Mobile eCommerce Platform Wish Reports 52% Decrease in Q3 Revenue

Mobile eCommerce platform Wish released its third quarter results on Tuesday (Nov. 7).

The company reported total revenues of $60 million, a 52% decrease from the previous year, primarily due to lower ad spend, the company said in prepared remarks on Tuesday.

Wish also noted a net loss of $80 million, compared to $124 million in the third quarter of 2022. The company said the decrease in gross profit was offset by the decline in operating expenses, resulting in a decrease in net loss in Q3 2023.

Despite the decline in revenues, Wish’s adjusted EBITDA loss improved to $54 million, surpassing the higher end of the guidance range. The company ended the quarter with $445 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities.

CEO Joe Yan said the company aims to grow by expanding its product range in the beauty and health and consumer electronics categories. The company plans to leverage generative artificial intelligence to create personalized shopping content and experiences. Wish also intends to invest in improving its search experience, enhancing video and exploration features, optimizing incentives and deals, and introducing new growth channels.

COO and CFO Vivian Liu pointed to similar projections for Q4.

“For Q4, we expect total revenue to be in the range of $50 million to $60 million and adjusted EBITDA loss to be in the range of ($65) million to ($55) million,” she said in prepared remarks. “Revenues are expected to remain under pressure primarily driven by intensified customer acquisition from both incumbent and newer competitors in eCommerce.”

The eCommerce platform also reported a decline in Q2.

In August, PYMNTS reported that Wish recorded a 42% drop in total revenue year over year in its Q2 earnings. At the time, the company pointed to stiff competition and a challenging business environment for the decline.

The platform’s poor quarter is not indicative of the rising popularity of eCommerce.

Consumers are increasingly turning to online shopping, PYMNTS has found. In the study “Tracking the Digital Payments Takeover: Catching the Coming eCommerce Wave,” a PYMNTS and Amazon Web Services (AWS) collaboration, a survey of nearly 3,000 U.S. consumers found that the share of retail spending that occurs in brick-and-mortar stores could drop, as nearly one-third of consumers expect to lean more on digital channels. 

“Mobile commerce is especially important for the retail sector, with 15% of purchases in April 2023 being completed via mobile and 12% being completed via desktop/laptop,” the study found. “Merchants could therefore have an opportunity to gain a competitive edge by providing both desktop- and mobile-optimized shopping and payment options.”