Meet the marketplace: Wish

A ‘Wish’ is a hope or desire for something and that’s the aim of the Wish marketplace, to offer consumers a carefully curated range of products carefully selected to match their profile, preferences and previous buying activity. This makes Wish very different from other marketplaces as instead of searching for a particular product the aim is to inspire consumers with things they didn’t even know they wanted.

For sellers this offers a unique opportunity as your products will be put in front of buyers most likely to be interested in purchasing. We spoke to Sarah Hughes, Head of Business Development Europe at Wish, to find out more about proposition for sellers:

Who are Wish?

The Wish marketplace was founded by Google engineer Peter Sculczewski and Yahoo! engineer Danny Zhang in 2011.

Wish is a 100% mobile shopping experience that has quickly grown to become the #1 mobile ecommerce marketplace in North America and Europe. Benefiting from mobile commerce growth rates that are 3x those seen in regular ecommerce, Wish is perfectly positioned to continue its amazing growth.

What do we do?

With a uniquely mobile optimized marketplace, Wish uses advanced personalization methods to curate product ranges for each individual consumer on their smartphones or tablets.

Shopping on Wish is not so much about searching for an exact product, as it is about being inspired by a range of products that have been meticulously selected accordingly to your individual profile, preferences, geography and your history on the app.

How many buyers do you have?

Wish already has over 20 million customers living in the UK and offers easy access to a total of over 100 million customers across Europe, and a total of over 200 million customers in over 70 different countries globally.

Because of the unique Wish interface, we have thrived off of millennials making impulse purchases. Half our customers are under the age of 30 which represents a very different demographic to other marketplaces. We also have a very strong female bias – however in general our demographic is rapidly broadening in line with smartphone adoption rates.

What type of sellers are Wish looking for

Wish currently promotes the products of over 100,000 sellers, but less than 2% of these sellers are based in Europe. This represents a significant opportunity for sellers in the UK and EU.

By listing items that are good quality and can be fulfilled quickly, European sellers will have an immediate advantage over their global counterparts. By listing items that are currently missing from the European assortment, sellers will have a first mover advantage on unexploited business opportunities.

What type of products will work well on Wish today?

Many sellers make the mistake of thinking Wish is only about selling fast-fashion to millennials! Our UK shoppers are actually very diverse and buy across a wide range of categories. In the US our most successful sellers generate millions in annual revenue from categories that include homewares, refurbished technology and outdoor equipment.

Major Opportunities

Personal Care, Toys & Games, Home & Garden, Value Electrical, Adult, Fragrance and more…

Not Opportunities Today

Luxury Brands, Highly Specific Products (e.g. BMV car parts), Digital Services.

What can a seller expect from selling on Wish

The barrier to entry is low as Wish has no registration, monthly, listing, or any other fees. We require no term commitment. Wish works on a very simple revenue share of 15%, so we only make money when our sellers make money.

Wish have recently opened a European Head Office based in Amsterdam with the purpose of identifying and assisting European merchants.

How do I sign up?

If you have any questions, or would like to be supported throughout the onboarding process by the European team, please email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.

Our standard merchant sign-up URL is www.merchant.wish.com