Zola (company)

Zola is an online wedding registry, wedding planner, and retailer. It is a female-led e-commerce company that allows couples to register for gifts, experiences, and cash funds as well as add gifts from other stores. Zola has also expanded into wedding planning with free wedding websites, invitations, and items for the wedding day. There is no cost or fee to register with Zola, with the company generating revenue by selling wedding gifts and wedding-related items.[2]

Zola
Industryweddings
Founded2013
FoundersShan-Lyn Ma, Nobu Nakaguchi
Headquarters
New York City
,
U.S.[1]
Key people
Shan-Lyn Ma (CEO)
Websitezola.com

History

Zola was founded in New York City in 2013 by Shan-Lyn Ma and Nobu Nakaguchi. It was launched as an online wedding registry which for the first time allowed couples to register for gifts, experiences, and cash funds as well as add gifts from other stores, all in one place.[3] The registry allows couples to choose when their gifts ship and exchange gifts digitally before they ship.[4]

The company has received $140 million in funding, the most recent being $100 million in 2018.[5][6]

In 2017, Zola expanded from being a wedding registry to also offering wedding planning services through Zola Weddings. The free service includes wedding websites, guest lists, RSVP tracking, and customizable checklists.[4] The company introduced customized wedding invitations and save the dates in 2018 from investors including Comcast and Goldman Sachs.[7]

In October 2018, home decor retailer Crate & Barrel and Zola initiated a partnership which allows Zola users to register for more than 3,500 Crate & Barrel products.[8][9]

In January 2019, Zola opened its first brick-and-mortar location, a pop-up shop in the Flatiron District of New York City.[10][11]

With a valuation of $600 million as of February 2019, Zola is on the path to being a unicorn (a privately held startup company valued at over $1 billion). According to The New York Times, "Zola is one of three companies on the list of [50] potential next unicorns that have been fueled by millennials' spending."[12][13]

Services

Registry

Business Insider cited several pros of the Zola registry, including the ability to aggregate gifts from multiple websites, a clean user interface, the ability to select delivery time and location for each gift, simple logging of thank you cards, experiential gifts like AirBnB, and group gifting.[14] However, they cite a lack of physical retail space and shipping costs for large gifts amongst the challenging of using the Zola Registry.

In addition to traditional gift registry options, Zola has a feature for cash giving that allows users to set up funds of their choice.[15]

In 2019, Vox.com wrote, "Registries may be adapting, but there’s no indication that they’re going anywhere..." citing Zola as a major source of change in the wedding registry space.[16]

Paper Goods

In 2020, Zola added the option to send Change the Dates to guests, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[17][18]

Other Services
  • Wedding Website
  • Guest List Planning
  • Wedding Attire
  • Decor & Favors
  • Hotel Blocks
  • Wedding Vendors

Controversy

In early December 2019, Zola was among several wedding planning sites who announced they would remove from their listings wedding locations that once were slave plantations. The move was a response to the civil rights advocacy group Color of Change, who contend that the use and marketing of plantations, namely those in the Antebellum South, as venues for weddings hides their history as sites of slave labor.[19] Though Zola initially indicated that Color of Change's concerns didn't violate their anti-discrimination policies, the company indicated they would work with the organization to ensure their policies promote inclusiveness.[20]

Later in December 2019, a Zola advertising campaign was the subject of controversy due to its airing on, and being pulled from air by, Hallmark Channel. The six-ad series featured couples of various assortments at the altar voicing vow-like regrets about not using Zola to plan their nuptials.[21] One of the couples featured was a lesbian couple that appeared in three of the ads briefly and one 30-second spot exclusively (they are shown kissing at the altar in the latter).[22] That couple's inclusion raised the ire of One Million Moms, with the conservative group urging Hallmark Channel to reconsider "airing commercials with same-sex couples." Hallmark Channel's parent, Crown Media Family Networks, obliged and announced on December 13 they would pull from air the four Zola ads that featured the couple, citing network policy that forbids its airing of controversial content, namely the women kissing.[23] After being roundly criticized by LGBTQ figures, allies, and rights groups (GLAAD president Sara Kate Ellis called the move "discriminatory"),[24] Crown Media would reverse course on December 15 and reinstate the pulled ads. In response, Zola, who had severed ties with Hallmark Channel, announced they would reach out to the network to consider further advertising.[25][26]

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References
  1. "It Started With a Jolt: How New York Became a Tech Town". The New York Times. February 22, 2019.
  2. "Wedding Startup Zola Valuation Surpasses The Knot". The Wall Street Journal. May 3, 2018.
  3. "With $100 million infusion, Zola launches major expansion". Crain's New York Business. November 2, 2018.
  4. "Zola Moves to Take Over Wed-Tech". Fortune. April 18, 2017.
  5. "Wedding-Planning Startup Zola Raises $100 Million". Bloomberg. May 3, 2018.
  6. "Wedding startup Zola just received a lavish gift: $100 million in fresh funding". TechCrunch. May 3, 2018.
  7. "Zola Wants To Be Your Wedding Planner—And Save You From Your In-Laws". Fast Company. April 18, 2017.
  8. "Crate & Barrel Teams Up With Zola, Hoping to Win Over Millennial Couples". Adweek. September 21, 2018.
  9. "Why Crate and Barrel is partnering with rising digital competitor Zola: Customers 'want to shop where they want to shop'". Recode. September 18, 2018.
  10. "Zola Will Open Its First Brick-and-Mortar Store in New York City". Fortune. December 12, 2018.
  11. "The Apple Store of weddings is here". Fast Company. January 9, 2019.
  12. "The Next Wave of 'Unicorn' Start-Ups". The New York Times. February 10, 2019.
  13. "These 50 Start-Ups May Be the Next 'Unicorns'". The New York Times. February 10, 2019.
  14. Chen, Connie. "We compared the top 5 wedding registries in the US including Amazon, Zola, and Target — here are all the pros and cons". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  15. "Zola Registry". www.zola.com. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  16. Valle, Gaby Del (2019-01-30). "Wedding registries are an outdated tradition, but they're not going anywhere". Vox. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  17. "Zola Weddings". www.zola.com. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  18. "Is Coronavirus Impacting Your Wedding? Here's What to Do | Zola Expert Wedding Advice". zola.com. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  19. "Wedding planning sites change policies on slave plantations," from Associated Press, 12/5/2019
  20. "Zola Has Removed Plantations As Wedding Venue Options From Its Website," from BuzzFeed News, 12/5/2019
  21. Zola "No Regrets" ad (1:00 minute composite) on YouTube (accessed 12/15/2019)
  22. "Zola | Easy Wedding Planning | TV Ad Spot on YouTube (accessed 12/16/2019)
  23. "Hallmark Channel Pulls Zola Ads Featuring Brides Kissing," from The New York Times, 12/13/2019
  24. Bennett, Anita (December 14, 2019). "Hallmark Channel At Center Of Storm Over Ad Featuring Lesbian Brides Kissing – Update". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  25. "Under pressure, Hallmark pulls gay-themed wedding ads," from Associated Press, 12/15/2019
  26. "In reversal, Hallmark will reinstate same-sex marriage ads," from Associated Press, 12/16/2019

Official website

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