Wix has taken its latest step towards eCommerce with a new partnership with Wish. The mobile eCommerce platform lets Wix offer website customers greater reach and distribution for their online stores. This comes as website providers continue to expand their eCommerce chops.
Going deeper into the partnership, Wish will be integrated directly into Wix (say that three times fast). This lets Wix eCommerce merchants connect their online stores to Wish’s mobile shopping channels. This essentially brings these merchants a new and non-overlapping audience and customer base.
But the key word is integration. With Wish’s distribution channels baked right into Wix, the latter’s merchants don’t have to go anywhere to enjoy the fruits of this collaboration. They can have one-stop-shop benefits in amplifying distribution directly within the Wix Store interface they’re already used to.
Tip of the Spear
As for what that additional functionality is specifically, the Wish module within the Wix back-end includes a dashboard for managing eCommerce activity. That includes order fulfillment, customer service, marketing, inventory management, logistics, and tracking performance metrics over time.
Speaking of performance tracking, Wish is also known for a fair amount of AI support. This involves processing sales data and other signals into prescriptive suggestions and action items. That can be particularly useful for time-starved SMBs that are too deep in the trees to see the forest.
Panning back, this alliance is aligned with an ongoing trend that we’re tracking: the expansion of website services. Websites are the “tip of the spear” in being the first point of entry to a potentially broader range of adjacent services. After an SMB gets online, how does it then evolve into an online business?
The answer to that question is eCommerce, as shown above. But it also means myriad functions like CRM, social media management, marketing, and SEO. Not only are these components strategic in terms of salability of things that naturally go together, but it helps website providers evolve their businesses.
Survival Move
That evolution includes metrics like average revenue per user (ARPU), and customer lifetime value (CLV). And it means lowering churn. The latter comes about as additional services not only boost ARPU but also SMB switching costs. It’s hard to turn off your eCommerce system to switch providers.
Lastly, this is a survival move. Website providers’ core revenue streams – hosting and website builders – have experienced “race to the bottom” competitive pricing pressure. So as margins deplete, they need to find adjacent revenue sources to boost EBITDA. Enter eCommerce and all the rest…
We’ll watch closely to see how the Wix/Wish partnership achieves all of the above. And expect more expansion in the website world through both buying and building.
