翻译转载自Courtyard Ventures（Wayo投资人）：https://medium.com/@xan.wood/why-we-invested-in-wayo-a1da1389c554

工厂操作系统如何革命化零售采购

2023年美国下载量最高的应用：Temu

计划2024年IPO、估值900亿美元的公司：Shein

近年来，这两家公司在全球及美国零售市场取得了显著成就。他们不仅提供价格竞争力的商品，更重要的是，他们将先进技术与中国工厂的运营紧密结合，使消费者能够直接从生产源头获得商品。这一模式大幅降低了成本，并创建了灵活的实时零售供应链。

在Temu和Shein的运营模式下，商品直接“推向”市场。公司在网站上展示设计，消费者进行选购。在幕后，他们实行小批量生产；一旦需求增加，便迅速扩大工厂产能以满足市场。

“拉动”制造的挑战性

与“推动”模式相比，“拉动”模式对于许多公司来说更具挑战性。特别是对于那些对自己需求有明确了解的客户群体（如企业或创作者），他们希望从工厂“拉取”自己想要的产品。但由于沟通、文化差异和质量控制问题，直接与工厂合作常常充满挑战。Wayo应运而生，旨在解决这一问题。

Wayo的创新之举

Wayo借鉴了Temu和Shein的策略，将高级操作系统与中国的工厂流程相结合。不同的是，Wayo更专注于“拉动”型制造，为客户提供定制化产品的请求服务。例如，拥有1800万TikTok粉丝的网红及Wayo投资者Rebecca Zamolo，就能通过Wayo推出自己的产品线。

Wayo运用大型语言模型（LLM）作为虚拟产品采购代理，帮助品牌精确描述需求。Wayo的AI将生成产品模拟图，然后由其合作的200多家工厂之一进行样品制作。

与Temu和Shein主打性价比商品不同，Wayo的目标是打入价值9400亿美元的定制制造市场，最初聚焦于公司礼品和授权商品。其方法有望创造一个新的产品采购市场，提供比现有服务和市场更高的定制化和质量控制。

为何现在选择Wayo

随着Wayo进入市场，几个关键趋势的交汇预示着其成功：

- 生成性AI技术的进步：解决了定制采购中的语言障碍和文化差异，缩短了时间成本。

- AI与机器学习的深度整合：自动化定制产品采购的多个环节，包括报价汇总、产品细节规范、物流管理等。

- 创作者经济的蓬勃发展：预计到2027年将达到0.5万亿美元，为Wayo提供巨大的市场机会。

Wayo团队的独特优势

- 首席执行官Julia Xu：深谙问题本质，拥有丰富的电商和工厂合作经验。

- 首席技术官Frank Luan：AI领域的专家，与Julia从高中起即为好友，具备构建Wayo平台所需的深厚技术背景。

- 首席运营官Mandy Chow：拥有投资和金融背景，对市场动态和运营管理有深刻理解。

在2023年，Wayo不断优化其平台并与直接客户合作。预计在2024年第一季度，Wayo将推出自助服务功能，同时保持对整个流程的监督。未来，Wayo将发展成为一个综合性市场，为客户提供简单易用的平台，连接数百甚至数千的供应商。

我们期待成为Wayo旅程的一部分，并相信Wayo的解决方案将为众多企业和创作者带来革命性的影响。

How Factory Operating Systems are Revolutionizing Retail Sourcing

The most downloaded app in the US in 2023? Temu.

A company planning an IPO in 2024 at a $90B valuation? Shein.

These two companies have been breakout successes in recent years in global and US retail. They sell affordable goods at competitive prices; however, their real unique innovation lies in integrating their technology with Chinese factory operations so that consumers are effectively getting their goods directly from the producers. This massively reduces costs and creates flexible and on-demand supply chains known as ‘real-time retail’.

In the Temu and Shein model, the goods get ‘pushed’ out. The companies post designs on a website, and customers buy. Behind the scenes, they are running small-volume production runs, and if there is significant demand, they quickly ramp up the factories so that the demand can be met.

Why Pulling is Trickier than Pushing

The push model works well for these companies as they can advertise thousands of SKUs and A/B test what is working in the market for customers (typically individuals), still determining what they want. However, there is also a massive group of customers (typically businesses or creators) who have a good idea of what they want, e.g., an influencer launching a customized product line; these companies are looking to ‘pull’ products they want out. Currently, these customers struggle to go directly to factories due to issues around communication, cultural differences, and quality control. This is where Wayo steps in.

What does Wayo do

Wayo is adopting Temu and Shein’s strategy by integrating advanced operating systems with factory processes predominantly in China. However, Wayo focuses on ‘pull’ manufacturing, where customers request specific, customized products. For instance, an influencer like Rebecca Zamolo, with 18M TikTok followers and an investor in Wayo, could use Wayo to launch her product line.

Wayo utilizes Large Language Models (LLMs) as virtual product-sourcing agents. Brands describe their needs, and Wayo’s AI generates mockups, followed by sample production from one of the approximately 200 (and growing!) factories in partnership with Wayo.

Unlike Temu and Shein’s emphasis on affordable goods, Wayo aims to penetrate the $940B custom manufacturing market, initially focusing on corporate gifting (swag) and licensed merchandise. This approach is poised to create a product-sourcing marketplace that offers more customization and quality control than existing on-demand services and established marketplaces, which currently lack design tools and quality assurance.

Why Wayo Now

As Wayo enters the market, several converging trends make it the right time:

1. Advances in Generative AI: Historically, custom sourcing faced challenges like language barriers and cultural differences, leading to misunderstandings and wasted time. Generative AI bridges this gap, allowing for accurate 3D product mockups that closely resemble the final product.

2. AI & Machine Learning Integration: Beyond Generative AI, Wayo is harnessing AI across its platform to automate several traditionally manual tasks in custom product sourcing. This includes aggregating quotes, specifying product details, managing shipping logistics, providing tailored recommendations, and streamlining the entire sourcing process.

3. Growth of the Creator Economy: Projected to reach $0.5 trillion by 2027, the rapidly expanding creator economy, driven by platforms like TikTok and Instagram, presents a significant opportunity. Wayo is positioned to empower creators, offering them new means to monetize their followings through customized merchandise.

The Wayo Team is Uniquely Suited to Solve the Problem

Julia Xu, Wayo’s CEO, is intimately familiar with the problem that Wayo is tackling from her time as Chief of Staff for the US president of Alibaba.com and founding Multitasky, an e-commerce lifestyle brand. She understands the issues and has relationships with the factories. While Frank Luan Wayo’s CTO has been friends with Julia since high school and brings deep knowledge on how to build out the AI component of the Wayo platform, he is currently doing a PhD at Berkeley in AI Systems (advised by Ion Stoica — co-founder of Databricks) and was the co-founder of SketchMe (a social media app that raised $25M) alongside spending time at Meta AI Research. The two friends are complemented by Mandy Chow (COO), who previously led the investment team at Airwallex and started her career at Goldman Sachs.

Throughout 2023, Wayo has been refining its platform with direct clients. In Q1 2024, they expect to launch a self-service feature while maintaining oversight of the overall process. Looking ahead, Wayo aims to evolve into a comprehensive marketplace, offering customers instant access to hundreds or thousands of suppliers through one simple-to-use platform.

We look forward to being part of the Wayo journey and believe that Wayo’s solution will be transformational for many businesses and creators.