ituated next to a florist and a taekwondo studio in a strip mall on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon, Jullienne Adams’ discount store feels like a brick-n-mortar infomercial. A panda shower cap — just $1.25! A comb that turns into a knife — now only $7.68! A “YOLO” pool float — a steal at $13.45!
“It allows us to have 36,000 warehouses in really close proximity to our core consumers and it helps these stores get traffic,” saysOnce homeless, Jullienne Adams and her shop have partnered with Wish:"They could have chosen to go with Kohl's or Rite Aid like Amazon. But to work with us mom and pop stores is incredible.
From the start, Szulczewski has catered to those who were in the bottom 25% of U.S. households by income, scraping by on $31,000 or less a year. They often had their credit cards declined right before payday. “We looked at a set of consumers that everyone was overlooking,” says Szulczewski. “This is ultimately what allowed Wish to exist in a way,” says Juozas Kaziukenas, founder of ecommerce research firm Marketplace Pulse.
But long term warehouses are too costly if it wants to remain a place for insane bargains. Which is how it first came up with the idea of partnering with small business owners. “Instead of building dozens or hundreds of large, expensive warehouses like Amazon ... we said look at all of these stores that are hurting and are looking for additional sources of revenue and foot traffic,” says Szulczewski.
Wish isn't good product