Temu Is ‘Shopping Like a Billionaire’ for Ads. What Could Go Wrong?
A lot. The recent relatively cheap sale of Wish, which also spared no expense when it came to marketing, proves it.
A high marketing budget can't save online bargain retailers long term.
Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/ AFP via Getty Images
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The business of selling cheap odds and ends online might prove to be just as short-lived as a polyester sweater from a fast fashion company.
After years of decline, ContextLogic Inc. announced this week that it sold the buzzworthy discount marketplace Wish to Qoo10 Pte. Ltd., an e-commerce platform serving Asia. Wish was let go for $173 million in cash — just a fraction of thefully diluted valuation of $14 billion it reached at the end of its first day as a publicly traded company in December 2020.