So far this year , Wish 's stock price has fallen more than 60%, while the S&P 500 has fallen 16.5%.

Losses are increasing and it is difficult to move forward

As one of the "Four Heavenly Kings" of cross-border e-commerce , Wish had more than 300 million global users at its peak , with more than 100 million monthly active users worldwide. Multiple rounds of financing have increased its estimated market value to tens of billions of US dollars, and it even became the most downloaded global shopping application at one point . Its strong momentum has pushed it to quickly become one of the leading cross-border e-commerce platforms .

All of this became irreversible history after Wish announced its IPO .

At the end of 2020, Wish was listed on the Nasdaq in the United States, with a market value of about US$ 14 billion at the time , making it the talk of the town . However, its stock price has been falling since then , and in just one year its market value has dropped to about one-tenth of its original value , at US$1.5 billion .

Since its listing, Wish has suffered consecutive losses.

Wish's financial report shows that after its revenue fell 20.7% in 2021 , its revenue showed a continuous downward trend for six full quarters (from Q1 2021 to Q2 2022).

In the first quarter of this year , Wish's financial report showed that its free cash flow was negative $148 million and its net loss was $60 million. The second quarter financial report pointed out that its net loss continued to increase, reaching $90 million , while cash flow improved, decreasing to negative $67 million .

At the same time, Wish's monthly active users are also facing shrinkage . Compared with the number of monthly active users exceeding 100 million in the four quarters of 2020, the number of monthly active users in 2022 has plummeted to 27 million.

In addition, Wish sellers also fled en masse and switched to platforms such as Amazon and Walmart. Some Wish sellers said that they had abandoned the "American version of Pinduoduo" and turned around to try the new platform of the real Pinduoduo - Temu .

With its high cost-effectiveness, mobile terminal, personalization , and unique positioning of integrating social and entertainment , Wish was once invincible in the cross-border e-commerce industry . But now, everything has become history.

In March this year , Wish also announced that it would withdraw from 79 countries (or regions) and focus on the remaining 61 core markets. It said that it would take time to develop the value of the 79 markets it withdrew from . It can be seen that Wish is already unable to take care of itself and only wants to stabilize the existing mature markets.

Self-help measures have been repeatedly adopted, but the seller has lost trust

Falling stock prices, declining performance, and sellers leaving ... Despite this, Wish is still working hard to reverse the downward trend.

Whether it is changing the head coach or withdrawing from some markets, it can be seen that Wish is trying to maintain its original market share. In order to save itself, Wish has been constantly using new tricks since last year.

In order to improve consumer trust and retention rate , Wish launched the "Wish Standard " program in November last year , which sets quality assurance standards through shipping experience, product quality, customer reviews and refund rate .

In order to increase product sales on the platform and retain sellers, Wish launched a new product called Wish   Clips ’ shoppable video tool follows the lead of social media platforms like Tik Tok .

In order to increase the exposure and popularity of the platform, the financial report shows that although Wish reduced certain marketing expenses to stabilize losses, it brought forward the increase in advertising spending by two months .

In addition to this, in August, Wish also launched a brand refresh that included a new logo and design, an updated app experience, and faster delivery times.

In September , Wish announced the launch of a new project - the Merchant Return Management Project , which aims to help sellers simplify operational processes. However, the project is currently only open to some sellers.

From all the above, it can be seen that Wish also realizes that the road to reconstruction is urgent and drastic measures are imminent!

Unfortunately, despite the strong determination, the reality is not as expected. The continuous losses show that Wish's self-help measures are not effective. Although Wish responded that it will take time to reform and it will take some time and patience to return to the top, sellers are no longer optimistic.

Some sellers told Yien.com that without traffic, no matter how much adjustments and reforms are made, they cannot change the rhythm of no orders.

Some sellers also said that they had given up on Wish a long time ago and would just ship as soon as there were orders. Anyway, they had already shifted their main battlefield to other platforms.

Some sellers even condemned Wish’s “robbery” behavior: hot-selling products with sales of tens of thousands+ were copied by the platform, and even the reviews were imported into Wish’s own store. It’s heartbreaking!

According to Yien.com, most sellers are not optimistic about Wish's resurgence, because Wish's core competitiveness has long been lost. The changing rules of logistics, warehousing, fines, and other issues have also made sellers powerless, complaining that it now relies on harvesting sellers for a living.

Founded in 2010 , reshaped into an e-commerce platform in 2013, and became the world's top shopping app in 2018 , Wish's road to fame was not bumpy . But since its listing in 2020, Wish has been on a downward spiral, with both sellers and buyers leaving and losses continuing. If the once-top app wants to regain its former glory, it will have a long way to go...

Wish

Change of leadership