E-commerce startup Wish has filed for a $1B IPO and is seeking a valuation between $25B and $30B. Since 2017, Wish has been the world's most downloaded shopping app and was last valued at $11.2B.

Wish valuation over the years:

• 2012 - $68M
• 2014 - $1.2B
• 2015 - $3.52B
• 2016 - $4B
• 2017 - $8B
• 2019 - $11.2B

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• Wish is a San Francisco based company that lists products from Asian sellers at deeply discounted prices. Wish earned $1.7B in revenue during the first nine months of 2020, a 32% increase YoY.
• However, despite the surge in sales, its net loss so far is $176M, a significant increase from $5M in 2019. It revealed in the past year it has shipped more than 640 million items to more than 100 countries.
• Wish has more than 100 million monthly active users and more than 500,000 merchants have signed up on its platform.
• Wish acknowledged that while its sales have surged during the pandemic, it suffered from longer delivery times, supply chain issues, and a loss of merchants. Wish acknowledged it is uncertain if the surge in sales will continue once the pandemic is over or if the government fails to pass another stimulus.
• At least 18 e-commerce companies have gone public this year, compared to 38 during all of 2019.

Retail sales rose in the U.K. for the sixth consecutive month in October, as online sales were up 6.4% from September. Overall retail spending increased by 1.2% from the previous month and was up 5.8% YoY.

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• Retail sales in October were up 7.9% from February's pre-pandemic levels as online sales have surged by 52.8% while in-store sales fell by 3.3%.
• Online sales have surged in every sector during the pandemic. Online food sales rose by 99.2% while clothing sales increased by 17.1%.
• Retail sales in November are expected to decline as the U.K. government imposed a second lockdown to combat the rising cases of COVID-19. However, online sales during the holiday season are expected to rise by 16.7% to $36.38B.

Other related news:

• Retail sales in Canada rose by 1.1% in September, marking the fifth straight month they went up. E-commerce sales were up 74.3% YoY.
• In the U.S. retail sales were up 0.3% from the previous month, while online sales rose by 3.1%. Like the U.K., October was the sixth straight month retail sales went up in the U.S.

Amazon agreed to delay its Black Friday sales in France from Nov. 27 to Dec. 4, as the country's second COVID-19 lockdown will end on Dec 1.  The decision comes after Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire asked retailers and supermarkets to postpone their Black Friday sales by a week.

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• Black Friday has become a popular retail event in France as consumers spent $7.14B last year. Amazon earned $6.76B in France last year, making up one percent of all retail sales.
• Previously, Amazon agreed to suspend Black Friday advertisements, after the French government said it was unfair to the 200,000 retailers forced to close.

Other Amazon Related News:

• Last week Amazon laid off dozens of employees working on its delivery drone project Prime Air. In August, the Federal Aviation Administration gave Amazon permission to begin drone deliveries.
• India approved Reliance's $3.4B acquisition of Future Group. Amazon tried to stop the transaction, claiming it violated previous agreements and accused Reliance of insider trading.
• Amazon announced it will invest $300M in South Korean e-commerce company 11st, which was last valued at $2.5B. South Korea is expected to become the third-largest e-commerce market in 2023.
• Amazon recently launched Amazon Pharmacy, allowing Prime members to order their prescriptions online. The online pharmacy market is projected to be worth $131B in 2025.

Dutch-Belgian retailer Ahold Delhaize announced it will acquire a majority stake of online grocer FreshDirect. While financial details weren't disclosed, it was also revealed private-equity firm Centerbridge Partners would get a 20% minority stake.

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• FreshDirect sales were up 50% YoY in April at the beginning of the pandemic and 40% in October. The company is profitable according to CEO David McInerney.
• Ahold Delhaize is one of the biggest grocery retailers in the U.S. and owns chains such as Stop & Shop, Giant, and Food Lion. It was formed in 2016 when Ahold and Delhaize Group merged.
• Demand for online groceries have increased during the pandemic, and online grocery sales are projected to make up 21.5%($250B) of all grocery sales by 2025.
• Before its acquisition, FreshDirect had raised $280M across four rounds including $189M in 2016 from institutional investors such as JPMorgan.
• One of FreshDirect's biggest competitors, Instacart, just raised $200M, giving it a valuation of $17.7B. Instacart is planning to IPO at a $30B valuation in 2021.

QUICK HITS:

• An algorithm that analyzes Twitter comments and invests in crypto is beating the S&P.*
• Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang said the Chinese government's plan to introduce stricter regulations on internet companies was necessary. Zhang struck a conciliatory tone and credited the government's role in growing the digital economy.
• This Thursday will be the first time in years that several major retailers will remain closed on Thanksgiving. Retail giants such as Walmart, Best Buy, and Target will keep doors closed due to the pandemic.
• E-commerce startup ExpandCart, which helps individuals and businesses build online stores in English and Arabic, raised $2.5M as part of its Series-A.

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