{"id":17894,"date":"2023-11-07T16:57:59","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T21:57:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/?post_type=hck-submission&p=17894"},"modified":"2023-11-07T17:11:20","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T22:11:20","slug":"weee-the-4b-go-to-ethic-e-glocer","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/weee-the-4b-go-to-ethic-e-glocer\/","title":{"rendered":"Weee! The $4B Go-to Ethic E-Glocer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

Where can I get Chinese food?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As an international student who grew up in China, where food is a big part of life, I have always been craving hometown food. As going to local authentic Chinese restaurants is expensive and often limited in choices, I want to cook the food myself. Fortunately, I have lived in places (L.A., San Diego, and Boston) where Asian grocery stores like 99 Ranch Market, Super 88, or H-Marts are nearby, and I can go for a quick grocery trip when I have time. However, for many of my friends who live in less populated places in the U.S., they do have the luxury of mine. In addition, I often do not have time to drive to Asian grocery stores, which are usually further away from American grocery stores. What should we do now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weee! Comes in Clutch<\/h2>\n\n\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
A Youtube video showcasing Asian glocery delivered by Weee!<\/figcaption>\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\n\n

In 2015, a first-generation Chinese immigrant named Larry Liu discovered this struggle, and he figured out a solution: Weee! (exclamation mark included in the name). Weee! is a platform and an E-glocer that combines ethnic grocery stores and Amazon Fresh. Essentially, Weee! sells ethic-specific groceries, such as raw materials and read-to-eat snacks similar to those sold in typical markets in China and Mexico, on their mobile or web applications. It also provides delivery service right to your door from its warehouses.1<\/sup> While most popular products on the platform are sold directly by Weee!, third-party individual sellers or distributors are also selling their products using Weee!’s platform for a 10% fee for the delivery service (plus some mischievous fees such as re-delivery fees, etc).2<\/sup> Weee! is not only able to provide competitive prices but also able to provide free 2-day delivery for orders over $35. They do not use any package delivery providers like UPS or FedEx but use their network of local drivers to deliver fresh items through the pre-planned delivery routes, given that the 2-day delivery provides flexibility to make such pre-planned delivery routes easy. Furthermore, given the perishable characteristics of the groceries delivered by Web!, the company provides sealed and insulated packaging with dry ice for the items that need such conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
A screenshot taken of Weee! website platform (https:\/\/www.sayweee.com\/en<\/a>). There are many options for the specific types of food with the top selling items presented with competitive pricings. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For those who live far away from their ethnic grocery stores, Weee! provides solutions by targeting the specific needs of authenticity. For those who have access to nearby ethnic grocery stores yet do not have the transportation or time to go for a trip, Weee! deliver what they want right to their door. Based on my personal experience as an international University student, most of my international student friends, one of the main targets for Weee!, are using the company on a weekly or even daily basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scalability and Sustainability<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Weee! was a hit as the business has excellent scalability and sustainability. Since its creation in 2015, it has experienced significant growth in monthly active users on average, exceeding 100% year over year. It has served more than hundreds of thousands of households across over 40 states (up from initially five states in 2017) with millions of order fulfillment.3,4<\/sup> Interestingly, the COVID-19 pandemic also boosts their year-over-year growth to 150% as they provide contactless delivery of fresh groceries right to customers’ doors.1<\/sup> Such growth has been accompanied by heavy V.C. investments through multiple Series funds led by well-known investors such as SoftBank, marking the valuation of Weee! over $4B in 2022.5<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weee! invested heavily in the technology of their platforms, supply chain, and inventory management systems to provide better and faster service. This focus on technology from “day 1” also helped with the company’s sustainability with infrastructures adaptable to new technology with less tech debts, an everyday thing shown to many traditional food companies.6<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Security Breach <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As a technology-based company, Weee! suffered from data breaches. In early 2023, a cyber attack on Weee! led to the exposure of personal information of 11.3 million orders, including full names, email addresses, phone numbers, device types, etc.7<\/sup> In fact, two of my close friends personally experienced the consequences of the breach, with many scam calls or advertisements sent to their phone numbers, email addresses, and even home addresses that essentially drove them away from using Weee!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Citations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/05\/20\/weee-taps-crazy-rich-asians-director-jon-m-chu-in-push-for-grocery-growth.html<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. https:\/\/www.sayweee.com\/en\/about\/terms-of-service<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. https:\/\/www.grocerydive.com\/news\/online-grocer-weee-aims-top-grocer-for-asians-north-america\/586161\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. https:\/\/www.grocerydive.com\/news\/how-weee-is-leveling-up-to-become-the-go-to-ethnic-food-company\/610635\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. https:\/\/www.cbinsights.com\/research\/weee-competitors-freshgogo-umamicart-yamibuy-asian-family-market\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. https:\/\/progressivegrocer.com\/how-e-grocers-are-setting-pace-change-grocery<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. https:\/\/www.bitdefender.com\/blog\/hotforsecurity\/hackers-who-breached-grocery-service-weee-leak-details-of-over-11-million-orders-online\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/ol>\n\n\n\n
      <\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Over the year, Weee! has created incredible values as the Go-To ethic E-glocer in the U.S.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19404,"featured_media":17897,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[],"class_list":["post-17894","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/assignment\/platform-variety-4\/","yoast_head":"\nWeee! The $4B Go-to Ethic E-Glocer - Digital Innovation and Transformation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/weee-the-4b-go-to-ethic-e-glocer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Weee! 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