Zulily Closes Down: How to Get Refund on Orders

Online retail platform Zulily will "wind down" its business due to a "challenging business environment," the company said on Wednesday, bringing a shocking end to the shopping outlet that at one point had been valued at $9 billion.

Founded in 2009, Zulily was a retailer focused on moms, according to a description on PitchBook, where consumers could find new clothes, toys and home decorations curated on the platform. The Seattle-based company went public a decade ago and at one point the company had boasted a valuation of $9 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.

There have been a few changes of ownership since then. QVC's parent company bought Zulily in 2015 in a $2.4 billion deal. But in May, Zulily found itself with new owners when it was acquired by investment firm Regent. That sale failed to revive the company's fortunes and now has come to its end, announcing liquidation proceedings on Wednesday.

"This decision was not easy nor was it entered into lightly. However, given the challenging business environment in which Zulily operated, and the corresponding financial instability, Zulily decided to take immediate and swift action," Ryan C. Baker, Vice President at Douglas Wilson Companies, the firm that's been assigned to manage the company's liquidation, said in a statement.

Newsweek contacted the company for comment via email on Wednesday afternoon.

In the statement, Baker suggested that the company would look to fulfill the majority of its pending orders over the next two weeks.

"For orders that could not be fulfilled, Zulily endeavored to ensure those orders were cancelled and refunded," Baker said. "If you have placed an order and do not receive it or a refund by January 22, 2024, please contact Omni Agent Solutions, our claims agent."

Baker went on to add that it planned on moving through the liquidating process swiftly.

"Zulily will strive to continue to provide everyone with the best service possible during the holiday season," he said.

The company had seen revenue plunge by 28 percent to $254 million in the fourth quarter of 2022, its parent company said in March. For the year, revenue had tumbled by nearly 40 percent to $906 million.

Douglas Wilson Companies (DWC) said it was hoping that the move to wind down Zulily's business would work to "maximize value for the companies' creditors."

"[We] will complete an orderly wind-down of the business to maximize the recovery for the companies' creditors as a third-party fiduciary," Baker said in the statement.

DWC said in an earlier statement that it had created a frequently answered questions platform for both Zulily's customers and vendors to help them navigate their way through the company's process of shutting down.

The process may take between 12 to 18 months, they said.