Becoming a Wish merchant: how to sell products on the global marketplace
The idea of going global can be daunting for many small-to-mid-sized eCommerce retailers.
After all, there are tons of factors that go into building an international eCommerce strategy for your business beyond just translating your online store into several languages. There’s the matter of different currencies, different regulations, tariffs, and more.
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And yet, there is one marketplace making sellers’ dreams come true: Wish. Home to more than 100 million monthly active users, the Wish Marketplace now gives Wix eCommerce merchants direct access to a global audience.
Keep reading for tips on how to get started on Wish. Learn how to sell your products internationally and thrive on the marketplace.
Table of contents
What is Wish?
Wish is an online selling site launched with a simple mission—to bring an affordable and entertaining mobile shopping experience to billions of consumers around the world. It flaunts data science capabilities; a personalized shopping experience; a comprehensive suite of merchant services; and a massive scale of users, merchants, and products.
Through the Wish app, users receive a highly personalized feed of products straight to their phones. Hundreds of thousands of merchants across the world populate the marketplace, selling everything from smartwatches to sectional sofas.
All of this merchandise is further offered at value-driven prices, making Wish one of the best places to shop inexpensively online.
Who should sell on Wish?
While big brands can be found on Wish, the platform has a special appeal to small-to-mid-sized sellers. The top reason: it’s the go-to place for value-conscious shoppers.
With recent initiatives like the Wish Standards program, Wish richly rewards merchants who are reliable and offer high-quality products. Meanwhile, low performers, counterfeiters, and other violators are swiftly removed, ensuring a healthier ecosystem for both merchants and customers.
To sell on Wish, you must be one of the following:
Manufacturer
Brand owner
Retailer
Crafter
Creator
Artist
You are not allowed to sell intangible services on the platform. However, if you offer custom orders for a physical product, you may feature that on your listings. View all Wish merchant criteria and prohibited items.
The benefits of selling on Wish
At a high level, Wish offers the potential to source new customers and gain more sales at a relatively low cost. More specifically, you can benefit from:
Wish’s popularity—especially on mobile. Wish is a welcome addition to many small and medium-sized (SMB) mobile commerce strategies, flaunting over 100 million monthly active users and a prowess in mobile design. Over 90% of user activity and purchases occur on Wish’s mobile app.
Global reach. Thanks to a significant customer base in Europe, Asia, and Australia, more than half of Wish orders are shipped to customers outside the U.S. As a Wish seller, you can reach more than 60 countries.
Lower costs. Unlike other marketplace platforms that charge monthly usage fees, Wish only charges you when you make a sale. The typical commission fee amounts to 15% of your total order cost (including the cost of shipping). However, if you sign up to Wish through Wix eCommerce, you can enjoy a reduced commission fee of 5% for 90 days.
Built-in personalization. Wish prides itself on the fact that no two user feeds are the same. With a highly intelligent vehicle for surfacing product recommendations, Wish can show more than 500 distinct products per active user every day. The company further notes that 70% of sales do not involve a search query.
Circular selling. Consumers are increasingly prioritizing sustainability, and interest in buying resale goods is at an all-time high—a practice that Wish supports by allowing refurbished brand-name products to be sold on the platform.
How to sell on Wish with Wix
Wix is an official partner of Wish, which means that getting started is fast and convenient for Wix merchants. Here are step-by-step instructions to get you started.
01. Register for Wish through Wix
Wish is available as a sales channel (read: direct integration) via your Wix Stores account. Simply log into Wix and click on “Channels” on the left-side menu of your dashboard. You’ll see Wish listed as an option.
From here, you can either connect an existing Wish account to Wix or register for a new one. Note: applications for a new Wish account will be expedited and gain faster approval than the average application, thanks to our partnership with Wish. You will also be eligible for a reduced commission fee (5% versus 15%, as mentioned earlier) for 90 days from the day your account is opened.
During the signup process, Wish will ask for documents and information to validate your store. This will include things like your business license, tax documents, and contact information.
02. Set your shipping settings
Next, select which countries you want to serve and provide the necessary fulfillment details. You can set your default shipping settings directly from Wix under the Wish tab of your dashboard.
Define your shipping price, maximum number of delivery days, and (if desired) any shipping rules per destination. Shipping rules enable you to offer flat-rate shipping, free shipping, or other special rates for certain regions—these can be updated any time.
Did you know: Wish is a marketplace facilitator, which is a fancy way of saying that they’re responsible for collecting state sales tax on your behalf whenever you make a sale on Wish. This applies to orders to the U.S., E.U., and several other countries. State sales tax or VAT will be added to your buyer’s total purchase cost at checkout.
03. Set your Wish tags
Wish tags are terms that describe your product and are instrumental in helping Wish show your products at the right time. You can add up to five tags during this setup stage. At this point, you want to select the five terms that apply to as many of your products as possible, like “women’s fashion” or “casual.”
These will be applied to all of your new products at setup. However, you can always edit these tags on a product-by-product basis afterwards, plus add up to 10 tags per product.
04. Create an eye-catching feed
You’re almost ready to make your first sale on Wish—but you’ll want to make sure that your listings are in good shape to attract those sales. Take a look at your catalog and identify listings that could be customized for Wish.
In an ideal world, all of your listings would be custom to Wish in order to better connect with Wish shoppers and maximize your chances of ranking. However, if you’re working with a massive catalog or are limited in time, it’s best to start with your most strategic listings.
In Wix, select your product and click “Edit for Wish” next to any field you’d like to change. Customize anything from your images to your product description. To boost your chances of ranking, add Wish-specific values like your MSRP, product condition, and GTIN.
Beyond this, take some time to consider Wish’s mobile-first experience. What can you do to spruce up your listings and to keep buyers engaged? Additional images, sizing charts, easy-to-digest product descriptions could make all the difference.
Once your listings are ready, select which ones to officially publish on the marketplace. Wish requires a few days to review and approve your listings, but once they give the green light, your listings will be live on Wish.
05. Pay to promote key products
If you want to highlight top sellers or popular items, consider tapping into Wish’s paid advertising programs. You can choose between Discount promotions, which span days, or Flash Sales, which run for a limited amount of hours.
Each of these ad types helps to draw more attention to your products and create a sense of urgency among your buyers. Ads are also a great way to build momentum for your products i.e., by putting budget behind a few products, you could land your first sales and collect product reviews more quickly.
06. Track results
Wix, of course, allows you to track and manage all of your orders from Wish. You can additionally see which of your products are currently published (or, conversely, unpublished) on the marketplace. So, without ever leaving the platform, you can see how Wish is impacting your total sales.
For metrics around your store health, we encourage you to visit your Wish merchant dashboard, where you can find other store metrics, monitor compliance with marketplace policies, and more.
5 tips for selling on the Wish marketplace
While there are plenty of benefits to including Wish in your multichannel selling strategy, success on the platform requires careful planning. Consider these five tips as you get your start.
01. Offer the right price
Wish shoppers expect fun, inexpensive finds on the app, so it’s essential to offer your items at a competitive price. You’ll therefore want to carefully study the prices of other products in your category prior to finalizing your prices.
If your products tend to sell at a higher price than what you see on Wish, consider offering sample-sized versions of your item or quality refurbished goods. You can also reserve overstock or slow-moving inventory for Wish.
02. Think mobile-first when building your listings
With a vast majority of Wish purchases coming from mobile devices, it’s crucial that your product images, descriptions, and overall product page are mobile-friendly. Check that your images are clear and easy to read on smaller screens. Keep your product names short and concise. Make sure that your product descriptions are digestible.
On Wish, you have the option to upload videos of your products as a Wish Clip, a newly minted feature for shoppable videos. Instead of a static image of the product, shoppers are served a fun, immersive video that sets a new bar for the type of entertaining content that customers prefer. This feature is currently available to Android users in nine countries and is rolling out to iOS users throughout Q2 2022.
03. Combine your variations into one listing
Unlike on your website—where showing variations as separate listings can be beneficial—on marketplaces, you’ll want to make it easy for buyers to discover all the different sizes, colors, and patterns of your product in one place. The Wish Marketplace is full of other sellers, so you’ll want to avoid forcing your buyers to look elsewhere for other variations of your product. Not to mention, combining your variations into one listing keeps your product reviews together, allowing you to boost rankings more quickly.
04. Ship strategically to boost Wish seller status
In exchange for its low-priced items, Wish tends to ship more slowly than other marketplaces—with some orders taking weeks to arrive. But if you can deliver items within five business days, you’ll earn “Wish Express” status, which gives you priority feed placement. To earn this honor, you’ll need to provide a tracking number and offer confirmed delivery within five days, which may drive up shipping costs.
05. Aim for Preferred Seller status
Increase your visibility and sales by earning the distinguishing “Premier Merchant” status. This status is offered through the Wish Standards Program and is rewarded to merchants who:
Maintain high product quality
Earn positive user feedback ratings
Ship orders quickly and on time
Consistently provide valid tracking information
Comply with Wish policies
Once you reach a certain order minimum, you're automatically enrolled in Wish Standards and can start earning benefits, such as more prominent placement on the Wish product feed.
Every few weeks, Wish will evaluate your performance based on the qualities mentioned above. Excellence in these areas will put you one step closer to becoming a top-tier merchant.
To clinch the Preferred status, pay special attention to these performance metrics. Make sure that you’re prepared to handle incoming questions and customer service requests. Respond to any of these inquiries quickly and fully.
Sell around the world with Wix and Wish
For many merchants, Wish.com is a gateway to the world. With a cutting-edge mobile app and an established buyer base across the globe, Wish has the power to exponentially grow your reach.
Easily connect your store to Wish and other marketplaces when you create an online store with Wix. Avoid duplicate work and manage all of your listings, inventory, and operations in one place.
Allison Lee Editor, Wix eCommerce
Allison is the editor for the Wix eCommerce blog, with several years of experience reporting on eCommerce news, strategies, and founder stories.
