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Although the company says it has more than 300 million users, you've probably never heard of Wish. But now that you have, you're going to be impressed.
According to this report in Forbes, the seven-year-old start-up just closed a $250 million financing deal that places its value at $8.5 billion. That's higher than the valuations of Sears, Macy's and JC Penney's combined. Oh, and its value doubled in just the past six months.
What is so special about Wish? As an ecommerce platform with a Pinterest-like experience, it's certainly fun to browse for products. But more importantly Wish is cheap. How cheap? How about a $1 wristwatch or an $8 sweater? Or better yet, how about paying just the shipping costs-and almost nothing more-for a necklace, a plastic toy or lipstick? All of this is yours if you don't mind waiting two-to-four weeks.
The low prices are due to where the products are coming from: direct from Chinese manufacturers with no middleman. The wait doesn't seem to be a problem for the company's enormous customer base - which is primarily female.
Shoppers looking for bargains have driven Wish's 50 percent annual growth since the first half of 2017.
The company, which has raised $1.25 billion since its founding in 2010, is tapping into a population of customers that founder and former Google engineer Peter Szulczewski calls "the invisible half" of America. These are people who he believes struggle to afford goods on Amazon and other retailers and are therefore drawn to Wish.
Szulczewski relies heavily on social media marketing to build his company's brand, spending about $100 million a year on Facebook alone, as well as being a top-10 app advertiser on both Google and Pinterest.
Despite its value, Wish is not yet profitable. But its revenues are reportedly in the single digit billions, and according to its website the company predicts itself to soon be "the sixth largest ecommerce company in the world and we're shooting for #1."