Wix.com Ltd.

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 20-F

	☐	REGISTRATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OR (g) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

	OR

	☒	ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

	For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019

	OR

	☐	TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

	OR

	☐	SHELL COMPANY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Commission file number 001-36158

WIX.COM LTD.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

ISRAEL

(Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)

40 Namal Tel Aviv St.

Tel Aviv, 6350671 Israel

(Address of principal executive offices)

Eitan Israeli, Adv.

Vice President and General Counsel

Telephone: +972 ‍(3) 545-4900

Wix.com Ltd.

40 Namal Tel Aviv St.

Tel Aviv, 6350671 Israel

(Name, telephone, e-mail and/or facsimile number and address of company contact person)

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class

Trading

Symbol

Name of each exchange on which registered

Ordinary shares, par value NIS 0.01 per share

WIX

The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None.

Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act: None.

Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report: As of December 31, 2019, the registrant had outstanding 51,525,919 ordinary shares, par value NIS 0.01 per share.

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

Yes ☒ No ☐

If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).

Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated file, a non-accelerated filer, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer ☒	Accelerated filer ☐
Non-accelerated filer ☐	Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:

U.S. GAAP ☒

International Financial Reporting Standards as issued

by the International Accounting Standards Board ☐

Other ☐

If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow.

☐ Item 17 ☐ Item 18

If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

Yes ☐ No ☒

WIX.COM LTD.

FORM 20-F

ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2019

TABLE OF CONTENTS

	Page
INTRODUCTION	2
SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS	2
PART I
ITEM 1.IDENTITY OF DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND ADVISERS	4
ITEM 2.OFFER STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE	4
ITEM 3.KEY INFORMATION	4
ITEM 4.INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY	55
ITEM 4A.UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS	78
ITEM 5.OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW AND PROSPECTS	78
ITEM 6.DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEES	102
ITEM 7.MAJOR SHAREHOLDERS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS	125
ITEM 8.FINANCIAL INFORMATION	128
ITEM 9.THE OFFER AND LISTING	129
ITEM 10.ADDITIONAL INFORMATION	130
ITEM 11.QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK	142
ITEM 12.DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES OTHER THAN EQUITY SECURITIES	143
PART II
ITEM 13.DEFAULTS, DIVIDEND ARREARAGES AND DELINQUENCIES	144
ITEM 14.MATERIAL MODIFICATIONS TO THE RIGHTS OF SECURITY HOLDERS AND USE OF PROCEEDS	144
ITEM 15.CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES	144
ITEM 16A.AUDIT COMMITTEE FINANCIAL EXPERT	146
ITEM 16B.CODE OF ETHICS	146
ITEM 16C.PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES	146
ITEM 16D.EXEMPTIONS FROM THE LISTING STANDARDS FOR AUDIT COMMITTEES	147
ITEM 16E.PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES BY THE ISSUER AND AFFILIATED PURCHASERS	147
ITEM 16F.CHANGE IN REGISTRANT’S CERTIFYING ACCOUNTANT	147
ITEM 16G.CORPORATE GOVERNANCE	147
ITEM 16H.MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE	147
PART III
ITEM 17.FINANCIAL STATEMENTS	148
ITEM 18.FINANCIAL STATEMENTS	148
ITEM 19.EXHIBITS	148

INTRODUCTION

In this annual report, the terms “Wix,” “we,” “us,” “our” and “the company” refer to Wix.com Ltd. and its subsidiaries.

This annual report includes other statistical, market and industry data and forecasts which we obtained from publicly available information and independent industry publications and reports that we believe to be reliable sources. These publicly available industry publications and reports generally state that they obtain their information from sources that they believe to be reliable, but they do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information. Although we believe that these sources are reliable, we have not independently verified the information contained in such publications. Certain estimates and forecasts involve uncertainties and risks and are subject to change based on various factors, including those discussed under the headings “—Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Item 3.D. Risk Factors” in this annual report.

Throughout this annual report, we refer to various trademarks, service marks and trade names that we use in our business. The “Wix.com” design logo is the property of Wix.com Ltd. Wix® is our registered trademark in the United States. We have several other trademarks, service marks and pending applications relating to our solutions. Other trademarks and service marks appearing in this annual report are the property of their respective holders.

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

In addition to historical facts, this annual report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, and the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We make forward-looking statements in this annual report that are subject to risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements include information about possible or assumed future results of our business, financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, plans and objectives. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “believe,” “may,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “should,” “plan,” “expect,” “predict,” “potential,” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. The statements we make regarding the following matters are forward-looking by their nature:

•

our expectations regarding future changes in our cost of revenues and our operating expenses on an absolute basis and as a percentage of our revenues;

•

our expectation that the percentage of revenues we derive from outside of North America will increase in the future;

•

our expectation that we will be able to attract and retain registered users;

•

our expectation that we will be able to increase the number of premium subscriptions through design agencies, independent design professionals and web design and development professionals within mid-size or large businesses or enterprises, and sales channel partners, who market and sell our products and services to their customers, or utilize our products to service their customers, or collectively, Partners;

•

our expectation that the revenues we generate from each premium subscription will increase in the future;

•

our assumption that historical user behavior can be extrapolated to predict future user behavior;

•

our prediction of the future revenues generated by our user cohorts;

•

our expectations with respect to the integration and performance of acquisitions;

•

our expectation to enter into new markets and attract new customer segments;

•

our expectation to maintain and enhance our brand and reputation;

•

our expectation regarding the impact of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates on our business;

•

our expectation to increase user engagement and sales through our customer care team;

•

our expectation to make share repurchases pursuant to our share repurchase plan;

•

our expectation that we will effectively manage the growth of our infrastructure;

•

our expectation that we will effectively execute our initiatives to scale and improve our user support function;

•

our expectation regarding the effects on our business of the outbreak and global spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic;

•

the future success of our sales efforts to generate revenues from Partners who market and sell our products and services to their customers, or utilize our products to service their customers;

•

our expectation that new products and developments, as well as third party products we offer within our platform, will receive customer acceptance and satisfaction;

•

changes we expect to happen to technologies used in our solutions;

•

changes we expect to happen in global, national, regional or local economic, business, competitive, market, and regulatory landscape;

•

our planned level of capital expenditures and our belief that our existing cash and cash from operations will be sufficient to fund our operations for at least the next 12 months; and

•

our plans to make our product, support and communication channels available in additional languages and to expand our payment infrastructure to transact in additional local currencies and accept additional payment methods.

The preceding list is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all of our forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions and expectations of future performance, taking into account the information currently available to us. These statements are only predictions based upon our current expectations and projections about future events. There are important factors that could cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. In particular, you should consider the risks provided under “Item 3.D. Risk Factors” in this annual report.

You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee that future results, levels of activity, performance and events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or will occur. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this annual report, to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations.

PART I

Item 1.IDENTITY OF DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND ADVISERS

Not applicable.

Item 2.OFFER STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE

Not applicable.

Item 3.KEY INFORMATION

A.Selected Financial Data

The following tables set forth our selected consolidated financial data. You should read the following selected consolidated financial data in conjunction with “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” and our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this annual report. Historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected in the future. Our financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or U.S. GAAP.

The selected consolidated statements of operations data for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2019 and the consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2018 and 2019 are derived from our audited consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this annual report. The consolidated statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2016 and the consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017 are derived from our audited consolidated financial statements that are not included in this annual report.

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015			2016			2017			2018			2019
	(in USD thousands except share and per share data)
Consolidated Statements of Operations:
Revenues⁽¹⁾
Creative Subscriptions⁽²⁾		194,429			274,801			391,347			525,350			644,491
Business Solutions⁽³⁾		9,089			15,302			34,289			78,354			116,597
Total Revenues		203,518			290,103			425,636			603,704			761,088
Cost of revenues⁽⁴⁾
Creative Subscriptions		33,924			43,902			64,108			84,752			120,905
Business Solutions		1,046			1,385			5,283			42,195			76,002
Total cost of revenues		34,970			45,287			69,391			126,947			196,907

Gross profit		168,548			244,816			356,245			476,757			564,181
Operating expenses:
Research and development⁽⁴⁾		77,647			105,368			153,635			198,912			250,791
Selling and marketing⁽⁴⁾		120,010			156,512			204,435			249,178			307,718
General and administrative⁽⁴⁾		19,526			26,968			48,186			59,297			85,922
Total operating expenses		217,183			288,848			406,256			507,387			644,431
Operating loss		(48,635	)		(44,032	)		(50,011	)		(30,630	)		(80,250	)
Financial income (expenses), net		77			247			(5,015	)		(2,794	)		(3,621	)
Other income (expenses)		(11	)		(4	)		76			(489	)		55
Loss before taxes on income		(48,569	)		(43,789	)		(54,950	)		(33,913	)		(83,816	)
Taxes on income		2,765			3,107			1,323			3,207			2,598
Net loss		(51,334	)		(46,896	)		(56,273	)		(37,120	)		(86,414	)
Basic and diluted net loss per ordinary share⁽⁵⁾		(1.30	)		(1.12	)		(1.24	)		(0.77	)		(1.71	)
Weighted average number of ordinary shares used in computing basic and diluted net loss per ordinary share⁽⁴⁾		39,408,928			42,032,818			45,552,199			48,017,188			50,504,698

	As of December 31,
	2015			2016			2017		2018		2019
	(in USD thousands)
Consolidated Balance Sheet Data:
Cash and cash equivalents and short-term deposits		109,999			148,562			200,612		680,676		562,199
Restricted deposits		3,851			931			949		1,149		1,149
Marketable securities		-			22,742			32,730		70,217		341,599
Total assets		149,433			214,684			330,013		844,750		1,099,667
Deferred revenues, current and long term		104,767			156,733			216,811		239,720		311,117
Total shareholders’ equity (deficiency)		(3,805	)		(2,469	)		11,320		152,265		207,749

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015		2016		2017		2018		2019
	(in USD thousands except registered users and premium subscription data)
Supplemental Financial and Operating Data:
Creative Subscriptions Collections⁽⁶⁾		232,002		326,199		449,125		580,119	711,763
Business Solutions Collections⁽⁶⁾		9,685		15,870		34,864		78,266	120,722
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities		20,876		40,573		83,052		115,709	149,564
Free cash flow⁽⁷⁾		14,534		36,158		70,683		101,633	127,498
Number of registered users at period end⁽⁸⁾		76,965,482		97,358,803		119,263,915		142,438,663	165,341,202
Number of premium subscriptions at period end⁽⁹⁾		1,767,423		2,465,160		3,223,036		3,983,415	4,499,052

(1)

On January 1, 2018, we adopted Accounting Standard Update (“ASU”) No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers Topic 606 (“ASC No. 606”) using the modified retrospective method. Results for reporting periods beginning after January 1, 2018 are presented under ASC No. 606, while prior period results are not adjusted and continue to be reported in accordance with historic accounting under Revenue Recognition Topic 605 (“ASC No. 605”).

(2)	Revenues generated from the sale of monthly, yearly and multi-year premium subscriptions for our website solutions as well as the sale of domain registrations to registered users, or collectively Creative Subscriptions.

(3)	Revenues generated from the sale of additional products and services that are offered to all of our registered users in addition to the Creative Subscriptions, or collectively Business Solutions.

(4)	Includes share-based compensation expense as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015		2016		2017		2018		2019
	(in USD thousands)
Cost of revenues		1,353		1,798		2,930		4,418		5,854
Research and development		9,234		14,543		26,227		39,417		56,161
Selling and marketing		3,077		4,553		6,585		9,770		18,458
General and administrative		5,069		7,154		11,958		18,725		28,864
Total share-based compensation expense		18,733		28,048		47,700		72,330		109,337

(5)	Basic and diluted net loss per ordinary share is computed based on the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during each period. For additional information, see Notes 2w and 14 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this annual report.

(6)	Collections is a non-GAAP financial measure calculated by adding the change in deferred revenues for a particular period to revenues for the same period. Collections include cash receipts for premium subscriptions purchased by registered users as well as payments due to us under the terms of contractual agreements for obligations we have fulfilled. Cash receipts for premium subscriptions are deferred and recognized as revenues over the terms of the subscriptions. Committed payments are recognized as revenue as we fulfill our obligation under the terms of the contractual agreement.

The following tables reconcile revenues, the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP measure, to collections for the periods presented:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015		2016		2017		2018		2019
	(in USD thousands)
Reconciliation of Creative Subscriptions Revenues to Collections:
Creative Subscriptions Revenues		194,429		274,801		391,347		525,350		644,491
Change in long-term and short-term deferred revenues		37,573		51,398		57,778		54,769		67,272
Creative Subscriptions Collections		232,002		326,199		449,125		580,119		711,763

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015		2016		2017		2018			2019
	(in USD thousands)
Reconciliation of Business Solutions Revenues to Collections:
Business Solutions Revenues		9,089		15,302		34,289		78,354			116,597
Change in long-term and short-term deferred revenues		596		568		575		(88	)		4,125
Business Solutions Collections		9,685		15,870		34,864		78,266			120,722

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015		2016		2017		2018		2019
	(in USD thousands)
Reconciliation of Revenues to Collections:
Revenues		203,518		290,103		425,636		603,704		761,088
Change in long-term and short-term deferred revenues		38,169		51,966		58,353		54,681		71,397
Collections		241,687		342,069		483,989		658,385		832,485

For a description of how we use collections to evaluate our business, see “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects—Key Financial and Operating Metrics.” We believe that this non-GAAP financial measure is useful in evaluating our business because it is a leading indicator of our revenue growth and the growth of our overall business. Nevertheless, this information should be considered as supplemental in nature and is not meant as a substitute for revenues recognized in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate collections differently or not at all, which reduces its usefulness as a comparative measure. You should consider collections along with other financial performance measures, including revenues, net cash provided by (used in) operating activities, and other financial measures presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

(7)	Free cash flow is a non-GAAP measure defined as net cash provided by operating activities minus capital expenditures. The following table reconciles net cash provided by operating activities, the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP measure, to free cash flow:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015			2016			2017			2018			2019
	(in USD thousands)
Reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities to free cash flow:
Net cash provided by operating activities		20,876			40,573			83,052			115,709			149,564
Capital expenditures ^(a)		(6,342	)		(4,415	)		(12,369	)		(14,076	)		(22,066	)
Free cash flow		14,534			36,158			70,683			101,633			127,498

(a)	Capital expenditures consist primarily of investments in leasehold improvements for our office space and the purchase of computers and related equipment.

For a description of how we use free cash flow to evaluate our business, see “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects—Key Financial and Operating Metrics.” We believe that this non-GAAP financial measure is useful in evaluating our business because free cash flow reflects the cash surplus available or used to fund the expansion of our business after payment of capital expenditures relating to the necessary components of ongoing operations. Nevertheless, this information should be considered as supplemental in nature and is not meant as a substitute for net cash flows from operating activities presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate free cash flow differently or not at all, which reduces its usefulness as a comparative measure. You should consider free cash flow along with other financial performance measures, including revenues, net cash provided by operating activities, and our financial results presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

(8)	Number of registered users at period end is defined as the total number of users who are registered with Wix.com with a unique email address and have begun the process of building a website on Wix.com, at the end of the period. Following registration, the length of time that registered users take to design and publish a website varies significantly from hours to years, and many registered users never publish a website. Our use of the term “registered user” herein is not intended to necessarily indicate a certain level of engagement or how close a registered user is to potentially publishing their website. See “Item 3.D. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business and Our Industry.”

(9)	A single registered user can purchase multiple premium subscriptions. Our premium subscriptions purchased in any given period are derived from users that registered with us during that period or during prior periods, or from purchases of premium subscriptions made by Partners who are not necessarily registered users. See “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects—Key Financial and Operating Metrics—Number of Premium Subscription at period end.”

B. Capitalization and Indebtedness

Not applicable.

C.Reasons for the Offer and Use of Proceeds

Not applicable.

D.Risk Factors

Our business faces significant risks. You should carefully consider all of the information set forth in this annual report and in our other filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, including the following risk factors which we face and which are faced by our industry. Our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected by any of these risks. In that event, the trading price of our ordinary shares would likely decline and you might lose all or part of your investment. See “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” on page i.

Risks Related to Our Business and Our Industry

Our results of operations and future revenue prospects will be harmed if we are unable to generate new premium subscriptions through new or existing registered users or Partners, increase the revenue we generate from existing and new premium subscriptions or retain existing premium subscriptions.

We primarily generate revenue through the sale of premium subscriptions to registered users of our platform, as well as through the sale of additional business solutions to our registered users. The growth of our premium subscriptions base is mainly impacted by the rate at which our registered users upgrade the free web development, design and management software our platform offers them, to premium subscriptions with branding, business solutions and services tailored for more specific business needs. In addition, the growth in the number of premium subscriptions is impacted by direct sales of premium subscriptions to Partners that utilize our platform and market and sell our paid offerings on a larger scale to their customers. In addition to growing our premium subscription base, we also focus on increasing the amount of revenue we generate from each new and existing premium subscription by offering our registered users and Partners additional solutions, features, and applications that could meet specific business needs and enhance such subscriptions.

The renewal rate of premium subscriptions also significantly impacts the overall number of premium subscriptions and, as a result, our revenues. One of the key drivers of renewal rates is whether premium subscriptions are for longer or shorter periods than one year. Subscriptions renewing on a yearly or multi-year basis allow for fewer opportunities of failure to renew such subscription than monthly subscriptions, whether deliberately or through failure to update payment information upon expiration. As of December 31, 2019, yearly and multi-year subscription packages constituted approximately 84% of all net active premium subscriptions. In addition, premium subscriptions currently renew automatically at the end of each subscription period unless registered users actively cancel the automatic renewal of their subscription in advance.

A number of factors could impact our ability to retain and attract registered users and Partners that purchase premium subscriptions, and our ability to retain and increase revenue from such premium subscriptions, including:

•

the quality and design of our platform compared to other similar solutions and services;

•

our ability to develop the required new technologies or offer new and relevant products and service offerings to our registered users, premium subscribers and Partners;

•

our ability to successfully attract our existing and new premium users to purchase additional business solutions and services to enhance their subscription;

•

reduction in our users’ spending levels, including due to macro-economic forces or other global circumstances beyond our control, such as the effects of the recent outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic 2019, or COVID-19, the impact of which is still difficult for us to assess at the time this annual report is being filed;

•

pricing decisions we implement for our solutions, and the pricing of our solutions and services compared to our competitors;

•

our ability to bundle certain solutions into an attractive subscription package and the variety of the subscription packages and business applications we offer;

•

our ability to attract and retain Partners to sell our premium subscriptions and/or create websites for their customers on our platform;

•

our ability to develop additional product functionality and administrative back office capabilities for our Partners to adequately sell our products to their customers and properly manage their operations;

•

the reliability and availability of our customer care and account management services provided to our Partners, to provide the proper support required by our registered users;

•

the ability of our customer care team to increase sales of premium subscriptions and other business solutions to our customers;

•

the perceived or actual security, integrity, reliability, quality or compatibility problems with our solutions, including those related to system outages, unscheduled downtime, diminished website performance and loading times and the impact of cyber-attacks on our registered users’ data;

•

competitive factors affecting the software as a service, or SaaS, business market, including the competitive landscape and the strategies that may be implemented by our competitors;

•

unexpected increases in the cost of acquiring new registered users, beyond the year over year increase that we experience due to competition in certain geographies;

•

our ability to expand into new geographic markets, including our ability to make our product, support and communication channels available in additional languages; and

•

limitations or restrictions on our ability to bill our registered users on a recurring basis or the manner in which the rebilling is performed.

Our results of operations would be adversely affected if our selling and marketing activities fail to generate new registered users or Partners that purchase premium subscriptions or fail to increase the revenue we generate from each premium subscription to the levels we anticipate.

We acquire new registered users, who may purchase premium subscriptions over time, through paid marketing channels, such as cost-per-click advertisements on search engines and social networking sites, targeted and generic banner advertisements on other sites, and social network influencers who promote our platform. We also acquire new registered users through free traffic sources that lead to our platform, including online searches for our “Wix” name or organic search results for other key words relating to our business, user referrals, and word-of-mouth. Other premium subscriptions are acquired through the selling and marketing activities of our sales and account management team that targets Partners who have direct relationships with potential users and may purchase a higher volume of premium subscriptions. Our selling and marketing activities also focus on increasing revenues from existing premium subscriptions by offering complementary business solutions such as additional features, products and applications, including those developed by third parties.

In order to maintain and grow our revenues, we need to continuously optimize and diversify our marketing campaigns and strategies, aimed at acquiring new registered users, in particular those who are more likely to purchase premium subscriptions, bolster our Partner sales efforts, and increase the revenue for each premium subscription acquired. In the years ended December 31, 2017, 2018 and 2019, advertising expenses were $141.3 million, $165.3 million and $187.3 million, respectively, representing 33%, 27% and 25% of our revenues. To help optimize and diversify marketing campaigns online, we conduct search engine optimization and A/B testing, a marketing approach that aims to identify which changes to our website will increase or maximize user interest and the purchase of premium subscriptions and other business solutions. We also rely upon the assumption that historical user behavior can be extrapolated to predict future user behavior, and we structure our marketing activities in the manner that we believe is most likely to encourage the user behaviors that lead to desired future outcomes, such as purchasing premium subscriptions and additional features and solutions to enhance such premium subscriptions. However, we may fail to accurately predict user acquisitions or interest or to fully understand or estimate the conditions and behaviors that drove historical user behavior and thus, fail to generate the return on marketing we expect. Even if we understand historical patterns, our predictions could be inaccurate. For example, events outside our control, such as announcements by our competitors or other third parties of significant business developments, have in the past adversely affected the returns we had anticipated on our marketing expenses in the short-term. If any of our marketing campaigns prove less successful than anticipated in attracting registered users that purchase premium subscriptions and other business solutions and bolster our Partner sales efforts, if the levels of organic or free traffic to our site decrease, or if we experience an unexpected increase in the marginal acquisition cost of new registered users, we may not achieve our return on investment targets, and our rates of premium subscription acquisitions and revenue per subscription may fail to meet market expectations, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and share price.

In addition, we have also allocated resources and a dedicated team to market and sell our solutions and services to our Partners. We may also invest a significant portion of our marketing expenses on more traditional advertising and promotion of our brand, including through sponsorships with City Football Group Limited and others. The effectiveness of these sales and marketing measures is more difficult to track than online marketing.

If we fail to develop and introduce new products and services, or maintain existing products and services provided to us by third parties that are significant to our users as well as our Partners, or if we fail to keep up with rapid changes in design and technology, our business may be materially adversely affected.

Our future success will depend on our ability to improve the look, function, performance and reliability of our solutions and services, including our integrated third- party business solutions. The development of new and upgraded solutions and new service offerings, including back office administrative tools for our Partners to sell to and service their customers and vertical solutions for specific business segments, involves a significant amount of time of our research and development team, as it can take our developers months to update, code and test new and upgraded solutions and integrate them into our platform. Further, our design team spends a significant amount of time and resources in order to incorporate various design elements, such as customized colors, fonts, content and other features into our new and upgraded solutions, including through Editor X, our new responsive editor geared towards our Partners. The introduction of these new and upgraded design features, solutions and services also involves a significant amount of marketing spending.

We are required to continually gear our product development efforts towards the needs of different customer segments, including our premium subscribers and our Partners, who require certain functionality and design elements in order to adequately sell our solutions to their customers. We must also regularly manage our existing offerings, as we continually test, support, and market these solutions and applications, as well as ensure the continued collaboration with certain third-party products and services that are included in our offering and are significant to our customers, such as G-Suite by Google, which allows our users to create a personalized Gmail email address using their domain name and the offering of domain names for users to purchase as a stand-alone product and connect to their website. Furthermore, our ability to attract new users and increase our premium subscribers and the revenue we generate from each subscription depends, in part, on our ability to increase adoption and usage of the products we offer.

If we are unable to successfully enhance our existing products to meet evolving user and Partner requirements and increase adoption and usage of our products and third-party products, if we are unable to maintain existing products provided to us by third parties that are significant to our registered users and Partners, or if our efforts to increase the usage of our products are more expensive than we expect, if our solutions fail to achieve widespread acceptance, users and potential users may adopt the products and services of our competitors and our revenues and competitive position could be materially adversely affected.

If the security of the data we store in our systems, including personal information or business data of our registered users and their users, is breached or otherwise subjected to unauthorized access, our reputation may be harmed and we may be exposed to liability.

Due to the nature of our business, our systems and the systems of our cloud providers with which we contract, store large amounts of data including our data, data of our prospective and registered users, as well as data relating to the visitors, customers and users of our users, which we refer to as our users of users. Such data that we store may include email addresses, geo-location, usage data, business data, passwords and also billing information, such as encrypted credit card numbers, full names, billing addresses, phone numbers and additional information they may view as confidential. Third-party applications available on our platform may also collect such data and share it with us. We do not regularly monitor or review the content that our users, and their users, upload and store, or information we receive from third-party applications and, therefore, we do not control the substance of the content on our servers, which may include personal information. Risks of external or internal unauthorized access or leaks exist.

Although we have implemented data security standards and controls, operating rules and certification requirements, including in accordance with Payment Card Industry, or PCI, Data Security Standards, pursuant to which we have maintained PCI compliance level 1 certification since February 2013, deploy third-party opposing forces (Red Team) to test our vulnerabilities, and constantly monitor our environments via security operations centers, we cannot be sure that the steps that we have taken to protect the security, integrity and confidentiality of the information we, or our users, collect, store, or transmit, will succeed in preventing inadvertent or unauthorized use or disclosure. Our payments system, for example, interfaces with a number of different gateway providers that link to a number of different payment card processors based on jurisdiction and other factors, and depend on the efficacy of secure transmission protocols and related technologies. There can be no assurance that the data security standards we have implemented, including for the collection and transmission of credit card and other payment information, or those of our third-party service providers, will adequately comply with the security standards of any future jurisdiction in which we seek to market our solution. Furthermore, like many online and other companies, we have experienced attempts by third parties to circumvent the security of our systems. We have and are experiencing attempts by hackers to penetrate our internal network and hosted servers using various techniques, including sophisticated tailored phishing attacks and other exploitation of known and unknown vulnerabilities. We may not be successful in identifying, blocking or otherwise preventing access to our systems, despite our security measures. Since techniques used to obtain unauthorized access change frequently, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. Furthermore, we may be unable to promptly detect an attack, for example, in the case of an advanced persistent threat where unauthorized system access was obtained in advance and without our knowledge in preparation for a future attack. In addition, we rely on outside parties to provide physical security for our facilities, including data centers. Any physical breach of security could result in unauthorized access or damage to our systems.

If our security measures are breached, whether because of third-party action, employee error, malfeasance or otherwise, or if design flaws in our software are exposed, exploited or abused in any way, including through our Corvid by Wix solution (previously named Wix Code), and, as a result, an unauthorized party accesses any of our registered users’ data or the data of their users, or otherwise gains control of our platform, or if it is perceived that any unauthorized access has occurred (such as when users utilize weak passwords or their credentials are disclosed, stolen or lost), our brand may be negatively impacted, we may be unable to acquire new registered users or Partners, our relationships with our registered users or Partners may be damaged, our registered users may choose to cancel their premium subscriptions, and we could incur liability and be subject to regulatory investigations and fines, negatively impacting our financial performance, all of which may result in a decline of our share price. Even if such a data breach affects a competitor and does not arise out of our actions or inactions, the resulting concern about using our platform could negatively affect our business.

In addition, many jurisdictions have enacted laws requiring companies to notify individuals (and regulators) of data security breaches involving certain types of personal information, and, in addition, our agreements with certain of our providers require us to notify them in the event of a security incident. These mandatory disclosures regarding a security incident sometimes lead to negative publicity and may cause our registered users or providers to lose confidence in the effectiveness of our data security measures. We could be required to devote significant resources to investigate and address a security incident. Following the introduction of Wix Payments and the increased storage of personal and financial information of our users and their users, a violation of data privacy or security laws, many of which focus on personal financial and payment information, could lead to reputational harm, loss of business, legal action and / or regulatory inquiries, resulting in monetary, other penalties or other consequences that could negatively impact our reputation and adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.

If our data security measures fail to protect the encrypted credit card details, passwords or personal information adequately, we could be liable to both our registered users and their users for any related losses (such as fraudulent credit card transactions), as well as certain of our providers under our contractual agreements, including fines and higher transaction fees. Additionally, we could face regulatory action, and our registered users and providers could terminate or materially change their relationships with us, any of which could harm our business, results of operations or financial condition. There can be no assurance that the limitations of liability in our contracts would be enforceable or adequate or would otherwise protect us from any such liabilities or damages with respect to any particular data related claim. Our existing general liability insurance coverage and coverage for errors and omissions may not continue to be available on acceptable terms in the future or may not be available in sufficient amounts to cover one or more large data related claims. The insurer may also deny coverage for any future data related claim. The successful assertion of one or more large data related claims against us that exceeds our available insurance coverage, or the occurrence of changes in our insurance policies, including premium increases or the imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If we are unable to maintain and enhance our brand, or if events occur that damage our reputation and brand, our ability to expand our base of registered users and premium subscriptions and to grow our revenues from such subscriptions may be impaired, and our business and financial results may be harmed.

Maintaining, promoting and enhancing the Wix brand is critical to expanding and retaining our base of registered users and Partners that may purchase premium subscriptions and business solutions over time. We promote and enhance our Wix brand by marketing our solutions and services primarily through cost-per-click advertisements on search engines and social networking sites and maintaining an active online presence, including engagement with online influencers, free and paid banner advertisements on third-party websites, small Wix advertisements on the websites of our registered users who do not have a premium subscription, cultivation of a community of web designers to build websites for our users and purchase premium subscriptions and additional solutions for them, operation of an affiliates program, engagement with Partners that provide website building services to their customers using our solutions, and more traditional advertising methods such as sponsorships and television commercials. Our Wix brand is also promoted through free sources, including customer referrals, word-of-mouth and direct searches for our “Wix” name, or web presence solutions, in search engines.

Maintaining and enhancing our brand will depend largely on our ability to continue to provide high-quality, well-designed, useful, reliable, secure, innovative and relevant solutions and services, which we may not do successfully or may not do as successfully as our competitors. We may introduce new solutions or terms of use that registered users do not like, which may negatively affect our brand. The ability of our customer care team to provide customer support to our users at a highly professional level may influence the way the market perceives our brand. Additionally, if registered users have a negative experience using third-party applications and websites integrated with Wix, such an experience may affect our brand. Our Wix Marketplace enables independent web designers to offer their services to registered users who engage them directly. We do not conduct any evaluation of these designers’ credentials. Our App Market enables third-party independent developers to offer their applications to our registered users. We conduct a limited evaluation of the developers of third-party applications in our App Market that is focused mainly on the technical functionality of applications. There is no assurance that the applications in our App Market meet data security or privacy industry standards. Our reputation may be harmed if any of the services provided by these independent designers and developers do not meet registered users’ expectations of quality, data privacy or security. Our Partners customarily build websites for their customers using our platform and may fail to do so successfully or to the satisfaction of their customers, which may harm our brand and reputation. Certain third-party providers that our registered users rely on, may discontinue their engagement with us, which could have an adverse effect on our reliability and reputation. Maintaining and enhancing our brand may require us to make substantial investments and these investments may not be successful. Additionally, errors, defects, disruptions, security vulnerabilities, abuse of our system, or other performance problems with our products and platform, including the products and solutions we license from third parties, may harm our reputation and brand and adversely affect our ability to attract new users and premium subscriptions, especially if these errors occur when we introduce new services or features, all of which may reduce our revenues. In addition, if our reputation is harmed we may be unable to sell our products through Partners who may be less inclined to offer our services to their customers. If we fail to successfully promote and maintain the Wix brand or if we incur excessive expenses in this effort, we could be subject to claims regarding our business and our financial results may be adversely affected.

We depend on highly skilled personnel to enhance our product and grow our business, and if we are unable to hire, integrate and retain our personnel, we may not be able to address competitive challenges and continue our rapid growth.

Our future success and ability to maintain effective growth will depend upon our continued ability to hire, integrate and retain highly skilled personnel, including senior management, engineers, designers, developers, product managers, customer care representatives and finance and legal personnel. In addition to hiring and integrating new employees, we must continue to focus on retaining our best employees who foster and promote our innovative corporate culture.

In order to remain competitive, we must continue to develop new solutions, applications and enhancements to our existing platform, which require us to compete with many other companies for software developers with high levels of experience in designing, developing and managing cloud-based software. Our principal research and development activities are conducted from our headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel, and we face significant competition for suitably skilled developers in this region. We also engage a team of developers in Ukraine, and we have engaged a team of local developers in Lithuania and Germany in order to benefit from the significant pool of talent that is more readily available in each of those markets. Many larger companies expend considerably greater amounts on employee recruitment and may be able to offer more favorable compensation and incentive packages than us. If we cannot attract or retain sufficient skilled research and development, marketing, operations and customer service professionals, our business, prospects and results of operations could be materially adversely affected. In particular, we have experienced a competitive hiring environment in Israel, where we are headquartered.

If we lose the services of any of our key personnel and fail to manage a smooth transition to new personnel, our business could suffer. Key personnel may further solicit other team members to leave with them, and our business could suffer from an additional loss of talent. We do not carry key person insurance on any of our executive officers or other key personnel. We have entered into employment and services agreements with our executive officers and key employees that contain non-compete covenants. Despite these agreements, we may not be able to retain these officers and employees. If we cannot enforce the non-compete covenants, we may be unable to prevent our competitors from benefiting from the expertise of our former employees or prevent our employees from establishing their own competing ventures, either of which could materially adversely affect our business and results of operations. To the extent we hire personnel who were previously employed by our competitors, we may be subject to allegations that they have been improperly solicited or that they divulged proprietary or other confidential information. In addition, we have grown significantly in recent years and it may be harder to retain employees that seek to work in a smaller organization.

Furthermore, many of our employees may expect to receive significant proceeds from sales of our ordinary shares in the public markets after their equity compensation has fully vested. A drop in our share price due to market fluctuations may reduce their motivation to continue to work for us. Competition for highly skilled personnel is intense, particularly in the software industry. We may need to invest significant amounts of cash and equity to attract and retain employees, and we may never realize returns on these investments. If we are not able to effectively hire and retain employees, our ability to achieve our strategic objectives will be adversely impacted, and our business will be harmed.

In addition, due to our rapid growth, which has raised the profile of our company, our employees may be increasingly targeted for recruitment by competitors and other companies in the technology industry, which may make it more difficult for us to retain employees and/or increase retention costs.

We are subject to data privacy and data protection laws and regulations, including the EU General Data Protection Regulation, the EU ePrivacy Directive, and the California Consumer Privacy Act, as well as our contractual data privacy and security obligations and our failure to comply with any of these regulations or obligations, may subject us to sanctions and damages and could harm our reputation and business.

We are subject to the data privacy and security laws and regulations adopted in Israel, Europe, the U.S., Russia and other jurisdictions. In recent years, there has been an increase in attention to, and regulation of, data privacy across the globe, including in the U.S.

The European Union has traditionally taken a broader view as to what is considered personal information and has imposed greater obligations under their privacy and data protection laws. For example, the European Union adopted the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, in April 2016, which replaced the European Data Protection Directive (Directive 95/46/EC) and includes more stringent obligations for online businesses. The approved regulation became effective in May 2018 and replaced, to a large extent, the data protection laws of each European Union member state. The GDPR results in more stringent requirements for data processors and data controllers. Such requirements include more fulsome disclosures about the processing of personal information, enhanced data retention limits and deletion requirements, mandatory 72 hour notification by data controllers to regulators in the case of a data breach and elevated standards regarding valid consent in some specific cases of data processing. The GDPR also includes substantially higher penalties for failure to comply; among others, a fine up to €20 million or up to 4% of the annual worldwide turnover, whichever is greater, can be imposed. In addition, national laws introduced under the European ePrivacy Directive (Directive 2002/58/EC as amended by Directive 2009/136/EC) require companies, among other requirements, to obtain consent from users to store or access information located on a user’s computer or mobile device, after providing clear and comprehensive information about the access and storage of such user’s information, and mainly regulate the use of cookies, web beacons and similar technologies.

The California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA, took effect in 2020 and allows for fines of up to $7,500 per violation and introduces a private right of action in relation to certain data security breaches. Since the enactment of the CCPA, new data privacy and security laws have been proposed in the U.S. Congress and in more than half of the states in the United States, reflecting a trend toward more stringent data privacy legislation in the United States. We expect that there will continue to be new proposed laws, regulations, and industry standards concerning data privacy, data protection, and information security in the U.S. and other jurisdictions, and we cannot determine the impact such future laws, regulations, and standards may have on our business.

Such complex laws are often inconsistent and may be subject to amendment or re-interpretation and may be implemented in a non-uniform way in many jurisdictions around the world, and we may not be aware of every development that impacts our business. For instance, different data protection authorities in the EU published guidelines regarding the correct usage of cookies and stated different requirements for data controllers. These different guidelines often contradict each other and are subject to change in the future. This may cause us to incur significant costs and expend significant effort to ensure compliance. Furthermore, the more stringent requirements, including those on user notifications related to data privacy and data handling require us to adapt our business and incur additional operational costs. Due to the accessibility of our services worldwide, certain foreign jurisdictions may claim that we are required to comply with their privacy or data protection laws even in jurisdictions where we have no local entity, employees or infrastructure. Where the local data privacy laws of a jurisdiction apply, we may be required to register our operations in that jurisdiction or make changes to our business so that registered users’ data or the data of their users that we collect, process and/or store is only collected, processed and/or stored in accordance with applicable local law. Some of these laws include strict localization provisions that require certain data to be stored within a particular region or jurisdiction. For example, effective as of September 1, 2015, the Russian parliament adopted a set of amendments to the Russian Federal Law on Personal Data, stating that personal information pertaining to Russian citizens must be stored in databases located in Russia. Furthermore, new privacy regulations implemented in Turkey, regulate among others, the cross-border transfer of personal information, and apply different requirements that may impact the way we process Turkish users’ data.

We strive to comply with all applicable laws, regulations, policies and legal obligations, as well as with certain industry standards relating to data privacy and security. We have certain data privacy and security-related obligations to our registered users based on our privacy policy and terms of use, and we may be contractually liable to third parties in the event we are deemed to have wrongfully processed personal information. A failure by us or a third-party contractor providing services to us to comply with applicable data privacy and security laws, regulations, self-regulatory requirements or industry guidelines, or our terms of use with our registered users, may result in sanctions, statutory or contractual damages or litigation and may subject us to reputational harm. These proceedings or violations could force us to spend money in defense or settlement costs, result in the imposition of monetary liability, restrict or block access to our services from a certain territory, incur additional management resources, increase our costs of doing business, and adversely affect our reputation and the demand for our solutions. Government agencies and regulators have reviewed, are reviewing and will continue to review, the data privacy and data security practices of online media companies, including their data privacy and data security policies and processes. The FTC in particular has approved consent decrees resolving complaints and their resulting investigations into the data privacy and security practices of a number of online social media companies. The possible outcome of such reviews may result in changes to our products and policies. If we are unable to comply with any such reviews or decrees that result in recommendations or binding changes, or if the recommended changes result in the degradation of our products, our business could be harmed. Governmental agencies may also request or take registered user data for national security or informational purposes, and also can make data requests in connection with criminal or civil investigations or other matters, which could harm our reputation and our business.

The growing awareness of our users of data privacy and protection laws and regulations could limit the use and adoption of our services, limit the user data we process for our marketing activities and adversely affect our business.

In general, data privacy concerns are becoming more widely acknowledged and data privacy laws are being enacted and enforced by a growing number of states and countries as time passes. Such data privacy laws restrict our storage, use, processing, disclosure, and transfer of personal information, including credit card data obtained in relation to our registered users, and their users. Many of these laws require us to maintain an online privacy policy and terms of use that disclose our practices regarding the collection, processing, and disclosure of personal information. This could lead to the loss of current or prospective users or other business relationships and may cause our users to resist providing the personal information necessary to allow them to use our platform effectively and their users may also resist providing personal information to our users due to data privacy and security concerns. Additionally, the GDPR, the CCPA, new and expanding ‘Do Not Track’ regulations and other legal and regulatory changes are making it easier for individuals to opt-out of having their personal data collected through an opt-out button, and to choose whether or not to be tracked online, which could result in higher rates of opting out or prevention of our online tracking which can impact our operation and decrease the demand for our products and services due to users’ resistance towards providing their personal data and digital tracking.

We expect that third-party intermediaries will emerge that offer services involving individuals opting out of their personal data being collected at scale (i.e., from all platforms, including ours). Such limitations may impair our ability to grow our business and to continue to process and store the information we need for our marketing analysis, and our results of operations and financial condition could suffer.

We have implemented certain measures to protect personal information, including data of our users of users, but these measures may not adequately address all potential data privacy concerns and security threats and may fail to meet the expectations of our users, and their users, or other stakeholders, which could thereby reduce the demand for our services. Furthermore, our users or service providers may respond to this data protection and privacy regulatory framework by requesting that we undertake certain privacy or data related contractual commitments that we are unable or unwilling to make, all of which can harm our business and our financial results.

Our future prospects may be adversely affected if we are unable to generate revenues from sources other than our premium subscription packages, which comprise a majority of our Creative Subscriptions segment.

In addition to Creative Subscriptions revenues generated from our premium subscription packages and domain registrations, we generate Business Solutions revenues from additional products and services that are offered to all of our registered users to enhance their digital presence, including revenue from the sale of applications, including email services provided by Google’s G-Suite, applications sold through our App Market or elsewhere on our platform, Ascend by Wix, Wix Answers, Wix Logo Maker, and from revenue sharing agreements we have for sale of payments services through Wix Payments. Although revenues generated from our Business Solutions segment grew by almost 50% for the year ended 2019 compared to the year ended 2018, we cannot offer any assurances that these segment revenues will continue to grow at a similar pace or that sales of applications or other value-added solutions and services we may offer in the future will be a significant part of our revenues. Material changes in our agreements with certain providers may significantly affect our ability to generate revenues from sources associated with such providers. If we do not succeed in selling these items, our future prospects may be adversely affected.

We are exposed to risks, including security risks, associated with payment processing, particularly in relation to payment transactions processed through Wix Payments, which may subject us to regulatory requirements, contractual obligations, and other risks that could be costly and difficult to comply with or that could harm our business.

We accept payments from our users primarily through credit and debit card transactions and alternative payment methods.

In addition, we facilitate payment collection by our users from their users through Wix Payments, an integrated payment processing solution that allows our users to accept payments from their users, on major credit and debit cards, and through other payment processing solutions that we offer.

We are subject to a number of risks related to our ability to receive payments from our users, and our facilitation of payment processing of our users from their users, including:

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we pay interchange and other fees, which may increase over time and may require us to either increase the prices we charge for our products or experience an increase in our operating expenses;

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if our billing systems fail to work properly and, as a result, we do not automatically charge our premium subscribers’ credit cards on a timely basis or at all, or our users are unable to collect payments from their users, we could lose revenues or cause our users to lose revenues which could harm our business and reputation;

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if we are unable to maintain our chargeback rate at acceptable levels, our credit card fees for chargeback transactions, or our fees for other credit and debit card transactions or issuers, may increase, issuers may terminate their relationship with us, or we may face fines from the issuers;

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increased costs and diversion of management time and effort and other resources to deal with user onboarding, fraudulent transactions or chargeback disputes;

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potential fraudulent or otherwise illegal activity by our users, their users, developers, employees or third parties which could lead to increased liability;

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our reliance on third parties such as gateways, payment service providers and acquiring banks, which may face down time and thus affect our cash flow;

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restrictions on our ability to collect payments from our users, such as under the second Payment Services Directive, or PSD2, which requires strong customer authentication for certain transactions that could impose operational complexity which our users may want to avoid;

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restrictions on funds or required reserves related to payments; and

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additional disclosure requirements, including new reporting regulations and new credit card associated rules.

Depending on how Wix Payments and our other payment solutions evolve, we may currently, or in the future, be subject to laws and regulations, either in existing or new jurisdictions, relating to our payment facilitation services. In some jurisdictions, the application or interpretation of these laws and regulations is not clear. Our efforts to comply with these laws and regulations could be costly and result in diversion of management time and effort and may still not guarantee compliance. In the event that we are found to be in violation of any such legal or regulatory requirements, we may be subject to monetary fines or other penalties such as a cease and desist order, or we may be required to make changes to our platform, any of which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The payment card networks, such as Visa and MasterCard, have also adopted rules and regulations that apply to all merchants who process and accept credit cards for payment of goods and services. We are obligated to comply with these rules and regulations as part of the contracts we enter into with payment processors and acquiring banks. The rules and regulations adopted by the payment card networks include the PCI Data Security Standards, or PCI DSS. Under the PCI DSS, we are required to adopt and implement internal controls over the use, storage and security of payment card data to help prevent fraud. If we fail to comply with the rules and regulations adopted by the payment card networks, including the PCI DSS, we would be in breach of our contractual obligations to payment processors and merchant banks, which may include indemnification clauses. Such failure to comply may subject us and/or our users to fines, penalties, damages, higher transaction fees, and civil liability, and could eventually prevent us or our users from processing or accepting debit and credit cards, or could lead to a loss of payment processor partners. We also cannot guarantee that such compliance will prevent illegal or improper use of our payments systems or the theft, loss or misuse of the debit or credit card data of registered users or participants or regulatory or criminal investigations. Moreover, any such illegal or improper payments could harm our reputation and may result in a loss of service for our registered users, which would adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

If we fail to maintain a consistently high level of customer care, our brand, business and financial results may be harmed.

We believe our focus on customer care is critical to retaining, expanding and further penetrating our user base, as well as converting registered users into purchasing premium subscriptions. As a result, we have invested in the quality, training and expansion of our customer care operations and call center personnel. If we are unable to scale up and maintain a consistently high level of customer care, we may lose existing registered users, we may be unable to increase conversion to premium subscriptions, or increase sales of additional products to existing users with premium subscriptions, and we may not see a return on our investment in our customer care operations. In addition, regardless of the performance of our customer care and call center, users of online services base their purchasing decisions on a number of factors, including price, design, integration abilities, functionality of services, reputation and ease of use. If we fail to maintain adequate customer care and ease the use of our platform’s functionality in accordance with our users’ needs, our reputation, financial results and business prospects may be materially harmed.

Exchange rate fluctuations may negatively affect our results of operations.

Our results of operations and cash flows are affected by fluctuations due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates. In 2019, approximately 70% of our revenues were denominated in U.S. dollars and approximately 30% in other currencies, primarily in Euros, British Pounds and the Brazilian Real. Conversely, in 2019, approximately 68% of our cost of revenues and operating expenses were denominated in U.S. dollars and approximately 28% in New Israeli Shekels, or NIS. Our NIS-denominated expenses consist primarily of personnel and overhead costs. Since a significant portion of our expenses are denominated in NIS, the appreciation of the NIS relative to the U.S. dollar might adversely impact our net loss or net income (if any). We estimate that a 10% appreciation in the value of the NIS against the U.S. dollar would have increased our net loss by approximately $23 million in 2019. We estimate that a 10% concurrent devaluation of foreign currencies including Euro, British Pound, Brazilian Real, Japanese Yen and Russian Ruble against the U.S. dollar would have increased our net loss by approximately $21 million in 2019. These estimates of the impact of fluctuations in currency exchange rates on our historic results of operations may be different from the impact of fluctuations in exchange rates on our future results of operations since the mix of currencies comprising our revenues and expenses may change. We evaluate periodically the various currencies to which we are exposed and take selective hedging measures to reduce the potential adverse impact from the appreciation or the devaluation of our non-U.S. dollar-denominated expenses and revenues, as appropriate and as reasonably available to us. We cannot provide any assurances that our hedging activities will be successful in protecting us from adverse impacts from currency exchange rate fluctuations. See “Item 11. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk.”

Failures of the third-party hardware, software and infrastructure on which we rely, including third-party data center hosting facilities, and failure to protect against cyber-attacks, could adversely affect our business.

We rely on collocated servers, cloud service providers and other third-party hardware, software and infrastructure to support our operations. Our primary data centers are located in two geographically separate locations in the United States, one located on the East coast and the other located on the West coast, and we have additional data centers in other locations to improve our performance. The vast majority of our data is located in our primary data centers in the United States hosted by Google, Inc. and Amazon.com, Inc., as well as by additional providers that we may need for specific purposes, and we also use cloud storage from Google, Inc. and Amazon.com, Inc. Our network equipment remains stored in servers leased from Hostway Services, Inc., which, in the past, hosted a more substantial amount of our data. If our server providers are unable or ceases, for any reason, to make its data centers available to us without sufficient advance notice, we would likely experience delays in billing our customers, until migration to an alternate data center provider is completed. Moreover, if for any reason our arrangement with one or more of the providers of the servers that we use is terminated, we could incur additional expenses in arranging for new facilities and support.

The owners and operators of the data centers and cloud services with which we are engaged, do not guarantee that our registered users’ access to our platform will be uninterrupted or error-free. We do not control the operation of these facilities and such facilities could be subject to break-ins, cyber-crimes, computer viruses, sabotage, industrial espionage, intentional acts of vandalism, fraud and other misconduct. Problems faced by our third-party hosting providers, including technological or business-related disruptions, as well as cybersecurity threats, could adversely impact our business and results of operations, as well as the experience of our users, which in turn could adversely impact our business and results of operations.

We and our hosting providers have in the past been, and expect to continue to be, subject to cyber-attacks, which have caused interruptions in our service. For example, we have been, and continue to be, the target of malicious denial-of-service, or DDoS attacks, a technique used by hackers to take an internet service offline by overloading its servers. Recent attacks have demonstrated that DDoS attacks continue to grow in size and sophistication and have an ability to widely disrupt internet services. The scale of some of these attacks against us has caused us and some of our registered user websites to experience significant but intermittent downtime. While none of these actual or attempted breaches has had a material impact on our operations or financial condition, we cannot provide any assurance that our business and results of operations will not be negatively materially affected by such breaches in the future.

Our servers, data centers and other facilities are also vulnerable to damage or interruption from fires, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, power loss, telecommunications failures or similar catastrophic events. Although we have multiple data centers, disruptions to any of these servers or facilities could interrupt our ability to provide our platform and solutions and materially adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Any disruption, disabling, or attack affecting our equipment and systems and the hardware, software and infrastructure on which we rely could result in a data security or privacy breach. Whether such event is a result of physical human error or malfeasance (whether accidental, fraudulent or intentional) or electronic in nature (such as malware, virus, or other malicious code), such an event could disrupt or delay our ability to provide our platform and solutions to subscribers, result in the unauthorized access to and disclosure of personal or confidential data, result in loss or corruption of data we store, subject us to legal liability and regulatory inquiry, harm our reputation and materially adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Our results of operations and business could be harmed if we fail to manage the growth of our infrastructure effectively or fail to expand our infrastructure into additional geographic locations.

We have experienced rapid growth in our business and operations, which places substantial demands on our operational infrastructure. The scalability and flexibility of our cloud-based infrastructure depends on the functionality of our third-party servers and their ability to handle increased traffic and demand for bandwidth. The significant growth in the number of registered users and transactions, and new developments and functionalities offered on our platform, has increased the amount of both our stored marketing and research data and the data of our registered users and their users. In the future, we may be required to allocate resources, and spend substantial amounts to build, purchase and lease data centers and equipment and upgrade our technology and network infrastructure, in order to handle increased customer traffic or in order to comply with data protection regulations in jurisdictions in which we provide our services. Any loss of such data due to disruptions in our infrastructure could result in harm to our brand or reputation. Moreover, as our registered user base grows, and as registered users rely on our platform for more complicated activities, we will need to devote additional resources to improving our infrastructure and continuing to enhance its scalability, in order to maintain the performance of our platform and solutions. Our need to effectively manage our operations and growth will also require that we continue to assess and improve our operational, financial and management controls, reporting systems and procedures. We may encounter difficulties obtaining the necessary personnel or expertise to improve those controls, systems and procedures on a timely basis relative to our growth. If we do not manage the growth of our business and operations effectively, the quality of our platform and efficiency of our operations could suffer, which could materially harm our results of operations and business.

We may face increased competition in a highly competitive market.

While there are other providers who offer features similar to those found in our solutions, we believe that we do not compete with traditional web development firms as we focus not only on web development but also on creativity, technology, design and complementary business solutions. Nevertheless, we do compete with aspects of the services provided by web-based website design platforms and software programs, as well as some of the service offerings of a number of template-based web builder companies and designers, as well as large service companies who offer domain registration and hosting services, and provide the ability for businesses, organizations, professionals and individuals to build a website using their tools or have one built by their workforce. Additionally, we may face competition from other companies that offer solutions that are competitive with the features offered within our Business Solutions, such as email service providers, payment facilitators, customer service platforms, and logo designers. In the future, we may also experience increased competition from web design companies if they broaden their product and service offerings, or lower their pricing. In addition, it is possible that other providers may in the future decide that offering a comprehensive platform similar to our platform represents an attractive business opportunity. In particular, if a more established company were to target our market, we may face significant competition from a company that enjoys potential competitive advantages, such as greater name recognition, longer operating histories, substantially greater market share, larger existing user bases and substantially greater financial, technical and other resources. Such companies may use these advantages to offer solutions and services similar to ours at a lower price, develop different solutions to compete with our current solutions and respond more quickly and effectively than we do to new or changing opportunities, technologies, standards or client requirements. We may also face competition from companies that offer their products and services to web design agencies and development professionals who create a web presence for their own customers. Increased competition could result in us failing to attract users and obtain premium subscriptions, including sales of premium subscriptions through our Partners, at the rate we expect, or maintain or increase our revenues from such premium subscriptions. It could also cause us to have higher acquisition costs or force us to lower our prices or take other steps that may materially adversely impact our results of operations.

Our business could be disrupted by catastrophic events, such as the recent outbreak of COVID-19.

The occurrence of any catastrophic event, including earthquake, fire, flood, tsunami, or other weather event, power loss, telecommunications failure, software or hardware malfunctions, cyber-attack, war, or terrorist attack, could result in lengthy disruptions in our service. Further, outbreaks of pandemic diseases, such as the recent outbreak of COVID-19, or the fear of such events, could provoke responses, including government-imposed travel restrictions, grounding of flights, and shutdown of workplaces, which would require us to find locations and solutions for our workforce to continue to work remotely. Recently, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the governments of the state of Israel and the state of California, as well as the governments of other jurisdictions have imposed lockdown measures on their populations, to varying degrees, which can have an impact on our ability to continue operating at the same capacity that we are accustomed to. Disruptions to business operations could result from employees and suppliers in areas affected by the outbreak being quarantined. Users in highly affected areas may experience a decrease in their business and operations, which could subsequently affect the revenues we are able to generate from those users. Even with our disaster recovery arrangements, our service and customer care activities could be disrupted. If our systems were to fail or be negatively impacted as a result such an event, our ability to deliver products to our users would be impaired or we could lose critical data. Although the impacts of the global emergence of COVID-19 on our business are not currently known, if we are unable to develop adequate plans to ensure that our business functions continue to operate during and after a disaster or pandemic event, such as COVID-19, and successfully execute those plans in the event of a disaster or emergency, our business, results of operations, financial condition, share price, and reputation would be harmed.

We have experienced rapid growth in headcount, both locally and internationally, and expect continued future growth. If we fail to manage our growth in headcount effectively, we may be unable to execute our business plan, maintain high levels of service or address competitive challenges adequately. Furthermore, our corporate culture has contributed to our success, and if we cannot maintain this culture as we grow, we could lose the innovation, creativity, and teamwork fostered by our culture, and our business may be harmed.

As of December 31, 2019, we had 3,071 employees and contractors, which represents an approximately 23.5% net growth in headcount since December 31, 2018. We currently have offices in Tel Aviv and Beer Sheba in Israel; San Francisco, Miami, New York, Phoenix, and Los Angeles in the U.S.; Vancouver, Canada; Kiev and Dnipro in Ukraine; Vilnius, Lithuania; Dublin, Ireland; Berlin, Germany; Tokyo, Japan; and Santana de Parnaiba, Brazil. We intend to further expand our overall business, including our headcount, and we may face challenges finding suitable office spaces which can accommodate our growth whilst maintaining our corporate culture, with no assurance that our revenues will continue to grow accordingly. As we grow, we will be required to continue to improve our operational and financial controls and reporting procedures and we may not be able to do so effectively. In addition, as we have grown, we have significantly expanded our lease commitments and we plan to further expand such commitments. Our growth has placed, and will likely continue to place, a significant strain on our managerial, administrative, operational, financial and other resources.

In addition, we believe that an important contributor to our success has been, and will continue to be, our corporate culture, which we believe fosters innovation, teamwork, passion for our users, and a focus on attractive designs and technologically advanced products. Other than our executive officers, most of our employees have been with us for less than two years. As we continue to grow and evolve both in Israel and internationally, we must effectively integrate, develop and motivate a growing number of new employees. As a result of our rapid growth, we may find it difficult to build and maintain our strong corporate culture, which could limit our ability to innovate and operate effectively. Additionally, liquidity available to our historic employee security holders because of our rising share price could lead to disparities of wealth among our employees, which could adversely impact relations among employees and our culture in general. Any failure to preserve our culture could also negatively affect our ability to retain current and recruit new personnel, continue to perform at current levels or execute on our business strategy.

Our revenues may not increase if we are unable to maintain market share for mobile sites and applications, or if our mobile products fail to achieve widespread acceptance, which may affect our business and future prospects.

Consumers are increasingly accessing the Internet through devices other than personal computers, such as mobile phones, smartphones and tablets. This trend has increased dramatically in the past few years and is projected to continue to increase. Acknowledging this trend, we launched our first free mobile offering in 2011, offering our registered users the ability to quickly and easily deploy an HTML5 mobile-optimized website and followed with a further enhanced mobile product in October 2013. In the fourth quarter of 2016, we launched the Wix App, a mobile application available on iOS and Android that allows our users to create and manage content on their websites from a mobile device. In the second quarter of 2018, we launched Wix on Mobile, which allows users to create a site using artificial design intelligence, or ADI, technology, customize its look and publish it, all from a mobile device. In the first quarter of 2020, we unveiled Editor X, a website creation platform offering advanced design and layouting capabilities which was built for designers across all devices. The mobile device market is characterized by the frequent introduction of new products and solutions, short product life cycles, evolving industry standards, continuous improvement in performance characteristics and rapid adoption of technological and product advancements. We may incur additional costs in order to adapt our current functionalities to other operating systems and we may face technical challenges adapting our products to different versions of already supported operating systems, such as Android variants offered by different mobile phone manufacturers. Furthermore, use of native applications is also subject to applicable terms of use of third-party application stores. If we are unable to offer continual improvements to our mobile solutions or adapt their functionalities to new and different operating systems, our mobile solutions may fail to achieve widespread acceptance by our registered users. Additionally, the providers of certain platforms, such as Apple, may limit or restrict access entirely to their platforms. Therefore, our revenues may not increase even if we continue to penetrate the mobile device market. Furthermore, we are dependent on the interoperability of our products with third-party mobile devices and mobile operating systems, as well as web browsers that we do not control. Any changes in such devices, systems or web browsers that degrade the functionality of our products or give preferential treatment to competitive products could adversely affect usage of our products.

Our business could be affected by the enactment of new governmental regulations regarding the Internet.

To date, government regulations have not materially restricted the use of the Internet in most parts of the world. The legal and regulatory environment pertaining to the Internet, however, is uncertain and may change. New laws may be passed, courts may issue decisions affecting the Internet, existing but previously inapplicable or unenforced laws may be deemed to apply to the Internet or regulatory agencies may begin to rigorously enforce such formerly unenforced laws, or existing legal safe harbors may be narrowed, both by U.S. federal or state governments and by governments of foreign jurisdictions. These changes could affect:

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the liability of online service providers for actions by customers, including fraud, illegal content, spam, phishing, libel and defamation, hate speech, infringement of third-party intellectual property and other abusive conduct;

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other claims based on the nature and content of Internet materials;

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user data privacy and security issues;

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consumer protection risks;

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digital marketing aspects;

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characteristics and quality of services;

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our ability to automatically renew the premium subscriptions of our users;

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cross-border e-commerce issues; and

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ease of access by our users to our platform.

The adoption of any new laws or regulations, or the application or interpretation of existing laws or regulations to the Internet, could hinder growth in the use of the Internet and online services generally, and decrease acceptance of the Internet and online services as a means of communications, e-commerce and advertising. In addition, such changes in laws could increase our costs of doing business, subject our business to increased liability for non-compliance or prevent us from delivering our services over the Internet or in specific jurisdictions, thereby materially harming our business and results of operations.

Activities of registered users or the content of their websites could render us liable as a provider of online services, damage our reputation and brand, or harm our ability to expand and retain our base of registered users and premium subscriptions, and our business and financial results.

Certain jurisdictions, including the United States and certain European countries, among others, have adopted laws relating to the liability of providers of online services for activities of their users and other third parties, including with respect to defamation, threats or incitement to violence, sale or purchase of illegal goods, exploitation of minors and others, terrorist activities, invasion of privacy and other torts, copyright and trademark infringement such as the recent directive of the European Union which may impose liability for copyright infringement on certain online platforms, and other theories based on the nature and content of the materials searched, the ads posted, or the content provided by users.

Certain actions of registered users that are deemed to be hostile, offensive or inappropriate to other users or to the public, or registered users acting under false or inauthentic identities or using our product to conduct illegal activities could negatively affect our reputation and brand and impose liability on us. This particularly applies to our registered users who do not have premium subscriptions and who, therefore, maintain the “Wix” logo on their websites. We do not monitor or review the appropriateness of the domain names our users register or the content of our registered users’ websites, and we do not have control over the activities in which our registered users engage. While we have adopted policies regarding illegal or offensive use of our services by our registered users and retain authority to terminate domain name registrations and to take down websites that violate these policies, users could nonetheless engage in these activities. The safeguards we have in place may not be sufficient to avoid liability on our part or avoid harm to our reputation and brand, especially if such hostile, offensive or inappropriate use was high profile, which could adversely affect our ability to expand our registered user base, and our business and financial results.

Furthermore, in the framework of Wix Payments we act as a payment facilitator for our users, pursuant to which we are required to monitor our users’ activity to ensure their compliance with certain standards applied by our payment networks. We may fail to appropriately monitor our users’ activity and be subject to liability.

At present, we do not require that our registered users post on their websites, or require their users to agree to, any terms of service, privacy policy, disclaimer or any other contractual documentation or policy. If our registered users do not post the appropriate documentation and policies on their websites and require their users’ consent to be bound by the terms of such documentation and policies, or should our registered users fail to take steps necessary to enjoy the benefits of certain statutory safe harbors, such as those set forth in Section 512 of the United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act and Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act, then they may expose themselves to civil and criminal liability under applicable law, for example, where their users post information which is libelous, defamatory, in breach of regulation concerning unacceptable content or publications, or in breach of any third-party intellectual property rights or where our registered users or their suppliers fail to process personal information in accordance with applicable law. It is possible that we could also be subject to liability.

Any court ruling or other governmental action that imposes liability on providers of online services for the activities of their users and other third parties could harm our business. In such circumstances, we may also be subject to liability under applicable law in a way which may not be fully mitigated by the user terms of service we require our registered users to agree to. Any liability attributed to us could adversely affect our brand, reputation, our ability to expand our user base and our financial position. Further, our indemnity from our registered users may also not be fully effective as a matter of practice if any user does not have sufficient assets, insurance or other means to back that indemnity. In addition, rising concern about the use of the Internet for illegal conduct, such as the unauthorized dissemination of national security information, money laundering or supporting terrorist activities may in the future produce legislation or other governmental action that could require changes to our products, solutions or services, restrict or impose additional costs upon the conduct of our business or cause our registered users to abandon material aspects of our service. Any such adverse legal or regulatory developments could substantially harm our operating results and business.

We have a history of operating losses and may not be able to achieve profitability in the future.

We have incurred net losses in each fiscal year since our inception and, as of December 31, 2019, we had an accumulated deficit of $405 million. We expect that our operating expenses will continue to increase in the near term, primarily from increased selling and marketing expenses related to user acquisition activities and increased research and development expenses related to enhancing the functionality of our solutions and introducing new solutions. We seek to leverage these expenses across a growing base of premium subscriptions, while maintaining and increasing the amount of revenues per premium subscription, in order to achieve profitability. Nevertheless, if we are unable to grow our premium subscriptions at the required rate or maintain or increase revenues per premium subscription, or if we incur unexpected expenses or choose to incur expenses that we believe are necessary or desirable (such as to invest in businesses, research and development or technologies that we believe will be important for our business), we may be unable to achieve profitability at the time expected by investors, or at all. Even if we achieve profitability, we may be unable to achieve or sustain profitable operations.

We rely on search engines and social networking sites to attract a meaningful portion of our registered users and for select social media data, and if those search engines or social networking sites change their listings or policies regarding advertising or data sharing, or increase their pricing or suffer problems, it may limit our ability to attract new registered users and potential Partners or collect valuable data.

We rely on search engines and social networking sites to attract new users, and many of our registered users locate our website and solutions by clicking through on search results displayed by search engines such as Google and Yahoo!, and advertisements on social networking and other media sites such as Facebook and YouTube. Search engines typically provide two types of search results, natural (i.e., non-paid) and purchased listings. Search page ranking level based on natural search results is determined and organized solely by automated criteria set by the search engine and a ranking level cannot be purchased. Advertisers can also pay search engines to place listings more prominently in search results and websites in order to attract users to advertisers’ websites. We rely on natural searches in order to attract free traffic to our website. We seek to increase the likelihood that our website is displayed prominently when a potential user searches for a way to build a website. Nevertheless, we cannot be sure that our efforts to optimize search engine results will succeed. Search engines revise their algorithms from time to time in an attempt to optimize their search result listings. In addition, some of the social media data provided by these search engines or social networking sites that we analyze to improve our strategy for attracting users to our platform, are provided to us pursuant to third-party data sharing policies and terms of use or under data sharing agreements by third-party providers. If search engines or social networking sites on which we rely for algorithmic listings or for data collection, modify their algorithms or change their terms of use or policies, our websites may appear less prominently or not at all in search results, which could result in fewer potential users or potential Partners clicking through to our website, and our ability to collect data may be impaired. Furthermore, competitors may bid on our name from search services in an attempt to capture potential traffic. Preventing such actions and recapturing potential traffic could increase our expenses. Further, search engines or social networking sites may change their policies from time to time regarding pay-per-click or other means of advertising or could also interpret our data collection policies or practices as being inconsistent with their policies. If any change to these policies delays or prevents us from advertising through these channels, this could result in fewer users clicking through to our website and could harm our ability to generate revenue from these potential users and collect valuable data.

Our business is susceptible to risks associated with international sales and the use of our platform in various countries as well as our ability to localize our platform is such countries.

We currently have users in approximately 190 countries and we expect to continue to increase the volume of our operations worldwide in the future. However, our operations in various countries subject us to risks which may include difficulties related to contract enforcement, including our terms of use, compliance with foreign laws, monitoring changes and addressing conflicting laws, lower levels of internet use, managing personnel and technology from afar, tax consequences, personnel culture differences and varying economic and political climates, currency exchange rates, different competition sources, different customer spending levels, levels of protection for intellectual property rights and lower levels of credit card use.

These factors, or other factors, may cause our international costs of doing business to exceed our expectations and may also require significant management attention and financial resources. Any negative impact from our international business efforts could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

In addition, we are looking to expand our presence in new markets, including in emerging countries, for which we are in the process of localizing our products in terms of the languages and currencies we use, expanding our systems to accept payments in forms that are common in these target markets and tailoring our customer care, to provide our users with a local experience and cater to their specific needs. We intend to continue our international expansion efforts, including by partnering with large local sales channel partners who can assist us to penetrate new markets. To achieve our goals, we must continue to hire and train experienced personnel to staff and manage our international expansion. Our international expansion efforts may be slow or unsuccessful to the extent that we experience difficulties in recruiting, training, managing and retaining qualified personnel with international experience, language skills and cultural competencies in the geographic markets we target, or if we engage with a Partner who is not appropriately qualified to operate in local markets. In addition, the expansion of our existing international operations and entry into additional international markets has required, and will continue to require, significant management attention and financial resources. We may also face pressure to lower our prices in order to compete in emerging markets, which could adversely affect revenue derived from our international operations. These and other factors associated with our international operations could impair our growth prospects and adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

We may face challenges expanding our premium subscription base and increasing revenues in emerging markets due to difficulties in these markets associated with payment collections as well as legal, economic, tax and political risks that are greater than in more developed markets.

Expanding our business into emerging markets is an important component of our growth strategy and presents challenges that are different from those associated with more developed international markets. In particular, regulations limiting the use of local credit cards and foreign currency could constrain our growth in certain countries. For example, regulations in certain countries do not permit recurring charges on credit cards. We have established subsidiaries in certain foreign jurisdictions and may continue to expand into new jurisdictions in order to facilitate local payments, and may be subject to local regulations in such respective jurisdictions. It is often difficult to establish an effective local business model, and we may need to enter into agreements with third parties to process, on our behalf, payments via credit cards or alternative payment methods, including offline payment methods, or otherwise modify our business plans or operations in order to establish a local presence in emerging countries, which may delay our entry into these markets or increase our costs. Additionally, in emerging markets we may face the risk of rapidly changing government policies, including with respect to bank transfers and various payment methods including offline, and we may encounter sudden currency devaluations. Currency controls in emerging countries may make it hard for us to repatriate collections or profits that we generated in a particular country. It is possible that the governments of one or more countries may censor or block access to the Internet or specifically our website due to political concerns or in response to certain incidents or events, thereby preventing people in these countries, including our registered users, from accessing our products. The growth of our business may be materially adversely affected if we are unable to expand our registered user base in emerging markets.

We may make acquisitions and investments, which could result in operating difficulties and other harmful consequences.

From time to time, we evaluate potential strategic acquisition or investment opportunities. Any transactions that we enter into could be material to our financial condition and results of operations. As described in Item 4.A. under the header “Information on the Company-History and Development of the Company–Our History,” in 2017, we acquired U.S. - based DeviantArt, Inc., or DeviantArt. Prior to the DeviantArt acquisition, we had not made any significant acquisitions and our management has not had any experience making significant acquisitions or integrating acquired businesses. Additionally, in February 2020, we acquired U.S.-based InkFrog, Inc. and in March 2020 we acquired the assets and key employees of WebsPlanet Ltd. The process of integrating an acquired company, business or technology, could create unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures. We may not be able to successfully integrate the acquired personnel, operations and technologies or effectively manage the combined business following the completion of the acquisition or any other complementary businesses or technologies we acquire in the future. Acquisitions and investments we evaluate from time to time may carry with them a number of risks, including the following:

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diversion of management time and focus from operating our business;

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an inability to achieve synergies as planned;

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potential incompatibility of corporate cultures;

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implementation or remediation of controls, procedures and policies of the acquired company;

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coordination of product, engineering and selling and marketing functions;

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retention of employees from the acquired company;

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liabilities that are larger than we currently anticipate and unforeseen increased expenses or delays associated with acquisitions, including transition costs to integrate acquired businesses that may exceed the costs that we currently anticipate;

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litigation or other claims arising in connection with the acquired company;

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the need to integrate operations across different cultures and languages and to address the particular economic, currency, political and regulatory risks associated with specific countries;

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the use of resources that are needed in other parts of our business;

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the use of substantial portions of our available cash to consummate the acquisition;

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share-based dilution as a result of equity grants to new hires of our acquired companies;

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incurrence of acquisition-related costs; and

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unrealistic goals or projections for the acquisition.

Our failure to address these risks or other problems encountered in connection with acquisitions and investments we evaluate from time to time could cause us to fail to realize the anticipated benefits of such acquisitions or investments, incur unanticipated liabilities and expenses and harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Existing federal, state and foreign laws and regulations governing the senders of commercial emails and text messages, and other consumer protection laws as well as standards of conduct implemented by private entities, could impact the use of our products and potentially subject us and our users to regulatory enforcement or private litigation.

Certain regulatory regimes, such as the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003, or the CAN-SPAM Act, establish specific requirements for commercial email messages and specific penalties for the transmission of commercial email messages that are intended to deceive the recipient as to source or content, and obligates, among other things, the sender of commercial emails to provide recipients with the ability to opt out of receiving future commercial emails from the sender. In addition, certain states and foreign jurisdictions prohibit sending unsolicited emails unless the recipient has provided the sender with advance consent to receive such email. We may be found liable in the event we are deemed to have been non-compliant with any such requirements. Furthermore, the ability of our users to opt out from receiving commercial emails from us, may decrease the effectiveness of our email marketing strategy and may subject us to legal exposure if we do not adequately honor the user’s opt out request.

Various private entities also attempt to regulate commercial solicitation via email. These entities often advocate standards of conduct or practice that significantly exceed current legal requirements and classify certain email solicitations that comply with current legal requirements as SPAM, which could lead the sender to be “blacklisted” by such private entities. If we are blacklisted by any such private entity, we may not be able to reach out to our users, which could materially harm our business and brand.

Compliance with other consumer protection laws and regulations such as the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, or TCPA, meant to protect recipients of tele-marketing phone calls or text messages, FTC and Federal Restore Online Shoppers Confidence Act of 2010, or ROSCA, regulations, addressing subscription auto-renewal disclosure requirements, refund policy disclosure requirements, and other requirements relating to proper disclosure of our terms of use, could increase our costs of doing business or subject our business to increased liability for non-compliance, and could materially harm our business and results of operations. We may also potentially be subject to further legal exposure in the event our users are non-compliant with any of the above regulatory and industry standards with respect to their users.

As a domain name registrar we are required to comply with industry regulations and could face liability in disputes over registration and transfer of domain names.

In July 2018, we became accredited by ICANN as a domain name registrar. ICANN oversees a number of Internet related tasks, including managing the Domain Name System (DNS) the allocation of IP addresses, the accreditation of domain name registrars and registries and the definition and coordination of policy development for all of these functions.

Our ability to offer domain name registration is subject to our ongoing relationship with, and continued accreditation by, ICANN. Additionally, we continue to face the risks that:

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the terms of the Registrar Accreditation Agreement, or RAA, under which we are accredited as a registrar, could change in ways that are disadvantageous to us or under certain circumstances could be terminated by ICANN, thereby preventing us from operating our registrar service, or ICANN could adopt unilateral changes to the RAA that are unfavorable to us, that are inconsistent with our current or future plans, or that affect our competitive position;

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international regulatory or governing bodies, such as the International Telecommunications Union, a specialized agency of the United Nations, or the EU, may gain increased influence over the management and regulation of the domain name registration system, leading to increased regulation and oversight; and

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ICANN or any third-party registries may implement policy changes impacting our ability to operate as a domain name registrar.

Additionally, as a domain name registrar, we may become aware of disputes over ownership or control of user accounts, websites or domain names, and we could face potential liability for our role in the wrongful transfer of control or ownership of accounts, websites or domain names. We could also face potential liability for our failure to renew a user's domain. The safeguards and procedures we have adopted may not be successful in protecting us against liability from such claims in the future.

If we are unable to attract a more diverse customer base, such as Partners, mid-size, large and enterprise level companies, and tech savvy users, for which we have developed more customized solutions and applications, our business, growth prospects and operating results could be adversely affected.

Our business has been focused in the past few years on serving users who are considering starting a business and small or medium-sized businesses and ventures that are up and running but need help growing and expanding their digital capabilities. Recently, our business is also focused on new user segments, such as Partners and mid-size, large and enterprise level companies, for which we are developing new features and applications, such as back office functionality required to serve their customers and manage a large volume of subscriptions. Some of our newly developed products are suited for more technically skilled users or web developers, such as Corvid by Wix, which we launched in July 2017 under its previous name Wix Code, that enables our users to build advanced and content-rich websites and applications using their advanced development capabilities. In February 2020, we introduced Editor X, a website creation platform offering advanced design and layouting capabilities specifically targeted at our Partners. If we are unable to increase sales of our products to Partners, mid-size, large and enterprise level companies, tech savvy users, or other customer segments we may target at, our estimated total addressable market may be overstated and our business, growth prospects and operating results may be adversely affected.

Our business will suffer if the small business market for our solutions proves less lucrative than projected or if we fail to effectively acquire and service small business users.

A majority of our premium subscriptions are from small businesses. Small businesses frequently have limited budgets and may choose to allocate resources to items other than our solutions, especially in times of economic uncertainty or recessions. We believe that the small business market is underserved, and we intend to continue to devote substantial resources to it, including through our Partners who sell directly to their customers, some of which are small businesses. We aim to grow our revenues by adding new small business customers, selling additional business solutions to existing small business customers and encouraging existing small business customers to renew their subscriptions to our premium solutions. If the small business market fails to be as lucrative as we project or we are unable to market and sell our services to small businesses effectively, directly or through our Partners, our ability to grow our revenues quickly and become profitable will be harmed.

Our relatively short operating history in a developing market and our increasing efforts selling to new customer segments might make it difficult to evaluate our current business and future prospects, and may increase the risk that we will not be successful.

We were founded in 2006 and the majority of our revenue growth has occurred since 2011. This history may not be long enough to effectively assess our future prospects or predict our future performance.

We also operate in a relatively developing market, compared to older and more established industries, the development of which may be difficult to predict, and that may not develop as expected. In addition, we have recently increased our efforts to sell our products and services, including within our Business Solutions segment, to Partners and mid-size, large or enterprise level companies. We believe that the growth in our registered user base and revenues may indicate that our business strategy is successful, but you should consider our future prospects in light of the challenges and uncertainties that we face, including the fact that our business has grown rapidly and it may not be possible to discern fully the trends that we are subject to, that we operate in a relatively developing market, that elements of our business strategy, including the increased focus on sales through Partners, remain subject to ongoing development, and that new competitors may enter our market and existing competitors are also growing their businesses, including through consolidation and mergers and extension of their marketing budgets.

If we do not or cannot maintain the compatibility of our platform and solutions with changes and developments in third-party applications, or if the third-party applications that we offer fail to keep pace with competitors’ offerings, the demand for our solutions and platform could decline.

The attractiveness of our platform depends, in part, on our ability to integrate third-party applications and services which our registered users desire, into their websites, or develop and offer those applications independently. Third-party application providers may change the features of their applications and platforms or alter the terms governing the use of their applications and platforms in an adverse manner. Further, third-party application providers may discontinue their engagement with us, or refuse to partner with us, or limit or restrict our access to their applications and platforms. Such changes could functionally limit or terminate our ability to use these third-party applications and platforms with our platform, which could negatively impact our offerings and harm our business. Additionally, competitors may offer functionality which our registered users desire, that offer better functionality than the third-party applications or integrated solutions in our platform. If we fail to integrate our platform with new third-party applications that our registered users need for their websites or develop them independently, or adapt to the data transfer requirements of such third-party applications and platforms or any other requirements, we may not be able to offer the functionality that our registered users expect, which would negatively impact our offerings and, as a result, harm our business.

Because we recognize revenues from premium subscriptions over the term of an agreement, downturns or upturns in sales are not immediately reflected in full in our operating results.

A majority of our revenues are recognized over the term of our contracts. As a result, much of the revenue we report each quarter is the recognition of deferred revenue from premium subscriptions entered into during previous quarters. Consequently, a shortfall in demand for our solutions and services or a decline in new or renewed contracts in any one quarter may not significantly reduce our revenues for that quarter but could negatively affect our revenues in future quarters. Accordingly, the effect of significant downturns in new or renewed sales of our solutions and service offerings are not fully reflected in our results of operations until future periods.

Our business and prospects would be harmed if changes to technologies used in our solutions or new versions or upgrades of operating systems and Internet browsers adversely impact the process by which registered users interface with our platform.

The user interface for our platform is currently simple and straightforward, which we believe has helped us to expand our user base even among users with little technical expertise. In the future, operating system providers, such as Microsoft or Apple, or any other provider of Internet browsers, could introduce new features that would make it difficult to use our platform. In addition, Internet browsers for desktop or mobile devices could introduce new features, or change existing browser specifications such that they would be incompatible with our products and solutions, or prevent end users from accessing our registered users’ sites. For example, operating systems or major Internet browsers, such as Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome or Safari, could become unstable or incompatible with HTML5-based products and solutions. Any changes to technologies used in our solutions, including within operating systems or Internet browsers that make it difficult for registered users to access our platform, or users of users to access our registered users’ sites, may slow the growth of our user base, and materially adversely impact our business and prospects.

We are subject to trade and economic sanctions and export laws that may govern or restrict our business, and we, and our directors and officers, may be subject to fines or other penalties for non-compliance with those laws.

U.S. Laws and Regulations

We are subject to U.S. export control and trade and economic sanctions laws and regulations, including the Export Administration Regulations, or EAR, administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, or “BIS”, and the various sanctions programs administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, or collectively, U.S. Trade Controls. U.S. Trade Controls may prohibit or restrict our ability to, directly or indirectly, conduct activities or dealings in countries or territories that are the target of comprehensive U.S. sanctions, or collectively, U.S. Sanctioned Countries, and with persons that are the target of U.S. Trade Controls-related prohibitions and restrictions. We endeavor to conduct our business in compliance with applicable U.S. Trade Controls, and have developed, implemented, and maintain policies and procedures designed to prevent unauthorized activities. However, we cannot guarantee that such protocols will be fully protective, and our failure to comply could result in adverse legal and business consequences, including civil or criminal penalties, government investigations, and reputational harm.

Israeli Laws and Regulations

The Israeli Trading with the Enemy Ordinance—1939, or the Ordinance, prohibits any Israeli person from trading goods with enemy countries or with the residents of enemy countries. The Israeli Ministry of Finance, which is responsible for implementing the Ordinance, has currently determined enemy countries to be Iran, Lebanon and Syria, or Israeli Sanctioned Countries. The Ordinance was enacted in 1939 and does not expressly address online services. We therefore cannot state with certainty how the provisions of the Ordinance apply to the type of services that we provide.

We voluntarily approached the Israeli Ministry of Finance in September 2013 and asked for its formal position regarding the applicability of the Ordinance to the type of services that we provide. We do not know the extent to which the Ministry of Finance will want to have further discussions with us, the timing of those discussions or the ultimate outcome of their deliberations. Although the Ordinance allows Israeli persons to apply for a permit to trade with Israeli Sanctioned Countries or their residents, we are not aware of a permit being granted or denied in the past to a person providing the type of services that we provide.

We have ceased providing services to users with a GEOIP address in, or a top level domain of, a U.S. Sanctioned Country. Lebanon is the only Israeli Sanctioned Country that is not also a U.S. Sanctioned Country. The number of registered users and premium subscribers that we had in Lebanon was never material to our business, and since December 2018, the Lebanese government blocked access to our platform in Lebanon, and we are uncertain whether or not this block will be lifted in the near future. However, if we initiate any access block to our services in Lebanon, it may decrease the number of our current and future subscribers from other countries, particularly in the Middle East, who may cease using our services in protest to our blocking accounts in Israeli Sanctioned Countries.

In addition, if it is determined by a competent court that sanctions under the Ordinance cover the type of services that we provide, we, our officers and employees may be subject to criminal and/or civil actions. We believe that our initiation of voluntary discussions with the Israeli Ministry of Finance may reduce such exposure, but any liability to which we are subject could adversely affect our personnel, brand and reputation.

We may be unable to obtain, maintain and protect our intellectual property rights and proprietary information or prevent third parties from making unauthorized use of our technology.

Our intellectual property rights are important to our business. We rely on a combination of patent, trademark, copyright and trade-secret laws, as well as licensing agreements and third-party nondisclosure and assignment agreements to protect our intellectual property and know-how. However, the steps we take to protect our intellectual property may be inadequate. We will not be able to protect our intellectual property if we are unable to enforce our rights or if we do not detect unauthorized use of our intellectual property. Despite our precautions, it may be possible for unauthorized third parties to copy our products and use information that we regard as proprietary to create solutions and services that compete with ours. Because of the differences in foreign trademark, patent and other laws concerning proprietary rights, our intellectual property rights may not receive the same degree of protection in foreign countries as they would in the United States. Some license provisions protecting against unauthorized use, copying, transfer and disclosure of our solutions may be unenforceable under the laws of certain jurisdictions and foreign countries.

To protect our trade-secrets, know-how and other proprietary information, we enter into confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with our employees and consultants and enter into confidentiality agreements with the parties with whom we have strategic relationships and business alliances. No assurance can be given that these agreements will be effective in controlling access to our trade-secrets, know-how, or proprietary information. Further, these agreements do not prevent our competitors from independently developing technologies that are substantially equivalent or superior to our solutions. It is possible that others will independently develop the same or similar technology or otherwise obtain access to our unpatented technology.

We have filed a number of applications for patents and copyrights to protect our technologies. While we generally apply for patents in those countries where we intend to make, have made, use, or sell patented products, we may not accurately predict all of the countries where patent protection will ultimately be desirable. If we fail to timely file a patent application in any such country, we may be precluded from doing so at a later date. We cannot assure you that the patents issued as a result of our foreign patent applications will have the same scope of coverage as our United States patents.

Many patent applications in the U.S. are maintained in secrecy for a period of time after they are filed, and since publication of discoveries in the scientific or patent literature tends to lag behind actual discoveries by several months, we cannot be certain that we will be the first creator of inventions covered by any patent application we make or that we will be the first to file patent applications on such inventions. There is also a risk that we could adopt a technology without knowledge of a pending patent application, which technology would infringe a third-party patent once that patent is issued.

We rely on our brand and trademarks to identify our solutions to our registered users and to differentiate our solutions from those of our competitors. While we aim to acquire adequate protection for our brand through trademark registrations in key markets, occasionally third parties may have already registered or otherwise acquired rights to identical or similar marks for solutions that also address the software market. If we are unable to adequately protect our trademarks, third parties may use our brand names or trademarks similar to ours in a manner that may cause confusion to our registered users or confusion in the market, or dilute our brand names or trademarks, which could decrease the value of our brand. Third parties may also oppose our trademark applications, or otherwise challenge our use of the trademarks. In the event that our trademarks are successfully challenged, we could be forced to rebrand our products, which could result in loss of brand recognition, and could require us to devote resources for the advertising and marketing of new brands.

Although we rely on copyright laws to protect the works of authorship (including software) created by us, we do not register the copyrights in all of our copyrightable works. Copyrights of U.S. origin must be registered before the copyright owner may bring an infringement suit in the United States. Furthermore, if a copyright of U.S. origin is not registered within three months of publication of the underlying work, the copyright owner is precluded from seeking statutory damages or attorney’s fees in any United States enforcement action, and is limited to seeking actual damages and lost profits. Accordingly, if one of our unregistered copyrights of U.S. origin is infringed by a third party, we will need to register the copyright before we can file an infringement suit in the United States, and our remedies in any such infringement suit may be limited. Any of our pending or future patent, copyright or trademark applications, whether or not challenged, may not be issued with the scope of the claims we seek, if at all. We are unable to guarantee that additional patents, copyrights or trademarks will issue from pending or future applications or that, if patents, copyrights or trademarks issue, they will not be challenged, invalidated or circumvented, or that the rights granted under the patents, copyrights or trademarks will provide us with meaningful protection or any commercial advantage.

From time to time, we may discover that third parties are infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating our intellectual property rights. However, policing unauthorized use of our intellectual property and misappropriation of our technology is difficult and expensive and we may therefore not always be aware of such unauthorized use or misappropriation, or have adequate resources to enforce our intellectual property rights. Despite our efforts to protect our intellectual property rights, unauthorized third parties may attempt to use, copy or otherwise obtain and market or distribute our intellectual property rights or technology or otherwise develop solutions with the same or similar functionality as our solutions. If competitors infringe, misappropriate or otherwise misuse our intellectual property rights and we are not adequately protected, or if such competitors are able to develop solutions with the same or similar functionality as ours without infringing our intellectual property, our competitive position and results of operations could be harmed and our legal costs could increase.

Third parties may assert infringement claims against our users relating to our products and solutions. These claims may require us to initiate or defend protracted and costly litigation on behalf of our users, regardless of the merits of these claims. If any of these claims succeed, we may be forced to pay damages on behalf of our users or may be required to obtain licenses for the products they use. If we cannot obtain all necessary licenses on commercially reasonable terms, our users may be forced to stop using our products.

We may become subject to claims for remuneration or royalties for assigned service invention rights by our contractors or employees, which could result in litigation and adversely affect our business.

We enter into assignment of invention agreements with our employees pursuant to which such individuals agree to assign to us all rights to any inventions created in the scope of their employment or engagement with us. Under the Israeli Patent Law, 1967, or the Patents Law, inventions conceived by an employee or a person deemed to be an employee during the scope of their employment with a company are regarded as “service inventions,” which are owned by the employer, absent a specific agreement between employee and employer giving the employee service invention rights. The Patents Law also provides that in the absence of an agreement between the employer and employee (or a person deemed to be an employee) that prescribes whether, to what extent, and on what conditions the employee is entitled to remuneration for his or her service inventions, the employee is entitled to refer the matter to the Israeli Compensation and Royalties Committee, a body constituted under the Patents Law, which will determine whether the employee is entitled to such remuneration. The Patents Law provides general guidelines for determining this Committee-enforced remuneration, which have not yet been applied by the Committee in its rulings. Although our contractors or employees, in Israel and in the other jurisdictions in which we operate, have agreed to assign to us service invention rights, we may face claims challenging such agreements and demanding remuneration in consideration for assigned inventions. As a consequence of such claims, we could be required to pay additional remuneration or royalties to our current or former contractors or employees, or be forced to litigate such claims, which could negatively affect our business.

We are currently, and have in the past been, subject to claims by third parties of intellectual property infringement and may in the future become subject to similar or other claims that, regardless of merit, could result in litigation and materially adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition.

We have experienced, and may continue to experience, third-party assertions that our solutions, services and intellectual property infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate their intellectual property or other proprietary rights. Such claims may be made directly against us, or against our users or other business partners using our technology. Additionally, in recent years, non-practicing entities, or NPEs, have begun purchasing intellectual property assets for the purpose of making claims of infringement and attempting to extract settlements from companies like ours. We entered into settlement agreements in the past with two NPEs with respect to patent infringement claims. We have also licensed patents from third parties in areas that are related to our technology.

Any such claims, regardless of merit, whether resulting in litigation or not, could result in substantial expense and time spent, divert the attention of management, cause significant delays in introducing new solutions or services, materially disrupt the conduct of our business and have a material and adverse effect on our brand, reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations. As a consequence of such claims, we could be required to pay substantial damages, develop non-infringing technology, enter into royalty-bearing licensing agreements in order to obtain the right to use a third party’s intellectual property, stop selling or marketing some or all of our solutions or services or re-brand our solutions or services. Any licensing agreements, if required, may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If it appears necessary, we may seek to license intellectual property that we are alleged to infringe, potentially even if we believe such claims to be without merit. If required licenses cannot be obtained, or if existing licenses are not renewed, litigation could result. Litigation is inherently uncertain and any adverse decision could result in a loss of our proprietary rights, subject us to significant liabilities, require us to seek licenses for alternative technologies from third parties and otherwise negatively affect our business.

Our platform contains open source software, which may pose particular risks to our proprietary software and solutions.

We use open source software in connection with our software development or software we purchase within the framework of an acquisition. From time to time, companies that use open source software have faced claims challenging the use of open source software and/or compliance with open source license terms, and we may be subject to such claims in the future. Some open source licenses require users who distribute software containing open source to make available all or part of such software, which in some circumstances could include valuable proprietary code of the user. While we monitor the use of open source software and try to ensure that none is used in a manner that would require us to disclose our proprietary source code or that would otherwise breach the terms of an open source agreement, it is our view that the majority of our services are not considered as distributed software, since no installation of our software is necessary and the editing and design platform is accessible solely through the “cloud.” Nevertheless, part of our services, such as our mobile application for example, are considered a distribution of software. In those instances, if a specific open source license requires it, we might be obligated to disclose part of our proprietary code. Any requirement to disclose our proprietary source code or pay damages for breach of contract could be harmful to our business, results of operations or financial condition, and could help our competitors develop products and services that are similar to or better than ours.

If our estimates or judgments relating to our critical accounting policies prove to be incorrect, our results of operations could be adversely affected.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, as provided. The results of these estimates form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets, liabilities and equity, and the amounts of revenue and expenses that are not readily apparent from other sources. Significant assumptions and estimates used in preparing our consolidated financial statements include those related to revenue recognition, capitalization of our internal-use software development costs and accruals and contingencies. Our results of operations may be adversely affected if our assumptions change or if actual circumstances differ from those in our assumptions, which could cause our results of operations to fall below the expectations of securities analysts and investors, resulting in a decline in the trading price of our ordinary shares.

Changes in financial accounting standards or practices may cause adverse, unexpected financial reporting fluctuations and affect our results of operations.

A change in accounting standards or practices may have a significant effect on our results of operations and may affect our reporting of transactions completed before the change is effective. New accounting pronouncements and varying interpretations of accounting pronouncements have occurred and may occur in the future. Changes to existing rules or the application thereof and changes to current practices may adversely affect our reported financial results or the way we conduct our business.

For example, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), which became effective on January 1, 2019 and resulted in an adjustment of $51 million to our opening assets and $52 million to our opening liabilities as of January 1, 2019. There may be other standards that become effective in the future that may have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

Our business depends on our customers’ continued and unimpeded access to the Internet and the development and maintenance of the Internet infrastructure. Internet service providers may be able to block, degrade or charge for access to certain of our products, which could lead to additional expenses and the loss of customers.

Our services depend on the ability of our registered users to access the Internet. Currently, this access is provided by companies that have significant market power in the broadband and Internet access marketplace, including incumbent telephone companies, cable companies, mobile communications companies and government-owned service providers. Laws or regulations that adversely affect the growth, popularity or use of the Internet, including changes to laws or regulations impacting Internet neutrality, could decrease the demand for our products, increase our operating costs, require us to alter the manner in which we conduct our business and/or otherwise adversely affect our business. We could experience discriminatory or anti-competitive practices that could impede our growth, cause us to incur additional expense or otherwise negatively affect our business. For example, paid prioritization could enable Internet service providers, or ISPs, to impose higher fees and otherwise adversely impact our business. Internationally, government regulation concerning the Internet, and in particular, network neutrality, may be developing or non-existent. Within such a regulatory environment, we could experience discriminatory or anti-competitive practices that could impede both our and our customers’ domestic and international growth, increase our costs or adversely affect our business.

The number of our registered users may be higher than the number of actual users, depending on the level of engagement of a particular user following registration.

We use the definition “registered user” to mean the number of unique email addresses registered on Wix.com that begin the process of building a website on Wix, including those who purchase premium subscriptions and excluding users of certain products that are considered stand-alone products. The number of registered users as we define it may be higher than the actual number of individual users, because some users have multiple registrations and others may have registered under different or fictitious names. We also do not count users who use and/or purchase stand-alone products such as Wix Logo Maker or Wix Answers as registered users until they begin the process of building a website. Furthermore, the number of websites created may differ from the number of registered users since a registered user can create multiple websites or not create a website at all. The length of time that registered users take, following registration, to design and publish a website varies significantly from hours to years. We consider the rate at which we generate premium subscriptions and the revenue we generate from such premium subscriptions to be material to our business. If the number of our registered users is materially inconsistent with the number of our actual individual users, our user base, which we believe is important to the growth of our premium subscriptions, may be overstated. If that is the case, our business may not grow as fast as we expect, and our financial results and business prospects may be harmed.

U.S. states and/or other jurisdictions in which we conduct our business may seek to impose state and local business taxes and sales/use taxes and current value added taxes on Internet sales in Europe and elsewhere and the tax policies and regulations imposed by other jurisdictions in which we operate may change, all of which may affect our tax rates and increase our tax liabilities.

There is a risk that U.S. states could assert that we or our subsidiaries are liable for U.S. state and local business activity taxes based upon income or gross receipts or for the collection of U.S. local sales/use taxes. This risk exists regardless of whether we and our subsidiaries are subject to U.S. federal income tax. States are becoming increasingly aggressive in asserting a nexus for business activity tax purposes and imposing sales/use taxes on products and services provided over the Internet. We and our subsidiaries could be subject to U.S. state and local taxation if a state tax authority asserts that our activities or the activities of our subsidiaries give rise to a nexus. We and our subsidiaries could also be liable for the collection of U.S. state and local sales/use taxes if a state tax authority asserts that distribution of our products over the Internet is subject to sales/use taxes. Multiple U.S. states have enacted related legislation relating to the taxation of e-commerce and other states are now considering such legislation. Furthermore, the U.S. Supreme Court held in 2018 in South Dakota v. Wayfair that a U.S. state may require an online retailer to collect sales taxes imposed by that state, even if the retailer has no physical presence in that state, thus permitting a wider enforcement of such sales tax collection requirements. Such legislation could require us to incur substantial costs in order to comply, including costs associated with legal advice, tax calculation, collection, remittance and audit requirements, which could make selling in such markets less attractive and could adversely affect our business. Further, if a state tax authority asserts that distribution of our products or services is subject to such sales/use taxes, our premium subscribers could also be subjected to sales/use taxes, which may decrease the likelihood that such registered users would purchase or continue to renew their premium subscriptions. Additionally, sales of our solutions subject to value-added tax, or VAT, at the applicable rate in each jurisdiction, may increase and cause either our prices to increase or our collections and revenues to decline. New obligations to collect or pay taxes of any kind could substantially increase our cost of doing business. Furthermore, the base erosion and profit shifting, or BEPS, initiative undertaken by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, which contemplates changes to numerous international tax principles, as well as national tax incentives, may have adverse consequences on our tax liabilities. It is difficult to assess to what extent these changes may be implemented in the jurisdictions in which we conduct our business or may impact the way in which we conduct our business or our effective tax rate, due to the unpredictability and interdependency of these potential changes. We therefore cannot predict at this stage the magnitude of the effect of such rules on our financial results.

Our cash balances and investment portfolio have been, and may continue to be, adversely affected by market conditions and interest rates.

At December 31, 2019, we had $562.2 in cash and cash equivalents and $341.6 in short-term and long-term marketable securities. Although we follow an established investment policy and set of guidelines to manage our investment portfolio which are designed to be consistent with the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, in order not to be required to register as an investment company thereunder, our investments are subject to general credit, liquidity, and interest rate risks. The performance of the capital markets affects the values of the funds that are held in marketable securities. These assets are subject to market fluctuations and various developments, including, without limitation, rating agency downgrades that may impair their value. We expect that market conditions will continue to fluctuate and that the fair value of our investments may be affected accordingly.

We generally buy and hold our portfolio positions, while minimizing credit risk by setting limits for minimum credit rating and maximum concentration per issuer. Our investments consist primarily of government and corporate debentures. Although we believe that we generally adhere to conservative investment guidelines, the continuing turmoil in the financial markets, especially in the recent weeks due to the uncertainties related to the development of COVID-19, may result in impairments of the carrying value of our investment assets. We classify our investments as available-for-sale. Changes in the fair value of investments classified as available-for-sale are not recognized as income during the period, but rather are recognized as other comprehensive income, or OCI, which is a separate component of equity until realized. Realized losses in our investments portfolio may adversely affect our financial position and results.

The outlook for our financial income is dependent on many factors, some of which are beyond our control, and they include the future direction of interest rates, the amount of any share repurchases or acquisitions that we effect and the amount of cash flows from operations that are available for investment. We rely on third-party money managers to manage the majority of our investment portfolio in a risk-controlled framework. Our investment portfolio throughout the world is invested primarily in fixed-income securities and is affected by changes in interest rates. Interest rates are highly sensitive to many factors, including governmental monetary policies and domestic and international economic and political conditions.

Any significant decline in the value of our investments as a result of the changes in interest rates and interest rate expectations of the financial markets, deterioration in the credit rating of the securities in which we have invested, or general market conditions, could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

Our Convertible Notes may impact our financial results, result in the dilution of existing shareholders, create downward pressure on the price of our ordinary shares, and restrict our ability to take advantage of future opportunities.

In June and July of 2018, we sold $442.75 million aggregate principal amount of 0.00% Convertible Senior Notes due 2023, or the “Convertible Notes.” The sale of the Convertible Notes may affect our earnings per share figures, as accounting procedures may require that we include in our calculation of earnings per share the number of ordinary shares into which the Convertible Notes are convertible. The Convertible Notes may be converted, under the conditions and at the premium specified in the Convertible Notes, into cash and our ordinary shares, if any (subject to our right to pay cash in lieu of all or a portion of such shares). If our ordinary shares are issued to the holders of the Convertible Notes upon conversion, there will be dilution to our shareholders’ equity and the market price of our ordinary shares may decrease due to the additional selling pressure in the market. Any downward pressure on the price of our ordinary shares caused by the sale, or potential sale, of shares issuable upon conversion of the Convertible Notes could also encourage short sales by third parties, creating additional selling pressure on our share price.

In addition, in connection with the pricing of the Convertible Notes, we entered into privately negotiated capped call transactions, or the “Capped Call Transactions”, with certain of the purchasers of the Convertible Notes. The Capped Call Transactions cover, collectively, the number of our ordinary shares underlying the Convertible Notes, subject to anti-dilution adjustments substantially similar to those applicable to the Convertible Notes. The cost of the Capped Call Transactions was approximately $45.3 million. The Capped Call Transactions are expected generally to reduce the potential dilution to the ordinary shares upon any conversion of the Convertible Notes and/or offset any cash payments we are required to make in excess of the principal amount upon conversion of the Convertible Notes, subject to a cap, under certain events described in the Capped Call Transactions.

We may not have the ability to raise the funds necessary to settle conversions of the Convertible Notes, repurchase the Convertible Notes upon a fundamental change or repay the Convertible Notes in cash at their maturity, and our future debt may contain limitations on our ability to pay cash upon conversion or repurchase of the Convertible Notes.

Holders of the Convertible Notes will have the right under the indenture governing the Convertible Notes to require us to repurchase all or a portion of their Convertible Notes upon the occurrence of a fundamental change before the applicable maturity date at a repurchase price equal to 100% of the principal amount of such Convertible Notes to be repurchased, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to, but excluding, the applicable fundamental change repurchase date. Moreover, we will be required to repay the Convertible Notes in cash at their maturity, unless earlier converted or repurchased. Although we entered into the Capped Call Transactions which are expected generally to offset any cash payments we are required to make in excess of the principal amount upon conversion of the Convertible Notes, we may not ultimately receive such cash payments from the sellers of the Capped Call due to credit restrictions or due to other events beyond our control, or we may not have enough available cash or be able to obtain financing at the time we are required to make repurchases of such Convertible Notes surrendered or pay cash with respect to such Convertible Notes being converted.

In addition, our ability to repurchase or to pay cash upon conversion of Convertible Notes may be limited by law, regulatory authority, restrictions vested in the sellers of the Capped Call, or agreements governing our future indebtedness. Our failure to repurchase the Convertible Notes at a time when the repurchase is required by the indenture or to pay cash upon conversion of such Convertible Notes as required by the indenture would constitute a default under the indenture. A default under the indenture or the fundamental change itself could also lead to a default under agreements governing our future indebtedness. If the payment of the related indebtedness were to be accelerated after any applicable notice or grace periods, we may not have sufficient funds to repay the indebtedness and repurchase the Convertible Notes or to pay cash upon conversion of the Convertible Notes.

We may still incur substantially more debt or take other actions that would diminish our ability to make payments on the Convertible Notes when due.

We and our subsidiaries may be able to incur substantial additional debt in the future, subject to the restrictions contained in our debt instruments, some of which may be secured debt. We are not restricted under the terms of the indenture governing the Convertible Notes from incurring additional debt, securing existing or future debt, recapitalizing our debt or taking a number of other actions that are not limited by the terms of the indenture that could have the effect of diminishing our ability to make payments on the Convertible Notes when due. While the terms of any future indebtedness we may incur could restrict our ability to incur additional indebtedness, any such restrictions will indirectly benefit holders of the Convertible Notes only to the extent any such indebtedness or credit facility is not repaid or does not mature while such Convertible Notes are outstanding.

We may need to raise additional funds to pursue our growth strategy or continue our operations, and we may be unable to raise capital when needed or on acceptable terms.

From time to time we may seek additional equity or debt financing to fund our growth, develop new solutions and services or make acquisitions or other investments. Our business plans may change, general economic, financial or political conditions in our markets may change, or other circumstances may arise, that have a material adverse effect on our cash flow and the anticipated cash needs of our business. Any of these events or circumstances could result in significant additional funding needs, requiring us to raise additional capital. We cannot predict the timing or amount of any such capital requirements at this time. If financing is not available on satisfactory terms, or at all, we may be unable to expand our business or to develop new business at the rate desired and our results of operations may suffer.

Our business could be negatively affected as a result of shareholder activism, and such activism could impact the trading value of our securities.

In recent years, U.S. and non-U.S. companies listed on securities exchanges in the United States have been faced with governance-related demands from activist shareholders, unsolicited tender offers and proxy contests. Shareholder activists frequently propose to involve themselves in the governance, strategic direction, and operations of companies. Although, as a foreign private issuer, we are not subject to U.S. proxy rules, responding to any action of this type by activist shareholders could divert management attention, be costly and time-consuming, and generally disrupt our operations and ability to execute our strategic plans. In addition, a proxy contest for the election of directors at our annual meeting would require us to incur significant legal fees and proxy solicitation expenses. In addition, actions of activist shareholders may cause significant fluctuations in our share price based on temporary or speculative market perceptions or other factors that do not necessarily reflect the underlying fundamentals of our business.

Due to the global nature of our business, we could be adversely affected by violations of anti bribery laws.

The global nature of our business creates various domestic and local regulatory challenges. The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, or FCPA, the U.K. Bribery Act 2010, or U.K. Bribery Act, and similar anti-bribery laws in other jurisdictions generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to foreign government officials and other persons for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. In addition, companies are required to maintain records that accurately and fairly represent their transactions and have an adequate system of internal accounting controls. We operate in areas of the world that experience corruption, and, in certain circumstances, compliance with anti-bribery laws may conflict with local customs and practices. We operate in several countries and sell our products to customers around the world, which geographically stretches our compliance obligations. In addition, changes in laws could result in increased regulatory requirements and compliance costs which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. As a result, we are exposed to a risk of violating anti-bribery laws in the countries where we operate. Although we have internal policies and procedures, including a corporate code of ethics and conduct and an anti-corruption compliance policy, reasonably designed to promote compliance with anti-bribery laws, we cannot assure that our employees, agents, Partners, or third-party representatives will not engage in prohibited conduct and render us responsible under the FCPA, the U.K. Bribery Act or any similar anti-bribery laws in other jurisdictions. If we are found to be in violation of the FCPA, the U.K. Bribery Act or other anti-bribery laws (either due to acts or inadvertence of our employees, agents, Partners, or third-party representatives or due to the acts or inadvertence of others), we could suffer criminal or civil penalties or other sanctions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, cash flows, financial condition, reputation and ability to win future business or maintain existing contracts.

The United Kingdom’s recent withdrawal from the European Union may have a negative effect on global economic conditions, financial markets and our business.

The U.K. has recently left the European Union, or Brexit, and is currently in a transition period, which will end on or after December 31, 2020. Brexit may adversely impact the level of economic activity in the U.K. and EU and our users’ use of our products, and we could face increased exposure to foreign currency risks, each of which could adversely affect our operating results. Brexit has also created significant uncertainty about the future relationship between the U.K. and the EU, including with respect to the laws and regulations that will apply after this withdrawal. Any of these factors could depress economic activity and restrict our access to capital, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and reduce the price of our common stock.

Risks Related to Our Ordinary Shares

Our share price may be volatile, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

Our ordinary shares were first offered publicly in our initial public offering, or IPO, in November 2013, at a price of $16.50 per share, and our ordinary shares have subsequently traded as high as $156.40 per share and as low as $14.28 per share through March 29, 2020. Since January 1, 2019 and through April 1, 2020, our ordinary shares traded as high as $156.40 per share and as low as $76.81 per share. In addition, the market price of our ordinary shares could be highly volatile and may fluctuate substantially as a result of many factors, some of which are beyond our control, including, but not limited to:

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actual or anticipated fluctuations in our and our competitors’ results of operations;

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variance in our and our competitors’ financial performance from the expectations of market analysts;

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announcements by us or our competitors or other global corporations of significant business developments, changes in service provider relationships, acquisitions or expansion plans;

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announcements of technological innovations by us or our competitors;

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changes in the prices of our solutions;

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developments concerning intellectual property rights, including our involvement in litigation;

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our sale of ordinary shares or other securities in the future, or such sales by our significant shareholders;

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market conditions in our industry;

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changes in key personnel;

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the trading volume of our ordinary shares;

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changes in the estimation of the future size and growth rate of our markets;

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general economic and market conditions or other global circumstances beyond our control such as the effects of COVID-19; and

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our failure to meet our financial guidance or any component thereof in any given quarter or year (or failure by our competitors to meet their own guidance).

The price of our ordinary shares could also be affected by possible sales of our ordinary shares by investors who view our Convertible Notes as a more attractive means of equity participation in us and by hedging or arbitrage trading activity that may develop involving our ordinary shares and Convertible Notes.

In addition, the stock markets have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations. Broad market and industry factors may materially harm the market price of our ordinary shares, regardless of our operating performance. In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against that company. If we were involved in any similar litigation we could incur substantial costs and our management’s attention and resources could be diverted.

If securities or industry analysts cease to publish research or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our share price and trading volume could decline.

The trading price for our ordinary shares is affected by any research or reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. If one or more of the analysts who currently cover us or our business publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about us or our business, and in particular, if they downgrade their evaluations of our ordinary shares, the price of our ordinary shares would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company, we could lose visibility in the market for our ordinary shares, which in turn could cause our share price to decline.

We cannot guarantee that we will repurchase any of our ordinary shares pursuant to our announced share repurchase plan or that our share repurchase plan will enhance long-term shareholder value.

On November 12, 2019, our board of directors authorized an extension to our share repurchase plan under which up to $100 million is available to purchase our ordinary shares, which plan extension received court approval in accordance with Israeli law on December 31, 2019. The share repurchase plan, as authorized by the court, authorizes repurchases through June 30, 2020. The specific timing and amount of repurchases, if any, will depend upon several factors, including market and business conditions, the trading price of our ordinary shares, and the nature of other investment opportunities. In addition, our ability to repurchase may be limited by law, regulatory authority or agreements with third parties.

Repurchases of our ordinary shares pursuant to our share repurchase plan could affect the market price of our ordinary shares or increase its volatility. Additionally, our share repurchase plan could diminish our cash reserves, which may impact our ability to finance future growth and to pursue possible future strategic opportunities and acquisitions. There is no assurance that our share repurchase plan will enhance long-term shareholder value, and short-term share price fluctuations could reduce the share repurchase plan’s effectiveness.

A small number of significant beneficial owners of our shares acting together have significant influence over matters requiring shareholder approval, which could delay or prevent a change of control.

The largest beneficial owners of our shares, beneficially own a significant percentage of our ordinary shares. Our largest shareholders, individually or if they all adopt a similar position on a particular issue acting in concert, could exercise significant influence over our operations and business strategy and will have sufficient voting power to influence the outcome of matters requiring shareholder approval. These matters may include:

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the composition of our board of directors which has the authority to direct our business and to appoint and remove our officers;

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approving or rejecting a merger, consolidation or other business combination;

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raising future capital; and

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amending our articles of association which govern the rights attached to our ordinary shares.

This concentration of ownership of our ordinary shares could delay or prevent proxy contests, mergers, tender offers, open-market purchase programs or other purchases of our ordinary shares that might otherwise give you the opportunity to realize a premium over the then-prevailing market price of our ordinary shares. This concentration of ownership may also adversely affect our share price.

Future sales of our ordinary shares by our principal shareholders or directors and officers, or the perception that such sales could occur, may cause the market price of our ordinary shares to decline.

If our existing shareholders, particularly our largest shareholders, our directors, their affiliates, or our executive officers, sell a substantial number of our ordinary shares in the public market, the market price of our ordinary shares could decrease significantly. This includes sales by our four largest shareholders who, as of February 29, 2020, beneficially owned 22.3% of our ordinary shares. We cannot predict what effect, if any, future sales of our ordinary shares, or the availability of our ordinary shares for future sale, will have on the market price of our ordinary shares. Sales of substantial amounts of our ordinary shares in the public marketplace by us or these shareholders, or the perception that such sales could occur, could adversely affect the market price of our ordinary shares, may make it more difficult for investors to sell ordinary shares at a time and price which such investors deem appropriate, and could impair our future ability to obtain capital, especially through an offering of equity securities.

As of February 29, 2020, 10,041,013 ordinary shares are subject to outstanding option and restricted share unit, or RSU, awards granted to employees and office holders under our share incentive plans, including 5,283,384 ordinary shares issuable under currently exercisable share options. Upon issuance, such shares may be freely sold in the public market, except for shares held by affiliates who have certain restrictions on their ability to sell.

As a foreign private issuer whose shares are listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market we may follow certain home country corporate governance practices instead of certain NASDAQ requirements.

As a foreign private issuer whose shares are listed on The NASDAQ Global Select Market, or NASDAQ, we are permitted to follow certain home country corporate governance practices instead of certain requirements of the rules of NASDAQ. As permitted under the Israeli Companies Law, 5759-1999, or the Companies Law, our articles of association provide that the quorum for any meeting of shareholders shall be the presence of at least two shareholders present in person, by proxy or by a voting instrument, who hold at least 25% of the voting power of our shares instead of 33⅓% of our issued share capital. We may in the future elect to follow home country practice in Israel with regard to matters such as separate executive sessions of independent directors and non-management directors and the requirement to obtain shareholder approval for certain dilutive events (such as for the establishment or amendment of certain equity-based compensation plans, issuances that will result in a change of control of the company, certain transactions other than a public offering involving issuances of a 20% or more interest in the company and certain acquisitions of the stock or assets of another company). Accordingly, our shareholders may not be afforded the same protection as provided under NASDAQ corporate governance rules. Following our home country governance practices as opposed to the requirements that would otherwise apply to a United States company listed on NASDAQ may provide less protection than is accorded to investors of domestic issuers. See “Item 16.G. Corporate Governance.”

As a foreign private issuer we are not subject to U.S. proxy rules or Regulation FD and are exempt from filing certain Exchange Act reports, and the loss of foreign private issuer status could adversely affect us.

As a foreign private issuer, we are exempt from the rules and regulations under the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, related to the furnishing and content of proxy statements, and our officers, directors, and principal shareholders are exempt from the reporting and short-swing profit recovery provisions contained in Section 16 of the Exchange Act. We are also exempt from Regulation FD, which prohibits issuers from making selective disclosures of material non-public information. In addition, we are not required under the Exchange Act to file annual, quarterly and current reports and financial statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, as frequently or as promptly as domestic companies whose securities are registered under the Exchange Act.

In order to maintain our current status as a foreign private issuer, more than 50% of our outstanding voting securities must not be directly or indirectly owned by residents of the U.S., and we must not have any of the following: (i) a majority of our executive officers or directors being U.S. citizens or residents, (ii) more than 50% of our assets being located in the U.S., or (iii) our business being principally administered in the U.S. Although we have elected to comply with certain U.S. regulatory provisions, our loss of foreign private issuer status would make such provisions mandatory. In addition, if we were to no longer qualify as a foreign private issuer, the regulatory and compliance costs to us under U.S. securities laws as a U.S. domestic issuer may be significantly higher. If we did not qualify as a foreign private issuer, we would be required to file periodic reports and registration statements on U.S. domestic issuer forms with the SEC, which are more detailed and extensive than the forms available to a foreign private issuer, and we also could be required to modify certain of our policies to comply with good governance practices associated with U.S. domestic issuers, which would involve additional costs. In addition, the loss of foreign private issuer status could eliminate our ability to rely upon exemptions from certain NASDAQ corporate governance requirements that are available to foreign private issuers.

If a United States person is treated as owning at least 10% of our shares, such holder may be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences.

If a United States person is treated as owning (directly, indirectly or constructively) at least 10% of the value or voting power of our shares, such person may be treated as a “United States shareholder” with respect to each “controlled foreign corporation” in our group (if any). Because our group includes one or more U.S. subsidiaries, certain of our non-U.S. subsidiaries could be treated as controlled foreign corporations regardless of whether we are treated as a controlled foreign corporation (although legislation has been proposed to significantly limit the application of these rules). A United States shareholder of a controlled foreign corporation may be required to report annually and include in its U.S. taxable income its pro rata share of “Subpart F income,” “global intangible low-taxed income” and investments in U.S. property by controlled foreign corporations, regardless of whether we make any distributions. An individual that is a United States shareholder with respect to a controlled foreign corporation generally would not be allowed certain tax deductions or foreign tax credits that would be allowed to a United States shareholder that is a U.S. corporation. Failure to comply with these reporting obligations may subject you to significant monetary penalties and may prevent the statute of limitations with respect to your U.S. federal income tax return for the year for which reporting was due from starting. We cannot provide any assurances that we will assist investors in determining whether any of our non-U.S. subsidiaries are treated as a controlled foreign corporation or whether such investor is treated as a United States shareholder with respect to any of such controlled foreign corporations or furnish to any United States shareholders information that may be necessary to comply with the aforementioned reporting and tax paying obligations. A United States investor should consult its advisors regarding the potential application of these rules to an investment in our ordinary shares.

We may be classified as a passive foreign investment company, which could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. Holders of our ordinary shares.

We would be classified as a passive foreign investment company, or PFIC, for any taxable year if, after the application of certain look-through rules, either: (i) 75% or more of our gross income for such year is “passive income” (as defined in the relevant provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, or (ii) 50% or more of the value of our assets (determined on the basis of a quarterly average) during such year is attributable to assets that produce or are held for the production of passive income. Based on the trading price of our ordinary shares and the composition of our income, assets, and operations, we do not expect to be treated as a PFIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes for the taxable year that ended on December 31, 2019, and we do not expect to be treated as a PFIC for our current taxable year. However, this is a factual determination that must be made annually after the close of each taxable year. Moreover, the value of our assets for purposes of the PFIC determination generally will be determined by reference to the trading price of our ordinary shares, which could fluctuate significantly. Therefore, there can be no assurance that we will not be classified as a PFIC in any taxable year. Certain adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences could apply to a U.S. Holder (as defined below) if we are treated as a PFIC for any taxable year during which such U.S. Holder holds our ordinary shares. Accordingly, each U.S. Holder of our ordinary shares should consult its own tax advisor as to the potential effects of the PFIC rules. See “Item 10.E. Additional Information—Taxation—United States Federal Income Tax Considerations.”

Provisions of Israeli law and our articles of association may delay, prevent or make undesirable an acquisition of all or a significant portion of our shares or assets.

Provisions of Israeli law and our articles of association could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control and may make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us or our shareholders to elect different individuals to our board of directors, even if doing so would be considered to be beneficial by some of our shareholders, and may limit the price that investors may be willing to pay in the future for our ordinary shares. Among other things:

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Israeli corporate law regulates mergers and requires that a tender offer be effected when more than a specified percentage of shares in a company are purchased;

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Israeli corporate law does not allow public companies to adopt shareholder resolutions by written consent, thereby requiring all shareholder actions to be taken at a general meeting of shareholders;

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our articles of association divide our directors into three classes each of which is elected once every three years;

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our articles of association generally require a vote of the holders of a majority of our outstanding ordinary shares entitled to vote at a general meeting of shareholders and voting in person or by proxy at the meeting, and the amendment of a limited number of provisions, such as the provision dividing our directors into three classes, requires a vote of the holders of 66⅔% of our outstanding ordinary shares entitled to vote at a general meeting and voting in person or by proxy at the meeting;

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our articles of association do not permit a director to be removed except by a vote of the holders of at least 66⅔% of our outstanding shares entitled to vote at a general meeting of shareholders and voting in person or by proxy at the meeting;

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our articles of association require that director vacancies may only be filled by our board of directors; and

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our articles of association prevent “business combinations” with “interested shareholders” for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person became an interested shareholder, unless the business combination is approved in accordance with our articles of association by a general meeting of our shareholders or satisfies other requirements specified in our articles of association.

Further, Israeli tax considerations may make potential transactions undesirable to us or to some of our shareholders whose country of residence does not have a tax treaty with Israel granting tax relief to such shareholders from Israeli tax. With respect to mergers, Israeli tax law allows for tax deferral in certain circumstances but makes the deferral contingent on the fulfillment of numerous conditions, including a holding period of two years from the date of the transaction during which certain sales and dispositions of shares of the participating companies are restricted. Moreover, with respect to certain share swap transactions, the tax deferral is limited in time, and when such time expires, the tax becomes payable even if no actual disposition of the shares has occurred. See “Item 10.B. Additional Information—Articles of Association.”

If we are unable to satisfy the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or if our internal control over financial reporting is not effective, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and the completeness of our financial reports, the reliability of our financial statements may be questioned and our share price may suffer.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, requires, among other things, that we maintain effective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures. Pursuant to Section 404(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, we are required to furnish a report by management on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, and pursuant to Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, include an auditor attestation on our internal control over financial reporting.

To maintain the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and our internal control over financial reporting, we expect that we will need to continue enhancing existing, and implement new, financial reporting and management systems, procedures and controls to manage our business effectively and support our growth in the future. The process of evaluating our internal control over financial reporting will continue to require an investment of substantial time and resources, including by our Chief Financial Officer and other members of our senior management. Additionally, as part of management’s assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, our management may conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is not effective due to our failure to cure any identified material weakness or otherwise, which would require us to employ remedial actions to implement effective controls. If we identify material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, if we are unable to comply with the requirements of Section 404 in a timely manner or to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion or issues an adverse opinion in its attestation as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting required by Section 404(b), investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and the trading price of our ordinary shares could be negatively affected. We could also become subject to investigations by the SEC, NASDAQ or other regulatory authorities, which could require additional financial and management resources.

Irrespective of compliance with Section 404, any failure of our internal controls could have a material adverse effect on our stated results of operations and harm our reputation. Further, if our internal control over financial reporting is not effective, the reliability of our financial statements may be questioned and our share price may suffer.

As a public company we may become subject to further compliance obligations, which may strain our resources and divert management's attention.

Changing laws, regulations and standards, in the United States or Israel, relating to corporate governance and public disclosure and other matters, may be implemented in the future, which may increase our legal and financial compliance costs, make some activities more time consuming and divert management’s time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities. If our efforts to comply with new laws, regulations and standards differ from the activities intended by regulatory or governing bodies due to ambiguities related to practice, regulatory authorities may initiate legal proceedings against us and our business may be harmed. Being a publicly traded company in the United States and being subject to U.S. rules and regulations make it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain coverage. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified members of our board of directors, particularly to serve on our audit committee, and qualified executive officers.

Risks Relating to Our Incorporation and Location in Israel

Conditions in Israel could adversely affect our business.

We are incorporated under Israeli law and our principal executive offices are located in Israel. Accordingly, political, economic and military conditions in Israel directly affect our business. Since the State of Israel was established in 1948, a number of armed conflicts have occurred between Israel and its Arab neighbors. In recent years, these have included hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza strip, both of which resulted in rockets being fired into Israel, causing casualties and disruption of economic activities. Israeli civilians continue to be the target of terrorist threats. Riots and uprisings in several countries in the Middle East and neighboring regions as well as armed conflicts, including by ISIS, have led to severe political instability in several neighboring states and a decline in the regional security situation. In addition, Israel faces threats from more distant neighbors, in particular, Iran. Our commercial insurance does not cover losses that may occur as a result of events associated with the security situation in the Middle East, such as damages to our facilities resulting in disruption of our operations. Although the Israeli government currently covers the reinstatement value of direct damages that are caused by terrorist attacks or acts of war, we cannot assure you that this government coverage will be maintained or will be adequate in the event we submit a claim.

A number of countries, principally in the Middle East, still restrict doing business with Israel and Israeli companies, and additional countries may impose restrictions on doing business with Israel and Israeli companies if hostilities in Israel or political instability in the region continue or increase. For example, in December 2018, the Lebanese government blocked access to our platform in Lebanon. These restrictions may limit materially our ability to distribute our products to users in these countries or establish distributor relationships with companies operating in these regions. In addition, there have been increased efforts by activists to cause companies and consumers to boycott Israeli goods based on Israeli government policies. Such actions, particularly if they become more widespread, may adversely impact our ability to sell our products. Any hostilities involving Israel or the interruption or curtailment of trade between Israel and its present trading partners, or significant downturn in the economic or financial condition of Israel, could adversely affect our operations, cause our revenues to decrease and adversely affect the share price of publicly traded companies having operations in Israel, such as us. Moreover, individuals in certain geographical regions may refrain from doing business with Israel and Israeli companies as a result of their objection to Israeli foreign or domestic policies. We may also continue to be targeted by cyber terrorists because of being an Israeli company.

Our operations may be disrupted by the obligations of personnel to perform military service.

As of December 31, 2019, we had 1,816 employees based in Israel. Our employees in Israel, including executive officers, may be called upon to perform up to 56 days per each three year period, (in some cases more, e.g. officers may be called to serve up to 84 days per each three year period) of military reserve duty until they reach the age of 40 (and in some cases, depending on their certain military profession up to 45 or even 49) and, in emergency circumstances, could be called to immediate and unlimited active duty (however, this would need to be approved by the Israeli government). In response to increased tension and hostilities, there have been since September 2000 occasional call-ups of military reservists, including in connection with the mid 2006 war in Lebanon, the December 2008 conflict with Hamas and the 2012 and 2014 conflicts in the Gaza Strip, and it is possible that there will be additional call-ups in the future. Our operations could be disrupted by the absence of a significant number of employees related to military service or the absence for extended periods of one or more of our key employees for military service. Such disruptions in the future could materially adversely affect our business and results of operations, especially if we are unable to replace these key employees with other personnel qualified in information technology and data optimization.

The tax benefits that are available to us require us to continue to meet various conditions and may be terminated or reduced in the future, which could increase our costs and taxes.

We are eligible for certain tax benefits provided to “Beneficiary Enterprises” under the Israeli Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investments, 1959, referred to as the Investment Law. In order to remain eligible for the tax benefits for “Beneficiary Enterprises,” we must continue to meet certain conditions stipulated in the Investment Law and its regulations, as amended. Most recently, the Investment Law was amended as part of the Economic Efficiency Law that became effective on January 1, 2017, or Amendment 73, under which a new incentive regime would apply to “Preferred Technological Enterprises” and “Special Preferred Technological Enterprises” that meet certain conditions stipulated under Amendment 73. In addition, in September 2011, we received a tax ruling from the Israeli Tax Authority, according to which, among other things, the Israeli Tax Authority approved (i) our status as an “Industrial Enterprise”; and (ii) that the expansion of our enterprise is considered as a “Beneficiary Enterprise” with 2009 as an elected year of operations, all under the Investment Law as amended by 2005 Amendment. The benefits available to us under this tax ruling are subject to the fulfillment of conditions stipulated in the ruling. If we do not meet these conditions, the ruling may be abolished which would result in adverse tax consequences to us. Further, in the future these tax benefits may be reduced or discontinued. If these tax benefits are reduced, cancelled or discontinued, our Israeli taxable income would be subject to regular Israeli corporate tax rates. The standard corporate tax rate for Israeli companies was 24% in 2017 and decreased to 23% in 2018 and thereafter. Additionally, if we increase our activities outside of Israel through acquisitions, for example, our expanded activities might not be eligible for inclusion in future Israeli tax benefit programs. See “Item 10.E. Additional Information—Taxation—Israeli Tax Considerations and Government Programs.”

It may be difficult to enforce a U.S. judgment against us, our officers and directors and the Israeli experts named in this annual report in Israel or the United States, or to assert U.S. securities laws claims in Israel or serve process on our officers and directors and these experts.

We are incorporated in Israel. Only some of our directors and none of our executive officers are resident in the United States. Our independent registered public accounting firm is not a resident of the United States. Most of our assets and the assets of these persons are located outside the United States. Therefore, it may be difficult for an investor, or any other person or entity, to enforce a U.S. court judgment based upon the civil liability provisions of the U.S. federal securities laws against us or any of these persons in a U.S. or Israeli court, or to effect service of process upon these persons in the United States. Additionally, it may be difficult for an investor, or any other person or entity, to assert a claim based on U.S. securities laws in original actions instituted in Israel. Israeli courts may refuse to hear a claim based on an alleged violation of U.S. securities laws on the grounds that Israel is not the most appropriate forum in which to bring such a claim. Even if an Israeli court agrees to hear a claim, it may determine that Israeli law and not U.S. law is applicable to the claim. If U.S. law is found to be applicable, the content of applicable U.S. law must be proved as a fact which can be a time-consuming and costly process. Certain matters of procedure will also be governed by Israeli law. There is little binding case law in Israel addressing the matters described above.

Your rights and responsibilities as our shareholder are governed by Israeli law which may differ in some material respects from the rights and responsibilities of shareholders of U.S. corporations.

Since we are incorporated under Israeli law, the rights and responsibilities of our shareholders are governed by our articles of association and Israeli law. These rights and responsibilities differ in some material respects from the rights and responsibilities of shareholders in United States-based corporations. In particular, a shareholder of an Israeli company has a duty to act in good faith and in a customary manner in exercising its rights and performing its obligations towards the company and other shareholders and to refrain from abusing its power in the company, including, among other things, in voting at the general meeting of shareholders on certain matters, such as an amendment to the company’s articles of association, an increase of the company’s authorized share capital, a merger of the company and approval of related party transactions that require shareholder approval. A shareholder also has a general duty to refrain from discriminating against other shareholders. In addition, a controlling shareholder or a shareholder who knows that it possesses the power to determine the outcome of a shareholders’ vote or to appoint or prevent the appointment of an office holder in the company or has another power with respect to the company, has a duty to act in fairness towards the company. However, Israeli law does not define the substance of this duty of fairness. See “Item 6.C. Directors, Senior Management and Employees—Board Practices.” Some of the parameters and implications of the provisions that govern shareholder behavior have not been clearly determined. These provisions may be interpreted to impose additional obligations and liabilities on our shareholders that are not typically imposed on shareholders of United States corporations.

Additionally, the quorum requirements for meetings of our shareholders are lower than is customary for domestic issuers. As permitted under the Companies Law, pursuant to our articles of association, the quorum required for an ordinary meeting of shareholders will consist of at least two shareholders present in person, by proxy or by other voting instrument in accordance with the Companies Law, who hold at least 25% of our outstanding ordinary shares (and in an adjourned meeting, with some exceptions, any number of shareholders). For an adjourned meeting at which a quorum is not present, the meeting may generally proceed irrespective of the number of shareholders present at the end of half an hour following the time fixed for the meeting (unless the meeting was called pursuant to a request by our shareholders, in which case the quorum required is the number of shareholders required to call the meeting according to the Companies Law).

Item 4.INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY

A.History and Development of the Company

Our History

Wix was founded in late 2006 on the belief that the Internet should be accessible to everyone to develop, create and contribute. In April 2008, we launched our Wix Editor, which enabled the creation of a digital presence in Flash format, and in October 2008, we launched our premium subscription offering. By April 2012, a month after we released our advanced HTML5 Editor, which greatly improved our service offering and support for mobile devices, we had reached 20 million registered users. In October 2013, we launched a further enhanced mobile product. In October 2015, we launched our new redesigned Wix Editor, which is based on a complete restructuring of the platform’s codebase, developed using Facebook’s React Technology. This newly designed editor offers a significantly leaner codebase, better modularization and improved testability. In 2016, we launched Wix Artificial Design Intelligence, or Wix ADI. This solution was designed specifically to eliminate the most significant challenges of building websites – time, design and content creation – and enables a user to create a complete, personalized website in minutes. In 2017, we launched Wix Code, which we have since rebranded as Corvid by Wix, a new development platform that enables users to build more advanced websites and web applications. In 2018, we launched a number of additional products that enable users to manage and grow their businesses, most notably Ascend by Wix. In January 2020, we introduced Editor X, which offers advanced design and layouting capabilities specifically targeted at Partners.

In November 2013, we listed our shares on the NASDAQ Global Market. We are a company limited by shares organized under the laws of the State of Israel. We are registered with the Israeli Registrar of Companies. Our registration number is 51-388117-7. Our principal executive offices are located at 40 Namal Tel Aviv St., Tel Aviv 6350671, Israel, and our telephone number is +972 (3) 545-4900. Our website address is www.wix.com. We use our website as a means of disclosing material non-public information. Such disclosures will be included on our website in the “Investor Relations” sections. Accordingly, investors should monitor such portions of our website, in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts. Information contained on, or that can be accessed through, our website does not constitute a part of this annual report and is not incorporated by reference herein. We have included our website address in this annual report solely for informational purposes. Our SEC filings are available to you on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. This site contains reports and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. The information on that website is not part of this annual report and is not incorporated by reference herein. Our agent for service of process in the United States is Wix.com, Inc., located at 500 Terry A Francois, 6th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94158-2230, telephone number (415) 639-9034.

Principal Capital Expenditures

Our capital expenditures for fiscal years 2019, 2018, and 2017 amounted to $22.1 million, $14.1 million and $12.4 million, respectively. Capital expenditures consist primarily of investments in leasehold improvements for our office space and the purchase of computers and related equipment. We anticipate our capital expenditures in fiscal year 2020 to be approximately $26 to $28 million, of which approximately $8 to $9 million are attributable to leasehold improvements related to construction of our new headquarters offices and are to be financed from our cash balance and cash flow provided by operating activities.

B.Business Overview

We are a leading global cloud-based web development platform for millions of registered users and creators worldwide. We were founded on the belief that the Internet should be accessible to everyone and to enable businesses and organizations to take their businesses, brands and workflow online to create and manage a fully integrated and dynamic digital presence. As of December 31, 2019, we empower approximately 165 million registered users worldwide. We are pioneering a new approach to web development and management that provides an easy-to-use yet powerful cloud-based platform of products. We offer our solutions through a freemium model (free and premium services) and as of December 31, 2019, we had approximately 4.5 million premium subscriptions. We also promote our services and solutions through our Partners.

Our platform consists of three web creation products, each with a different purpose or primary audience: Wix ADI, intended for fast website creation, the Wix Editor, intended for full website creation targeted at users with basic, average or above average technological skills, and Editor X, intended for advanced users such as Partners.

With Wix ADI, users can create a complete and personalized website tailored for their specific needs in minutes. The Wix ADI technology combines relevant design and content with some basic input provided by a user about his or her business name and type and uses artificial intelligence and a human design sensibility to generate algorithms that ensure every website designed using Wix ADI will be stunning and complete. If desired, users can further modify the website created with Wix ADI using the Wix Editor.

The Wix Editor is a drag-and-drop visual development and website editing environment complete with high quality templates, graphics, image galleries and fonts. With our platform, Wix registered users can create and manage a professional quality digital presence tailored to their business and brand’s specific look and feel and that is accessible across all major browsers and the most widely used desktop, tablet and mobile devices.

Through Editor X, which offers advanced design and layouting capabilities, we allow users and Partners, through its wide, flexible canvas, to use modern Cascading Style Sheets (“CSS”) technologies to control the exact position and styling of elements at every viewpoint.

Our platform also includes a development environment called Corvid by Wix which was previously known as Wix Code, through which users can combine the products and solutions our platform offers with advanced developer capabilities to create content-rich websites and web applications. Corvid by Wix provides the ability to use databases to manage content, application programming interfaces, or APIs, to connect with external services and the ability to expose the web application as an API, and custom code to create custom interactions. This may significantly reduce the need for developers and designers to juggle updating themes, hosts, content management systems (“CMSs”), plugins, content delivery networks (“CDNs”) and other third-party products.

We also offer a variety of additional products and services to further complement and enhance our users’ business or branding needs, most notably Ascend by Wix, which was launched in 2018. Ascend by Wix offers our users access to a suite of approximately 20 products or features enabling them to easily connect with their customers, generate more traffic, automate their work, and grow their business, including capabilities to manage all of their customer interactions, capture leads, build relationships, take payments, and run email, social, and video campaigns to promote their business, all in one place. Additional services also include Wix Logo Maker, which allows users to generate and print a customizable, high-resolution logo in minutes using artificial intelligence, Wix Answers, a support infrastructure enabling our users to help their users across multiple channels, and Wix Payments, a payment platform that helps our users receive payments from their users through their Wix website.

We also offer several vertical-specific applications that business owners can use to operate mission critical aspects of their business online, such as selling goods, taking reservations and scheduling and confirming appointments. These applications provide Wix registered users a custom front-end for users of their website, as well as a robust back-end management dashboard. We have developed these software applications for businesses in specific verticals, including retail and online stores, services, event planners and management, hotel and property management, music, photography and restaurants, among other verticals. These vertical applications are integrated into our website templates or can be installed on any existing website and set up with minimal effort by the user and without the need to write code.

In addition, we provide a range of complementary services to address the needs of our users, including our App Market, which was launched in 2012 and offers our registered users the ability to easily install and uninstall a variety of free and paid web applications that we developed ourselves or identified and selected through third-party developers for inclusion in our App Market, based on user needs and demands. These web applications add functionality and are easily integrated into registered users’ websites with one click, without the need for any coding, and include social plug-ins, online marketing and customer relationship management tools, contact forms and transactional and payment processing capabilities. Additional complementary services include, among others, the Wix Marketplace, which was previously known as Wix Arena, an online marketplace which brings users seeking help in creating and managing a website together with talented web experts and the Wix App, a native mobile application enabling users to manage their websites and Wix operating systems on the go.

Our cloud-based platform is accessed through a hosted environment, allowing our registered users to update their site and manage their business or organization at any time from anywhere with an internet connection. We provide our registered users with flexibility and scalability, allowing them to expand their digital presence as their business, organizational, professional or individual needs change and grow.

Our scale and reach makes us an attractive partner for companies interested in distributing their own solutions to our audience. As we expand our platform through partnerships we are able to increase our value proposition for existing registered users and more easily attract new users.

We are removing not only technological, but also geographic and linguistic barriers to web development, in order to empower almost anyone to create and manage a digital presence in their own language. We currently enable our users to create their websites in any language and offer our platform in twenty languages — English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, German, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Dutch, Turkish, Hindi, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Czech, Traditional Chinese, Thai and Ukrainian, and we plan to add more languages in the future.

Industry Background

As consumers have moved all forms of commerce online and onto mobile devices, businesses, organizations and professionals need not only a website, but also a dynamic digital presence with tools to manage interactions with customers, suppliers, partners and employees online and in real time. These interactions include back-end activities like invoicing, customer relationship management and payment processing, as well as front-end activities such as communications, online marketing, reservations and scheduling, and social media integration.

Use of dynamic web content and services for high-level customer engagement is becoming increasingly prolific. However, building this presence is becoming more challenging for businesses, organizations, professionals and individuals due to costs, time constraints, lack of skills and language barriers. The complexities of web creation and focus on design needs also create challenges for professionals who build web content, such as Partners. We believe there is a significant opportunity to provide an elegant cost-effective solution that caters to the accelerating demands of anyone who needs to create a dynamic, professional digital presence or application. Further, we also believe that there is a significant opportunity to provide solutions that help bring efficiencies to web development and further help businesses manage operations and grow online through vertical Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), marketing, mobile, customer management and communication products and tools.

Our Offerings

Wix is a cloud-based web development platform for millions of registered users and creators worldwide which was founded on the belief that the Internet should be accessible to everyone to develop, create and contribute. Through free and premium subscriptions (freemium model), Wix empowers millions of businesses, organizations, artists, and individuals to take their businesses, brands and workflow online. Wix also empowers its Partners who utilize our services and products to serve their own customers.

Our web development technology is built based on HTML5 and offers HTML5 compatible capabilities, web design and layouting tools, domain hosting, and other marketing and work flow management applications and services.

Free Products and Services

Our registered users receive access to hundreds of free design templates for personal and business use, free web hosting through a Wix domain, free access to our App Market, which offers a variety of free and paid applications, and blog and social network page support. The websites developed using our free product contain Wix advertisements in the footer and/or header, and tags, or metadata, which contain our name. Our name is also contained in the URL of the user’s website.

Our free product and service offerings include the following features and capabilities:

Web Editors

By registering with our service, our users gain free access to three different web editors: Wix ADI, intended for fast website creation, the Wix Editor, intended for users with basic or above technological capabilities, and Editor X, intended for professional level users. These three web editors enable our users to design and manage as many websites as they choose, in order to establish or enhance their digital presence. No installation of software is necessary to use these web editors, as our advanced editing and design platform is accessible through the cloud directly from our website. All of our web editors allow registered users to optimize their existing Wix sites for viewing on mobile devices. Our mobile site technology is also based on HTML5 and allows registered users to customize their sites for different mobile devices, yet share design elements and all site data between the different variants. We do not currently charge for our mobile solution.

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Wix Artificial Design Intelligence

We launched Wix Artificial Design Intelligence, or Wix ADI, in 2016. Wix ADI is an AI-based solution that is designed to eliminate the most significant challenges of building websites – time, design and content creation. Through its technology and basic input provided by a user about its business name and type, Wix ADI combines relevant design and content to create a complete, personalized and unique website tailored for the users’ specific needs, in minutes. With this technology, we have blended artificial intelligence and a human design sensibility resulting in algorithms that ensure every website designed using Wix ADI will be stunning and complete. In 2018, we introduced Wix on Mobile, a mobile website builder that utilizes the ADI technology, allowing users to create and manage a customized website entirely on a mobile device.

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Wix Editor

At the core of our platform is the Wix Editor, which is currently localized to twenty languages, and allows registered users to maximize their digital presence by designing an unlimited number of websites, which are customizable using images, layouts, colors, fonts and other content provided by Wix, or content uploaded by the user, including visual and audio media. All websites designed using our editor are fully customizable with HTML5 technology, and contain back-up and firewall protection, as well as certain services designed to reduce the effect of denial-of-service attacks. The Wix Editor offers a highly visual design experience as well as several code-free features such as full screen strip layouts, full page video backgrounds, single-click parallax effects and more. Additionally, users are able to create and manage a customized website entirely on a mobile device through Wix Editor.

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Editor X

We introduced Editor X in January 2020 to provide advanced users, such as Partners advanced design and layouting capabilities. Through its wide, flexible canvas, Editor X allows the use of modern CSS technologies so users can control the exact position and styling of elements at every viewpoint.

Development Environment

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Corvid by Wix

We launched Wix Code in 2017, and in 2019, we rebranded it as Corvid by Wix, or “Corvid.” Corvid is a powerful development platform that allows users to extend the functionality of their online presence. With Corvid, creators, designers and developers can take advantage of a server-less development environment that features an array of advanced functions to create content-rich, custom websites and web applications. This innovative product combines our website creation products—Wix ADI, Wix Editor and Editor X —with a powerful set of development capabilities. Starting with our website creation products, users can design a front end (client-side), then employ Corvid developer tools to add advanced functionality and capabilities to the back end. Corvid includes features that are built into the platform and do not require code to implement. Corvid enables easier web application creation, providing the ability to use databases to manage content, APIs to connect with external services and the ability to expose the web application as an API. This significantly reduces the need for website managers to coordinate between updating themes, hosts, CMSs, plugins, CDNs and other third-party products. Corvid provides an all-in-one platform, hosted on the Wix cloud, that allows users to spend their time on creation, rather than on complicated setup and maintenance. These capabilities are coupled with the Wix OS backend to manage all operational aspects of a website or application.

Additional Complementary Products and Services

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Wix App Market

The Wix App Market is a marketplace that offers our registered users a large variety of free and paid web applications for building, growing, and managing their businesses. The web applications available in the App Market meet our users’ business needs in marketing, support, bookings, accounting, design, social and media apps, and more.

Since the launch of the App Market in 2012 through December 31, 2019, registered users have installed millions of web applications. Through our easy-to-use drag-and-drop technology users can install or remove as many web applications as they would like within moments.

The App Market consists of web applications that are developed by us or by third-party developers. All third-party applications undergo a limited evaluation which is focused mainly on technical functionality, and partner agreements are signed prior to publication in the App Market. We are customarily entitled to a share in 30% of net revenues from the sale of every third-party application purchased through our App Market. We are responsible for the development, operation and maintenance of applications that we create, and the third-party developers are responsible for the applications that they create. However, we may remove a third-party application at any time if it does not meet our standards or for other reasons.

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Wix Marketplace

Wix Marketplace, formerly known as Wix Arena, is an online marketplace which brings our users who are seeking help in creating and managing a website, together with our users who are talented web designers or agencies, that can help the former to build and operate a website that fits their needs and brings their vision to life. Users can search through hundreds of talented professionals filtered by different criteria such as price and location, and explore their portfolios in order to find the pro who best meets their needs.

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Wix App

In 2016, we introduced the Wix App, a native mobile application available in iOS and Android, to allow users to fully manage their websites and Wix operating systems on the go and wherever run their businesses in real time. The Wix App is an interface that streamlines the day-to-day mobile management that businesses need to operate e-commerce, marketing, customer service, bookings and communications with customers and site visitors. The Wix App is available for download for free in the Apple App Store and Google Play.

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Wix Dashboard

Our users have access to a set of tools to manage their site and business directly from a back-office dashboard and sidebar which display helpful information regarding the user’s site and business, as well as recommended applications and helpful tips.

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Wix Customer Care

Wix customer care experts offer support to all of our users through the use of our Wix Answers software. Our customer care team, located primarily in San Francisco, Miami, Kiev, Tel Aviv and Dublin, alongside other offshore locations in which we contract with a third party, is responsible for providing all of our registered users, including free registered users, with both indirect and direct support. The indirect support includes monitoring and updating forums for users’ questions and knowledge databases, such as our online automated ask-and-answer database. This indirect support addresses many of our registered users’ questions and allows us to operate our customer care team in a more efficient and cost effective manner. Customer care experts also provide web-based technical support through email and through the use of remote access software. In 2019, we expanded the scope of our customer care organization to provide our users with a direct level of support that is more proactive as well as providing a more individualized experience. The goal of this proactive and individualized support is to help our users complete their websites and also identify other products or services we offer that may enhance their websites and the manner they run their business on our platform. We provide telephonic support 24 hours a day, 7 days per week globally in English. Support is also offered in French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, German, Japanese and Korean. The operations of our customer care have been affected by the recent outbreak of COVID-19. Certain of our customer care centers were temporarily closed in accordance with the instructions of the healthcare authorities in the jurisdictions in which such centers are located; however, due to our global spread, the ability of part of our customer care experts to work remotely allows us to continue our customer care operations.

Paid Products and Services

Premium Subscriptions

Our premium subscriptions are purchased primarily by businesses, organizations and professionals in a variety of fields, such as art, finance, entertainment, music, photography, tourism, beauty, sports, food services, property management or publishing. Premium subscriptions may also be purchased by creators such as our Partners that are engaged by their customers to build web content. The customers of our premium subscriptions are not concentrated in any particular field. Our premium subscriptions offer all of the features of our web editors, Corvid and our other complementary products and services, but also include the ability to connect a domain and may include features tailored to more specific business needs, such as eCommerce (online stores), receiving payments, and marketing tools such as Google Analytics. Our VIP premium subscriptions also offer premium technical support services. We also offer ad vouchers with certain of our premium subscriptions, which allow registered users to expand their digital presence by, for example, advertising their pages on third-party sites, such as Bing and Google.

Recently, we introduced two tiers of premium subscription plans: (i) Website and (ii) Business & eCommerce. Business & eCommerce plans include the ability to accept online payments. We intend to offer additional tiers of paid subscription plans to our Partners and/or designated subscription plans for Editor X.

Most of our premium subscriptions offer the following additional features and capabilities:

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Connect Your Domain

Most of our premium subscriptions allow registered users to connect their own domain name to their website, which means that the free Wix site address will be replaced with the user’s personal website address. The user’s domain name can also be purchased and managed directly through the Wix platform. Registered users who do not purchase premium subscriptions can also choose to purchase a domain name as a stand-alone product, and continue using our free Wix Editor product to develop and maintain their website.

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Google Analytics

Business & eCommerce premium subscriptions give registered users access to Google Analytics, a third-party application that provides useful data on the users that visit their website. This feature allows our users who connected their domain, to collect and use such data for marketing and other commercial purposes.

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Removing Wix Brand Ads

Most of our premium subscriptions provide a website without the Wix advertisements that are placed in the footer and/or header of free Wix websites.

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Premium Support Services

All of our premium subscriptions receive access to Wix Premium Support which grants them the full benefits of our customer care team, including priority access to our team of customer solutions experts, who prioritize premium subscription questions and requests over other user questions. We also offer our users within the first 14 days of their premium subscriptions several additional support features, which enable them to receive a prompt call-back from us via our Priority Call Back service. In addition, VIP subscribers have the option of receiving support responses during business hours via Wix Answers, our online automated ask-and-answer ticketing system.

Ascend by Wix Subscriptions

In the fourth quarter of 2018, we launched Ascend by Wix, a suite of approximately 20 products and features, based on a freemium subscription model, which enable users to easily connect with their customers, automate their work, and grow their business. Ascend by Wix is an inbox and chat-centric product that allows users to discover tools that they might not know they need and includes the following products:

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Inbox - allows users to manage all their communications and interactions in one place. With Inbox, users are able to respond to messages of their users and track every service booking and product order.

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Chat - enables our users to build relationships with their current and potential users by providing chat capabilities directly from desktop or mobile via the Wix App. Users can know instantly when a new user visits their site or when they purchase a product or book an appointment.

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Forms - allows users to create custom forms, surveys and quizzes to gather leads, collect testimonials and feedback from their users, and receive file uploads.

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Contact Manager - allows users to keep track of their contacts and add relevant notes and labels, which enables our users to improve the customer service they provide to their users.

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Automations - allows our users to set up automatically triggered actions on their site in order to help them collect leads and manage their work throughout the day.

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Members - helps users build a stronger connection with their users and contacts. It allows site members to log into the user’s site and track their account activity including by joining conversations, following posts, uploading videos, and writing comments.

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Price Quotes - enables users to create and send pricing options to potential customers and allows them to accept offers online.

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Invoices - enables users to create, send and manage invoices, and facilitates payment from their users. Invoices also help streamline tracking of customer payments.

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Workflows - allows users to prioritize projects and sales funnels at a glance. Users can easily collaborate with staff and stay on top of their workload.

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Tasks & Reminders - help our users organize and manage their tasks in a handy to-do list, so that they can meet deadlines and maximize their workday.

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Wix SEO Wiz - a widget that guides users through the most common steps that help the users’ site appear in online searches. Wix SEO Wiz provides users with personalized plans to optimize their site for search engines like Google. Wix SEO Wiz’s keyword analyzer helps users pick strong and recommended keywords, upon which they receive a checklist with step-by-step instructions on how to incorporate those keywords and other details in their search engine optimization, or SEO, settings. The Wix SEO Wiz covers all the most important setups, such as meta titles, descriptions, Alt text, internal links and site content. Once users complete a few basic checklist items, they can instantly index their site on Google, using a feature developed in partnership with Google. Users then receive regular achievement updates with key insights about the progress of their websites in search results. While completing their checklist, users can enrich their SEO knowledge with helpful videos and articles in the SEO guide of the application.

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Email Marketing (formerly known as Wix ShoutOut) - an integrated email marketing product which enables registered users to easily create and send customized email campaigns, such as newsletters, updates and promotions directly from their Wix accounts. Wix Email Marketing allows our users to select from a rich set of email templates and utilize their contact lists, which are stored and managed in their accounts, thus addressing the critical business need of effective client communication management.

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Social Posts - provides our users with content and inspiration solutions for their Facebook and Instagram feed. It allows users to stand out in their social feed by choosing the desired designs from a variety of trendy designs, and editing them according to the brand’s needs. Users can share the file created to their Facebook page, Instagram feed or download it and share it via additional channels.

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Video Maker - allows users to instantly create a promotional video for their business. Videos are automatically created from any product page, or easily created from various templates. Users can customize media, text, soundtrack and business info, instantly share videos to Facebook and YouTube videos, or use them anywhere on their site.

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Marketing Integrations - connects to third party API applications to enable our users to add additional powerful marketing tools. Through these integrations our users can connect various external marketing APIs, directly from their site dashboard. Our marketing integrations include Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel and Google tag manager, as well as analytics and tracking capabilities and additional tools.

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Coupons - allows users to share their own customized discount coupons for specific products and services to help boost customer retention.

Users can purchase Ascend by Wix on a monthly, yearly, or multi-year subscription basis, and can choose between various price points based on the number of contributors, lead-capture forms, customizable forms, and email–campaigns-per-month required.

Wix Payments

In the fourth quarter of 2018, we introduced Wix Payments, a comprehensive payments platform that helps users accept payments through their website. Wix Payments allows users to set up and accept payments, in an automated and instant onboarding process made entirely within the Wix platform. Wix Payments also includes a dashboard to view history of online transactions, from sales to payouts, in a single place, solving a significant challenge with doing business online. Many types of businesses, including e-commerce retailers, service providers, musicians, photographers and many more, will be able to take advantage of the efficiency provided by Wix Payments. Wix Payments is currently active in Brazil, the U.S. and several European countries and is intended to be expanded to additional countries.

Wix Logo Maker

In 2018, we launched the Wix Logo Maker. Wix Logo Maker generates a customizable, high-resolution logo in minutes using artificial intelligence, providing users with a critical piece for building an online brand. Through Wix Logo Maker, users can design a stunning logo, get downloadable professional vector files in a variety of sizes and color formats, custom design and order business cards with their customized business logo, and build a website based on the styles and colors of their customized business logo.

Wix Answers

Wix Answers is the platform that currently serves as the support infrastructure for our customer care team. In the first quarter of 2018 we began offering this platform to Wix users and other businesses, enabling them to help their users across multiple channels. Wix Answers can be customized to various types of businesses with an intuitive set-up and offers a customer support infrastructure which includes a knowledge base, ticketing system, chat, and call center, each of which can be purchased separately or as a bundle. It also offers integration with other platforms, actionable insights, and an embeddable widget that can be used with any website.

Domains

We offer our users the ability to choose and connect their own domain name to their website to better enhance their brand, through third parties that offer domain names, or through our offering as an ICANN accredited domain name registrar. Domain names are offered as a stand-alone product, but are included as part of our premium subscription offerings. Registered users without a premium subscription are assigned a domain name which includes the Wix site address.

Mailbox

We act as resellers for Google’s G-Suite application, which allows our users to create a personalized Gmail email address using their domain name, to enable them to send professional emails from their business address, create group mailing lists for sales, support, email marketing and more.

Wix Vertical Applications

We offer a robust and comprehensive platform for all business owners. As each business segment faces a unique set of challenges, we develop tailored products and solutions to address specific business needs. Such verticalized strategy allows us to build on this solid foundation by adding more layers and enhancements that cater to the specific needs of each industry and provides an easy and affordable way for these businesses to bring mission critical workflow online. Current vertical solutions are Wix Stores, Wix Bookings, Wix Hotels, Wix Music, Wix Restaurants, Wix Photography, Wix Video, Wix Events, Wix Fitness, Wix Blog, and Wix Forum. We intend to continue introducing additional solutions, once we are able to identify a need for such solutions, that are tailored to specific businesses.

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Wix Stores

Wix Stores is our e-commerce solution which allows our registered users to create, design and manage an online store through which they may sell their physical or digital products online and accept payments using an integrated shopping cart application, which is already included in the subscription. Wix Stores users can tailor the style of the online store to their business, and can accept payment from their users for products or services they offer through a variety of integrated payment solutions we offer, such as wallets, credit cards, and through other types of offline payments such as cash on delivery. We also provide registered users with the ability to manage inventory, provide coupons and set their own shipping and tax rules as part of our Wix Stores. Additionally, users can manage their online store on the go by using the Wix App on a mobile device. Wix Stores enables merchants to create, manage and grow their online business from one cohesive environment.

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Wix Bookings

Wix Bookings, which was launched in 2016, is an end-to-end online booking solution, giving businesses an easy and effective way to showcase their services, allow online scheduling, as well as manage their schedule. The solution helps business owners from a variety of verticals to acquire more business by allowing customers to book online appointments, classes, and courses, keep track of their schedule by synchronizing with their primary Google Calendar, reduce no-shows by sending auto-reminder emails to customers, sell membership and packages, and customize products.

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Wix Hotels

Wix Hotels offers a complete booking engine that is fully integrated into a Wix website for hotels, B&Bs and vacation rentals, making it simple to build and maintain the room inventory complete with pricing, booking, reservation and payment management capabilities. Through their dashboards, hotel owners can easily add reservations made elsewhere and manage their entire room inventory in one place. As a result of certain engagements with third parties, hotel owners can accept and manage bookings that come through many online travel agencies and marketplaces.

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Wix Music

Wix Music is a complete solution for musicians and entertainers which includes an advanced music player, commission free sales, an easy to use digital asset management system, concert promotion and ticketing, fan management and communication tools and a range of specifically designed music website templates. All of these components are seamlessly packaged, empowering musicians to leverage the web to drive awareness and professionally promote and sell their music directly from their Wix websites. Optimized for mobile devices, Wix Music ensures music sharing and purchasing can continue on-the-go.

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Wix Restaurants

Wix Restaurants provides various solutions for restauranteurs, including Wix Restaurants Menus, Wix Restaurants Orders and Wix Restaurants Reservations. Wix Restaurants Menus enables restauranteurs to easily create a menu on their Wix website, using professionally created layouts offered on our site. Wix Restaurants Orders is an online ordering solution for restauranteurs enabling them to receive takeout and delivery orders through their desktop and mobile Wix websites and to consequently grow their business and maintain a direct relationship with their customers. Wix Restaurants Reservations lets restaurant owners take online table reservations from their restaurant site and confirm and manage reservations via their Wix dashboard.

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Wix Photography

Wix Photography is a comprehensive solution for photographers looking to create their portfolio and manage their business online, from both desktop and mobile. Our dedicated solution includes multiple templates custom designed for photographers, dozens of gallery layout options including specific features relevant for professional photographers and other visual artists, such as the ability to determine image resolution, load videos, share their portfolio on social media, sell digital or printed artwork and more. In addition to a dedicated portfolio site to showcase their art, Wix offers photographers and other visual artists relevant and widely used tools such as the Wix Photo Albums app that enables event photographers to easily create an album site for their clients and enhance their exposure to potential clients, and Wix Art Store allowing artists to sell their art online to their customers.

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Wix Video

Wix Video allows our users to showcase, promote and sell videos on their Wix website. Users can create their own video channels, upload and stream videos in the highest quality, or easily add them from YouTube, Vimeo and Facebook. In 2018, Wix Video added the ability to live stream and charge access for live events from desktop and mobile. Additional features that were added in 2018 include selling video downloads, customizable interactive cards placed on top of the videos, automatic sites for vloggers via ADI and direct syndication of videos to YouTube and Facebook.

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Wix Events

Wix Events is an application which enables users to create and manage their events on both desktop and mobile, send invites, collect RSVPs, sell tickets and manage a guest list. Wix Events can be used for conferences, meetups, concerts, shows, weddings, parties, and more. Users can use Wix Events to promote their events on social media. We may charge a commission from our Wix Events users on the online sales of tickets sold through Wix Events.

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Wix Fitness

Wix Fitness enables fitness instructors and studio owners to manage each aspect of their businesses from their website and the Wix App. Fitness professionals can create a website using newly designed templates and customize the Wix App, manage their calendars and classes, connect with their community, stream and sell videos, take payments and develop reports and analytics to help grow their business. Wix Fitness offers bookings, subscriptions, e-commerce including coupons, SEO and email marketing, as well as a chat-centric interface that allows for real-time interactions with customers.

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Wix Blog

Wix Blog enables users to easily create a blog and grow an online community. Users can choose from several beautiful layouts with built-in social features. Readers can join the blog, create member profiles, follow posts, and comment with images and videos.

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Wix Forum

Wix Forum enables users to create an online community directly on their Wix site. The users of Wix Forum users can become members, join conversations, follow posts, upload videos, write comments and more. Users can choose from a variety of layouts and customize them to their needs.

Selling and Marketing

Our selling and marketing efforts focus primarily on online and offline advertising, and a sales and account management team focuses on meeting the needs of Partners that may utilize our products and services to serve their own customers.

We market our solutions and applications to businesses, organizations, professionals and individuals, including entrepreneurs and freelancers, as well as through Partners. We are able to attract a high volume of registered users, including premium subscription users, by offering free solutions and services, as well as upgrades and additional features and solutions to our premium subscription users. We also offer a 14-day refund period for our premium subscriptions. As of December 31, 2019, we had approximately 165 million registered users and 4.5 million premium subscriptions.

User Acquisition

We engage in online and offline advertising, with a focus on acquiring new users to our platform, converting these users into purchasing premium subscriptions, and increasing our revenue from them. A majority of our premium subscriptions are generated from free traffic to our website, primarily through search engine optimization or direct traffic, meaning visitor traffic that reached our website, Wix.com, via unpaid search results or by typing the URL of our website in their browser. We also acquire a small amount of free traffic through our participation on social networking sites and the banner advertisements we place on our non-paying registered users’ websites. In order to increase our exposure and optimize organic, or free, search engine results, we constantly test our search engine optimization strategy to ensure that our website is relevant to those potential customers seeking web development and design products. Further, we continually evaluate our marketing spending and its effectiveness and invest in those activities that are most likely to maximize our return by generating premium subscriptions which will drive high revenues. In 2020, we are continuing to focus our marketing spending on channels, such as Partners, that bring new users to visit, register, and begin using our products and services.

In addition to our online and offline marketing activities to acquire new users, we also acquire new users by engaging with Partners that use our platform for their own work for their clients. We accomplish this outreach with our sales and account management teams as well as through marketing content, online communities and organized events and conferences.

We believe our user acquisition strategy further benefits from the brand we have built as a leading web development and design platform for businesses, organizations, professionals and individuals. We are also growing our brand among professional creators. We believe that our branding efforts have accounted for a significant portion of users who come directly to our website, through typing our URL directly into their browsers, or through searching for “Wix” or a term related to the establishment of a digital presence. We believe that these users are also attracted due to referrals from other users, and via word-of-mouth regarding our products and services. Our acquisition strategy also benefits from our use of A/B testing on our website, a marketing approach that aims to identify changes to our website which will increase or maximize user interest and acquisition. Our Design Studio team changes the layout of our website from time to time, and engages in A/B testing in order to determine which layouts and graphics are the most successful in maximizing user acquisition.

Our marketing expenditures directed to advertising were $141.3 million in 2017, $165.3 million in 2018, and $187.3 million in 2019. Our marketing expenditures are primarily directed toward the following channels:

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Cost-Per-Click Advertising

We pay leading search engines to provide search results that provide our solutions and services with the maximum exposure when users search for key terms related to establishing a digital presence. We do this by elevating the placement of our website address in search results. We pay search engines on a cost-per-click, or CPC, basis each time a person clicks on such a paid search result or advertisement.

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Online Presence and Branding

We have established an active online presence in social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and video sites such as YouTube, including through use of social network influencers, and we also market our solutions by purchasing generic and targeted advertisements on these websites and others. We also consult public and media relation firms to help brand and advertise our solutions and services.

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Traditional Media Advertising

Some of our marketing expenses are directed towards more traditional advertising such as television commercials mainly in the United States.

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Other expenditures

We maintain the Wix Affiliate Program, a program where our affiliates receive a commission for directing visitors to our website, by placing Wix ads on their personal websites. From time to time we also hold webinars, promotional contests, user meet-ups and public relations events at our Tel Aviv, New York, Miami and San Francisco offices, as well as events in other locations where we have a large number of users.

Business to Business Sales and Marketing

We have enhanced our sales efforts to sell our products and services through Partners, including those who sell premium subscriptions and additional business solutions to their customers at scale. We have established dedicated sales and marketing teams for each of these new customer segments to facilitate their use of our services. In addition, we work with our sales teams in order to develop back office functionality necessary to sell our products more effectively.

We further expect to retain premium subscriptions and maximize our revenue from Partners by providing improved support to them.

User Retention

Once we attract visitors to our website, our preliminary goal is to register them as registered users. Once they are registered, we distribute marketing and promotional emails and support tools to help our registered users build their site. These materials are created by our Wix content team, which complements our marketing efforts by focusing on the consistency of our branding message online, in our offline merchandise and at our community events. We constantly seek to convert our registered users to purchase premium subscriptions and to maximize our revenue from such subscriptions by offering them enhanced functionalities. Registered users who convert to a premium subscription gain access to additional features based on the subscription they choose which may include, Wix ad removal, access to Google Analytics, domain connectivity, eCommerce and payment solutions. We offer a 14-day refund to introduce registered users to these additional products and solutions. Registered users can choose between monthly, yearly or multi-year premium subscriptions, and as of December 31, 2019, 84% of our net premium subscriptions were for a one-year period or more and 16% were monthly. We seek to increase the number of premium yearly and multi-year subscriptions by offering seasonal promotions and discounts on yearly and multi-year subscriptions. We also send our yearly and multi-year premium subscribers emails reminding them that their subscriptions are about to renew or that they need to renew them before expiration, as well as coupons and other discounts on products and services to maximize our revenue from such premium subscriptions. We seek to retain premium subscriptions by offering upgrades for our premium products and free and premium applications in our App Market.

We further retain premium subscriptions by developing relationships with subscribing users through our customer care team, with which we address our registered users’ technological needs and concerns. Through our customer care, we also help free registered users transition to premium subscriptions by providing guidance on integration of premium subscription features into existing websites created with our web editors, and we further help our users with premium subscription to discover additional business solutions to enhance their subscription and as a result their engagement in our platform. We seek to maintain goodwill with all of our registered users, and retain them as registered users, even if they do not choose to subscribe to, renew or enhance their premium subscriptions.

Our Technology and Infrastructure

Our cloud-based platform provides our registered users with a suite of web design, development and workflow management products and applications, as well as hosting for our registered users’ sites. All of these tools are accessible directly through our platform. In order to enhance our suite of products, we also conduct product and quality assurance testing on all new and existing technology integrated into our platform.

Wix Cloud

We use a flexible hybrid cloud, comprised of both cloud-based storage and data centers, to host our products and our applications, and the websites that our registered users create. We rely on collocated servers, cloud service providers and other third-party hardware and infrastructure to support our operations. Our primary data centers are located in two geographically separate locations in the United States, one located on the East coast and the other located on the West coast, as well as in Europe and Japan. The vast majority of our data is located in our primary data centers in the United States hosted by Google, Inc. and Amazon Web Services by Amazon.com, Inc. as well as by additional providers as required or for specific purposes, and we also use cloud storage from Google, Inc. and Amazon.com, Inc. Our network equipment remains stored in servers leased from Hostway Services, Inc., which, in the past, hosted a more substantial amount of our data. To date, we have not experienced any material outages or service interruptions. This highly scalable multi-tenant technology infrastructure enables us to serve all of our users simultaneously and consistently, and scales based on overall traffic and capacity. As a result, our platform is not affected or slowed down by growth in the number of registered users in our cloud. Our cloud technology is also capable of full resource sharing, meaning that our registered users can access information via their individual website database easily over the Internet without the need for manual download, with content delivery provided by proven international cloud delivery network vendors. To further reduce the possibility that data of our registered users will be lost, and that our platform will not experience material downtime, we also use Google and Amazon cloud services as well as additional providers, to back up our registered users’ data and the use of our platform. We apply industry standard data security measures to protect against potential vulnerabilities in our technology.

HTML5-Based Design Capabilities

HTML5 is the latest and most advanced markup language available for structuring and presenting dynamic content on the Internet. Websites using HTML5 can seamlessly incorporate video, audio, fonts, graphics and animations. Moreover, rich and interactive web design and application integration can be achieved without the use of Flash. Because of these advanced capabilities, we use HTML5 as the basis for our products. We developed our HTML5-based technology by leveraging our many years of experience in developing web development and design tools.

Style Engine and Smart Layout Technology

Our style engine technology provides registered users with advanced customization capabilities, making all aspects of a registered user’s website customizable. Our technology, which uses dropdown lists and customized color palettes, allows the user to quickly brand or re-brand their website with just a few clicks in our editor. In one click, users can customize backgrounds, banners, buttons, fonts and font sizes using a dropdown list. Registered users can customize colors using a color palette. One click also allows a user to simultaneously apply all color and style changes to all elements on the user’s website. This type of customization is generally time-consuming and requires knowledge of advanced HTML5 and CSS3 coding skills. However, with our style engine technology, our registered users can change their websites’ style and branding in moments.

Our editors include the Wix Editor’s Smart Layout technology that offers both functionality and customization. Our technology provides for dynamic layout and content, meaning that no one component box on a registered user’s website is static or incapable of being moved to other areas of the user’s page. Component boxes added to our registered users’ websites identify the user’s site structure and automatically adapt to the size and style of other component boxes within the site. These capabilities allow the registered user full control over the layout of their website, allowing the user to create a design-rich, professional website.

Web Service Creation Environment

We use a powerful software development kit, or SDK, with an application programming interface, or API, which allows web solutions, applications and widgets to be seamlessly embedded into the websites designed by our registered users. Web solutions and applications are configured by third party developers using a self-service system called Wix Developer Center. This technology allows the user to embed third-party applications or widgets, such as ratings, news and books into the user’s website by linking the application or widget’s URL to the user’s website. It also allows third party service integrations that need to receive website events, such as order management and financial services. All integrations are done with one click, using the Wix App Market, where the user can choose which web solutions or applications they would like to add to their website. The added application or widget may then be opened as a pop-up on the user’s website, which further adds to our editor’s dynamic layout capabilities. Further, SEO used in connection with the user’s website will also attach to the embedded widget or application data, increasing the overall visibility of the user’s digital presence.

Wix Databases

Our application development and data technology, Wix Databases, is a platform that allows our registered users and developers to create their own applications and work management tools, such as contact forms and FAQ lists. This platform uses our drag-and-drop, style engine and smart layout technology, so that the user or developer may create professional-looking applications and tools with customized styles, colors and layouts. The applications and tools created through Wix Databases can be fully integrated into our registered users’ websites through publishing on the Wix Editor platform.

Infrastructure

Our operations, including marketing and delivery, are efficient since the vast majority of them is online-based and as such provide us with flexibility and scalability. Our hybrid cloud and content delivery network enables our registered users to purchase and use our products and services online, through our website. As a result of these efficiencies, we have built a large registered user base, while limiting the number of physical offices required for conducting our business. Our marketing and customer support operations are supported by online marketing tools such as CPC advertising, SEO and email distributions, and by customer support tools such as online forums and an advanced user self-service support system using online ticketing and a database of questions and answers.

We currently process all of the payments using a billing system that enables our registered users to submit information of credit, debit card and other alternative payment methods for payment processing. This system interfaces with a number of different payment gateway providers who then link to payment card processors and/or acquiring banks, based on the registered user’s jurisdiction. With this system, we are not dependent on any single gateway provider or payment card processor in any of our main markets.

Our infrastructure includes servers and bandwidth capacity collocated from third parties located in the United States, as well as in Europe, Japan, and any other locations as required, including cloud storage from Google and Amazon as well as additional providers as required or for specific purposes. We use our own servers to run our research and development activities and to operate our office applications. Our use of servers in different locations, together with our use of Google and Amazon cloud services as well as other providers to back up our registered users’ data and serving our registered users, protects against accidental data loss and reduces disruption to our operations from server outages or physical damage to a server. We aim to maintain industry standard server operations, which will provide our growing registered user base with industry standard reliability to access to our products and consistent service provisions.

Research and Development

As of December 31, 2019, we had 1,552 employees and contractors focused on research and development. Our research and development team, which also includes our design team and our quality assurance team, is comprised of individuals with extensive experience in web development, design, data management and data analysis. Our principal research and development activities are conducted from our headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel. We also engage teams of developers in Beer-Sheva and Haifa, Israel, Vilnius, Lithuania, and Berlin, Germany as well as in Ukraine in order to benefit from the significant pool of talent that is more readily available in those markets. Our research and development personnel focus primarily on enhancing our technology, improving our products, and developing new products and solutions.

Our research and development spending was $153.6 million in 2017, $198.9 million in 2018 and $250.8 million in 2019. We invest in research and development in order to enhance and expand our product and service offerings, tailor our marketing efforts, and expand our registered user base. Our development strategy is focused on identifying updates and enhanced features for our existing offerings, developing new offerings that are tailored to our registered users’ and our Partners’ needs and often arise out of their suggestions, and improving the performance of our platform. For this, we rely heavily on sophisticated tools, such as automated process systems which, for example, enable our registered users to request new product features and upgrades through the use of our automated request system on our website, which then enables us to quickly react to our registered users’ requests. We also engage in A/B testing in order to measure the effectiveness of our upgrades and new product features.

We aim to recruit talented individuals for our research and development team through a variety of techniques, including cooperation with local universities and recruiting events. We are a member of key industry organizations and regularly attend and participate in industry events, where our employees frequently speak. We also engage with potential talents by hosting technology meet-ups in our headquarters and regional offices.

Intellectual Property

Our success depends, among other things, upon our ability to protect our core technology and intellectual property. We rely on a combination of patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret laws, as well as licensing agreements and third-party nondisclosure and assignment agreements to protect our intellectual property and know-how. In addition, we have filed a number of patent applications and continue to file for patents in order to protect our inventions. We have pending patent applications in the United States as well as in several additional jurisdictions worldwide. We also have pending Patent Cooperation Treaty, or PCT, applications that may lead to additional patent applications. Certain of our applications have been accepted and patents were granted, however, we cannot be certain that all our applications will issue as patents. We actively monitor innovation within our company so as to properly consider whether to file additional patent applications. We enter into confidentiality and proprietary rights agreements with our employees, consultants and business partners, and we control access to and distribution of our proprietary information.

The Wix brand is central to our business strategy, and we believe that maintaining, protecting and enhancing the Wix brand is important to expanding our business. We have obtained trademark registrations in certain jurisdictions for trademarks that we consider material to the marketing of our products, including the marks WIX® and the Wix logo, as well as ADI® and DEVIANTART®. We have trademark applications for additional marks that we use to identify certain product collections used for certain of our products. While we expect to submit additional trademark applications and expect our pending applications to mature into registrations, we cannot be certain that we will obtain such registrations.

Our in-house know-how is an important element of our intellectual property. The development of our web development and design software and management of our data analysis and marketing programs, requires sophisticated coordination among many specialized employees. We believe that duplication of this coordination by competitors or individuals seeking to copy our software offering would be difficult. This risk is further mitigated by the fact that our product and service offerings are cloud-based such that most of the core technology operating on our systems is never exposed to our users or to our competitors.

Competition

We enable our registered users to create a customizable, fully integrated and professional digital presence through an attractive web-based software platform with various marketing and workflow management capabilities. We believe that the key competitive factors in our market include, simplicity and ease of use, product breadth, integration of multiple solutions, price, design quality, global scope, security and reliability and brand recognition and reputation.

We believe that we compete favorably on these factors because of the unique combination of our comprehensive suite of design and digital presence software, advanced technology and product integration, efficiencies in operations, brand recognition and marketing expertise, longstanding customer, designer and developer relationships, large user base, and track record of successfully attracting new users to our website and products.

The market for providing web-based website design and management software is evolving and highly fragmented today. We believe no provider currently offers a comprehensive, customizable, fully integrated workflow solution to create and manage a professional digital presence comparable to ours. However, some providers currently offer separate products or technologies that overlap with parts of our solution and could try to integrate these with other products to offer a more comprehensive solution in the future. Providers of these point products vary and include:

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DIY template-based and other website design companies that enable website creation such as Squarespace, Weebly (acquired by Square, Inc.), Jimdo and Webflow, Inc.;

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offerings that provide e-commerce software enabling a merchant to sell goods online such as Shopify and BigCommerce;

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software that enables a business to take and manage appointments and/or reservation schedules online, such as Mindbody and BookingSuite;

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content management systems that help users build and manage content for a website such as WordPress.org and Drupal; and

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solutions that help businesses market themselves online such as search engine marketing, or SEM, and SEO providers, e-mail marketing solutions and online directory listing services.

Additionally, several large service companies that primarily offer domain registration and hosting services, such as GoDaddy, provide the ability for a business owner to build a website using their tools or have one built by their workforce.

Government Legislation and Regulation

Actions of our Registered Users

In many jurisdictions, including the United States and countries in Europe, laws relating to the liability of providers of online services for activities of their users and other third parties are evolving and are currently being tested by a number of claims, including actions based on defamation, breach of data protection and data privacy rights and other torts, unfair competition, copyright and trademark infringement, and other theories based on the nature and content of the materials searched, the ads posted, or the content uploaded by users. Any regulatory or court ruling or other governmental action that imposes greater restriction or liability on providers of online services for the activities of their users and other third parties could harm our business. In addition, rising concern about the use of the Internet for illegal conduct, such as the unauthorized dissemination of national security information, money laundering, supporting terrorist activities or conducting fraudulent activities may in the future lead to regulation, legislation or other governmental action that could require changes to our products or services, restrict or impose additional costs upon the conduct of our business or cause registered users to abandon material aspects of our service.

User Data

We hold certain personal information of our registered users, primarily, username, email address and billing details that are provided by our registered users and by our users who have purchased premium subscriptions, and may store certain personal information of the users of our registered users’ websites. We are subject to the data protection and storage laws of the State of Israel, as well as certain industry standards. In addition, we are subject to local data privacy legislations in the areas where we operate, including the U.S. We operate in accordance with the terms of our privacy policy and terms of use, which describe our practices concerning the use, transmission and disclosure of user data and personal information.

Because our services are accessible worldwide, there is a risk that data protection and data privacy regulators of countries outside the jurisdictions in which we are located, may seek jurisdiction over our activities in locations in which we collect or process data or have registered users but do not have a local operating entity, employees or infrastructure. Where the local data protection and data privacy laws of a jurisdiction apply, we may be required to register our operations in that jurisdiction or make changes to our business and/or services and products so that personal information is only collected and processed in accordance with applicable local law. In such cases, we may require additional legal review and resources to ensure compliance with any applicable data privacy or data protection laws and regulations.

United States

A number of legislative proposals pending before the U.S. Congress and various state legislative bodies, concerning data privacy and data protection, including changing regulatory guidelines and interpretations, could affect us and our business, our products and our services. For example, the FTC has updated its guidelines relating to children’s online privacy that were issued under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. Additionally, some states have passed proactive, as well as reactive, information security legislation such as the CCPA. Regulatory enforcement actions and trends in consumer class actions against other online social media companies suggest a trend that regulators and judges may require such companies to adopt certain minimum data privacy protections and data security measures to protect personal information. The costs of compliance with these laws, best practices and regulatory guidance may increase in the future as a result of changes in regulatory guidelines and interpretation.

Europe

In April 2016, the European Union adopted the new GDPR, which includes more stringent data protection obligations for businesses, such as conducting a data protection impact assessment for certain processing operations imposing more obligations to respond to data breaches, increasing the scope of data subject rights and requests, and expanding the legislative requirements for data processors, as well as introducing a stricter regime of enforcement. Additionally, the GDPR has an extra-territorial effect and regulates the covered data processing activities of businesses regardless of their location or the locations of their servers. The regulation became applicable on May 25, 2018. The Company has a dedicated team that is taking the necessary measures in order to maintain compliance with the GDPR and other applicable data protection regulations. The current legal climate indicates that other jurisdictions will implement similar laws, and being subject to these and other laws and regulations, and the more stringent requirements on data privacy, data handling and data security, will require us to adapt our business and we are likely to incur additional costs.

We are subject to a number of key legal obligations under the GDPR, especially when we act as a “data controller,” as we do in relation to our users, in particular, as well as our employees. For example, among other things, we are required to inform individuals when we collect and otherwise process their personal information, and for what specific purpose, provide a means for these individuals to request access to, rectification of and erasure of their personal information, only retain personal information for as long as needed for a particular purpose, erase or review the personal information at the end of that period and not transfer personal information outside the European Economic Area, to jurisdictions which do not ensure an adequate level of protection of personal information, without taking certain legitimizing steps.

The European e-Privacy Directive (Directive 2002/58/EC as amended by Directive 2009/136/EC) obliges the EU member states to introduce certain national laws regulating data privacy in the electronic communications sector. Pursuant to the requirements of some of those national laws introduced under the e-Privacy Directive, companies must, among other things, obtain consent to store information or access information already stored on an individual’s terminal equipment (e.g., computer or mobile device). These requirements predominantly regulate the use by companies of cookies and similar technologies. Prior to providing such consent, individuals must receive clear and comprehensive information in accordance with the applicable national law to the access and storage of information. We rely on certain exemptions to these requirements available for technical storage or access for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network or as strictly necessary to provide a service explicitly requested by the individual. These rules are also set to change in the future, as a proposal for an e-Privacy Regulation has been published by the EU Commission, aiming to cover all forms of digital tracking (cookies, iBeacons, etc.) as well as machine-to-machine communications (Internet of Things). We have appointed a team to develop a system for the better management of cookies and similar technologies in anticipation of the e-Privacy Regulation currently under consideration by the European regulatory authorities.

Our registered users may also collect personal information themselves through the websites that we host for them; however, because we only provide services that enable registered users to carry out their own purposes, which may or may not include processing personal information, we act solely as a data processor with respect to such personal information. The GDPR imposes certain obligations on “data processors,” including the obligations to implement adequate technical and organizational security measures and maintain records regarding all categories of processing activities under our responsibility.

Additionally, the Council for the European Union approved the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market on April 15, 2019, which imposes liability for copyright infringement on online platforms.

Facilities

Our principal facilities are located in Tel Aviv, Israel and consist of approximately 19,451 square meters (approximately 209,369 square feet) of leased office space. We also lease additional office space in Beer-Sheva, Israel totaling approximately 1,766 square meters (approximately 19,009 square feet). These facilities accommodate our principal executive, research and development, marketing, design, business development, human resources, finance, information technology, customer support and administrative activities. The leases for our Tel Aviv offices expire on various dates between April 14, 2020 and November 30, 2024. In addition, as announced in April 2019, we have committed to lease approximately 50,000 square meters (approximately 538,195 square feet) for our new corporate headquarters in Tel Aviv for an initial period of 10 years with an option to extend for a period of 11 years thereafter. These new offices are currently under construction, and we plan to begin occupying them in the second half of 2022 and to fully occupy them in the second half of 2023.

In the United States, we maintain offices in New York City, San Francisco and Miami as well as in Los Angeles where DeviantArt is located. In New York, we lease approximately 11,650 square feet under a lease that will expire in April 2029, and we have an option to terminate it early in March 2024. In San Francisco, we lease 34,459 square feet until February 28, 2031, of which we sublease approximately 11,000 square feet to third parties. In Miami, we lease approximately 33,000 square feet until July 31, 2025. In Los Angeles, we currently lease approximately 15,500 square feet under a lease that expires on November 30, 2026, with an option to extend the lease. In Lithuania, we maintain offices in Vilnius, in Germany, we maintain an office in Berlin, in Ireland, we maintain an office in Dublin, in Brazil, we maintain an office in Santana de Parnaiba near the city of Sao Paulo, in Ukraine, we maintain offices in Kiev and in Dnipro, and in Japan, we maintain an office in Tokyo.

Legal Proceedings

See “Item 8. Financial Information—Consolidated Financial Statements and Other Financial Information—Legal proceedings.”

C.Organizational Structure

The legal name of our company is Wix.com Ltd. and we are organized under the laws of the State of Israel. We have thirteen wholly owned subsidiaries: Wix.com Brasil Serviços De Internet Ltda. (Brazil), Wix.com, Inc. (Delaware, United States), Wix.com Luxemburg S.a.r.l (Luxemburg), Wix.com UAB (Lithuania), Wix Online Platform Limited (Ireland), Wix.com Services Mexico S de RL de C.V. (Mexico), Wix.Com Germany GmbH (Germany), Wix Com India Private Limited (India), Wix.com Colombia S.A.S. (Colombia), Wix.com (Singapore), Wix.com Japan K.K. (Japan)., WixWhat Ltd. (Israel) and Loyalblocks Ltd. (Israel).

Our subsidiary Wix.com Inc. wholly owns Inkfrog, Inc. (Delaware) and DeviantArt, Inc. (Delaware), which wholly owns Wix Payments Canada Inc. (Canada), DeviantArt Music, Inc. (Delaware) and Dadotart Inc. (Delaware).

Our subsidiary Loyalblocks Ltd. (Israel) wholly owns Loyalblocks Ltd. (Delaware).

D.Property, Plants and Equipment

For a discussion of property, plants and equipment, see “Item 4.B. Business Overview—Facilities.”

Item 4A.UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

Not applicable.

Item 5.OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW AND PROSPECTS

Company Overview

We are a leading global web development platform for millions of registered users and creators worldwide. As of December 31, 2019, we empower approximately 165 million registered users worldwide to create and manage a fully integrated and dynamic digital presence. We are pioneering a new approach to web development and management that provides an easy-to-use, yet powerful, cloud-based platform of products.

Following our IPO in November 2013, we issued and sold a total of 6,325,786 ordinary shares at a price per share of $16.50, resulting in net proceeds to us of approximately $93.6 million.

In 2019, we significantly increased the number of our registered users and premium subscriptions compared to 2018, and we continued to benefit from our expanded product offerings. Our total revenues in 2019 were $761.1 million, an increase of 26% over 2018. Our Creative Subscriptions revenues were $644.5 million, which represented an increase of 23% from 2018. Our Business Solutions revenues were $116.6 million in 2019, which represented an increase of 49% from 2018, see “How We Generate Revenues” below. Our Creative Subscriptions revenue represented 85% of our total revenue in 2019, and our Business Solutions revenues represented 15% of our total revenue in 2019, together representing 100% of our total revenue in 2019. Our future growth will depend, in part, on our ability to generate new premium subscriptions, through new or existing registered users or Partners, retain existing premium subscriptions and increase the revenue we generate from existing and new premium subscriptions. It will also depend, in part, on our ability to manage the growth of our infrastructure effectively and adapt to changes to technologies used in our solutions.

In 2020, we expect to continue driving long-term growth by continued investment in our research and development efforts in order to expand our offering and enhance user experience. In addition, we expect to continue to expand our marketing activities both in the United States and internationally. We also expect to continue to make significant expenditures to upgrade our technology and network infrastructure to enable the release of offerings and applications and to scale for future growth. To support these efforts, we expect to increase our workforce which will result in an increase of headcount related expenses, including share-based compensation. Additionally, with the development of the COVID-19 outbreak, which was alerted by the Chinese government in December 2019, many countries have required entities to limit or suspend business operations and implemented travel restrictions and quarantine measures. These measures and policies have significantly disrupted (or are expected to disrupt) the activities of many entities. The impacts of the global emergence of the COVID-19 disease on our business are currently unknown. We will continue to actively monitor the situation and may take further actions that alter our business operations.

How We Generate Revenues

Our total revenues are comprised of revenues we generate from Creative Subscriptions and revenues we generate from Business Solutions.

Creative Subscriptions Revenues

We generate Creative Subscriptions revenues from the sale of monthly, yearly and multi-year premium subscriptions for our website solutions as well as from the sale of domain registrations to registered users.

Our website solutions are offered through a freemium model in which users can register with an e-mail address and build, launch and manage a digital presence for free, for an unlimited amount of time. Our variety of premium subscriptions is currently offered in two tiers of premium subscription plans: (i) Website and (ii) Business & eCommerce. The plans within each tier are offered at various price points depending on functionality and capabilities. All premium subscription plans offer our registered users the ability to brand their website with their own domain name. Premium subscriptions can be purchased at any time and include additional solutions such as Wix ad removal, access to Google Analytics and payments solutions for Business and eCommerce sites.

Users can also purchase a domain name registration from us, as an ICANN accredited domain registrar, through a third party to which we connect our users, or independently, and for those users who purchase a domain from us or a third party through us, we typically offer yearly and multi-year packages, with the first year given for free.

Yearly and multi-year subscriptions provide benefits to our operating model because we are able to collect cash up front, increase overall retention rates and have greater visibility into revenues. We provide incentives to drive yearly and multi-year subscriptions, including a lower average monthly price relative to a monthly subscription. We have noticed, however, that promotions that further lower the effective price of yearly and multi-year subscriptions can result in attracting users who do not renew their subscription once the promotion is no longer available. We therefore seek to strike a balance between attracting yearly and multi-year subscriptions and maintaining a registered user base that is loyal to our offering. As of December 31, 2019, 84% of our net overall premium subscriptions were yearly or multi-year subscriptions and 16% were monthly subscriptions.

To increase Creative Subscriptions revenues, we focus on growing our registered user base by providing our registered users with a high-quality user experience and more products and solutions so that they become more engaged in our platform, can create and complete the project they desire and are therefore more inclined to purchase a subscription. We provide different pricing plans based on the needs of our users who are looking to purchase a subscription. In addition, we also focus on attracting new Partners and maintaining our current Partners, who use our platform to service their customers, by providing them with products and solutions suitable for their needs, including high quality products and personal account management services.

We further focus on increasing the amount of collections and revenue per subscription by adding features and functionality to our offering, for which we can charge higher prices when we choose to do so, and by optimizing packaging and pricing by geography.

Business Solutions Revenue

We generate Business Solutions revenues from the sale of additional products and services that are offered to all of our registered users in addition to the Creative Subscriptions. These products and services include, among others, applications which are developed by us and by third parties, and sold both through our App Market or elsewhere on our platform. Applications include Google’s G-Suite, which is our most frequently sold application, as well as Ascend by Wix. Other components of Business Solutions revenues include the sale of payments services through Wix Payments, Wix Answers, Wix Logo Maker and DeviantArt.

We increase Business Solutions revenues by offering additional products and services to our users to manage and grow their business online and be more successful. We believe the more products and services we can provide our users, the more successful they can be online, driving higher retention and loyalty.

The combination of growing our registered user base, growing and retaining our premium subscription user base and increasing the collections and revenue we generate per premium subscription are all key factors to our success.

User Acquisition Spending

Our registered user acquisition strategy is based on the significant amounts of data that we have accumulated regarding the behavior of registered users that we acquire from different sources and the amount of collections and revenue we generate through the sale of Creative Subscriptions and Business Solutions. We extrapolate from this historical user behavior data to predict future user behavior and make investment decisions regarding our marketing expenditures. In order to grow our registered user base and, in turn, our premium subscriptions and increase our revenue and collections per premium subscription, we consider the time period over which we seek to return an amount of collections equal to the marketing expenditures used to attract a specific group of registered users, which we refer to as a cohort, during a particular period. In order to achieve the targeted time for return on those marketing investments, we adjust the paid marketing channels that we use and the amounts that we pay to acquire new registered users in addition to considering those registered users that come from organic and direct sources. For example, we could pay a substantially identical amount to acquire fewer registered users that generate premium subscriptions at a higher rate, or that generate premium subscriptions at a lower rate but with a higher revenue or collections per subscription, versus acquiring more registered users that generate premium subscriptions at a lower rate or with lower revenue or collections per subscription.

Since we target our marketing investments by extrapolating from historical user behavior to predict future user behavior, an event that disrupts that behavior can adversely impact the returns that we projected for a particular cohort. For example, an event such as a change to, or a bug in, a browser that affects all websites viewed on that browser, including websites created using our platform, can adversely impact user behavior and in turn our projected returns. Moreover, significant announcements by third parties can also have the same effect. For example, an announcement by Adobe to stop supporting Flash on mobile devices when our platform was Flash-based only, in the past caused us to attract fewer new registered users than we projected during the short-term impact of such announcement. Also, far reaching global economic forces such as the effects of the recent outbreak of COVID-19, may also cause a reduction in our users’ spending levels due to business and economic uncertainty.

To track our growth, progress and execution of marketing efforts, including achievement of our targeted time for return on marketing investment, we regularly review the relationship between origination of our registered users, origination of our premium subscriptions and the amount of revenue and collections we generate from these premium subscriptions.

Key Financial and Operating Metrics

We monitor the following key operating and financial metrics to evaluate the growth of our business, measure the effectiveness of our marketing efforts, identify trends affecting our business, formulate financial projections and make strategic decisions.

Collections

Collections is calculated by adding the change in deferred revenues for a particular period to revenues for the same period. Collections include cash receipts for premium subscriptions purchased by registered users as well as payments due to us under the terms of contractual agreements for obligations we have fulfilled. Cash receipts for premium subscriptions are deferred and recognized as revenues over the terms of the subscriptions. Committed payments are recognized as revenue as we fulfill our obligation under the terms of the contractual agreement. We believe that collections is a leading indicator of the growth of our overall business. Collections is a non-GAAP financial measure. For a reconciliation of collections to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP measure, see “Item 3.A. Key Information—Selected Financial Data.”

Annualized Recurring Revenue

Annualized Recurring Revenue (ARR) is calculated as Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) multiplied by 12. MRR is calculated as the total of (i) all active Creative Subscriptions in effect on the last day of the period, multiplied by the monthly revenue of such Creative Subscriptions, other than domain registrations (ii) the average revenue per month from domain registrations; and (iii) monthly revenue from other partnership agreements. We believe that ARR is a leading indicator of our anticipated Creative Subscription revenues as it captures both the growth we generate from the number of premium subscriptions as well as the amount of revenue we generate per premium subscription. Our ARR for Creative Subscriptions increased to $707.2 million in 2019 compared to $586.9 million in 2018, an increase of 20.5%, driven by an increase in premium subscriptions and an increase in the revenue per premium subscription.

Free cash flow

We define free cash flow as cash flow from operating activities minus capital expenditures. We believe that free cash flow is useful in evaluating our business because free cash flow reflects the cash surplus available or used to fund the expansion of our business after the payment of capital expenditures relating to the necessary components of ongoing operations. Free cash flow is a non-GAAP financial measure. For reconciliation of free cash flow to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP measure, see “Item 3.A. Key Information—Selected Financial Data.”

Number of registered users at period end

We define this metric as the total number of users, who are registered with Wix.com with a unique e-mail address and begin the process of building a website on Wix.com at the end of the period. The length of time that users take following registration to design and publish a website varies significantly from hours to years, and many registered users never publish a website. We view the number of registered users at the end of a given period as the strength of our pipeline that can generate premium subscriptions over time and enable us to increase our revenues. Beginning in 2021, we plan to only provide this metric on an annual basis.

Number of premium subscriptions at period end

We define this metric as the total monthly, yearly and multi-year premium subscriptions as of the end of the period. A premium subscription can be purchased by a registered user or by one of our Partners for their own use or on behalf of a registered user. A single registered user can purchase multiple premium subscriptions. Because we derive the majority of our revenues and collections from premium subscriptions, we believe that this is a key metric in understanding our growth. The total number of premium subscriptions is also impacted by the renewal rates of our existing premium subscriptions. Premium subscriptions terminate due to an active decision by a registered user not to renew their subscription or due to the failure of a registered user to update his or her credit card information upon expiration or termination. Our renewal rates demonstrate our strong value proposition to our premium subscriptions. We observe the average renewal rates of the cohorts of our users with premium subscriptions to measure the effectiveness of our platform and satisfaction of our registered users. Beginning in 2021, we plan to only provide this metric on an annual basis, since we believe that the performance of our Creative Subscriptions revenue segment, which is mostly comprised of revenues generated from the sale of premium subscriptions, is best reflected using the ARR metric we recently introduced that combines both the effect of our premium subscription growth and the growth of our revenues per subscription.

A.Operating Results

The information contained in this section should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2019 and related notes and the information contained elsewhere in this annual report. Our financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

Components of Statements of Operations

Revenues

Sources of Revenues and Revenue Recognition

Our total revenues are comprised of revenues we generate from Creative Subscriptions and revenues we generate from Business Solutions.

Creative Subscriptions Revenue

We generate Creative Subscriptions revenue from the sale of monthly, yearly and multi-year premium subscriptions for our website solutions.

Revenues from premium subscriptions are recognized ratably over the term of the service period. We offer new premium subscription packages for a 14-day refund period during which the registered user can cancel the subscription at any time and receive a full refund. We classify such amounts collected from new subscriptions as customer deposits until the end of the 14-day refund period. After the 14-day refund period has ended, we recognize premium subscription revenues ratably over the term of the service period, either monthly, annually or longer.

We also derive our Creative Subscriptions revenues from selling domain registrations. Revenues from domain name registrations accounted for approximately 7%, of revenues in each of 2017, 2018 and 2019. We recognize revenues from domain registration sales at a point of time upon collection. We do not offer trial periods for domain name registrations.

Business Solutions Revenue

We generate Business Solutions revenue from the sale of additional products and services that are offered to all of our registered users. These products and services include, among others, applications, both sold through our App Market or elsewhere on our platform, Ascend by Wix, Wix Payments, Wix Answers, Wix Logo Maker and DeviantArt.

The significant majority of Business Solutions revenue in 2019 was generated through the sale of applications. G-Suite, which we re-sell on behalf of Google and which allows our users to create a personalized Gmail email address using their domain name, comprised the majority of application sales in 2019. G-Suite subscriptions are sold on a monthly or yearly basis, and we recognize revenue as principle in the amount paid at a point in time.

Applications revenue is also generated by applications sold through our App Market by third party developers for which we receive a portion of the sales price paid by our registered users. For applications developed by third-party application developers, other than Google, we account for revenues on a net basis by recognizing only the commission we retain from each sale. We do not reflect in our financial statements the portion of the gross amount billed to registered users with applications that we remit to third-party application developers.

We also generate applications revenue from the sale of self-developed applications, such as Ascend by Wix, and this revenue is recognized ratably over the service term since that is when the Company satisfies the performance obligation.

Our Business Solutions revenue in 2019 includes revenue that was generated by Wix Payments. Revenue from processing payments is recognized at the time of the transaction and fees are determined based in part on a percentage of the gross dollar amount processed plus a per transaction fee, where applicable.

Wix Answers is the platform that currently serves as the support infrastructure for our customer care team. In 2018 we began offering this platform to Wix users and other businesses, enabling them to provide support to their users across multiple channels. Wix Answers offers a customer support infrastructure that includes a knowledge base, ticketing system, chat and call center software, each of which can be purchased separately or as a bundle. We recognize revenue ratably over the service term purchased as well as on a per unit basis for call center activity, where applicable.

Wix Logo Maker generates a customizable, high-resolution logo in minutes using artificial intelligence, providing users with a critical piece for building an online brand. Users are able to create their logo for free and then choose a package that is priced based on various capabilities including download formats and resolution. Revenue is recognized at a point in time upon collection. We also offer a package that includes purchasing a website premium subscription package.

DeviantArt is an online social community for artists and art enthusiasts, allowing people to connect through the creation and sharing of art. We generate a small amount of revenue from the sale of advertisements on DeviantArt’s website, and we recognize this revenue upon payment.

Geographic Breakdown of Revenues

The following table sets forth the geographic breakdown of revenues for the periods indicated:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2017			2018			2019
North America		52	%		52	%		54	%
Europe		26			27			26
Latin America		9			8			7
Asia and Others		13			13			13
Total		100	%		100	%		100	%

The percentage of revenues that is derived from each geography is partly based on the amount of marketing investment we choose to make in specific countries. Revenues generated by geography is also influenced by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. Adoption of our solutions and services in geographies outside of North America is driven by our ability to offer our platform in local languages and offer local billing solutions. When penetrating new markets, we first focus on establishing an operational online billing system, if needed, prior to launching and investing in local marketing activities. We currently offer our platform in twenty languages —English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, German, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Dutch, Turkish, Hindi, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Czech, Traditional Chinese, Ukrainian, and Thai, and we plan to add more languages in the future.

We have historically launched our platform in new markets without the need for local support staff.

Costs and Expenses

Cost of Creative Subscriptions Revenues

Cost of Creative Subscriptions revenues consists primarily of the allocation of costs associated with the provision of website creation and services, namely, bandwidth and hosting costs for our platform, and related customer care and call center costs along with domain name registration costs. Cost of Creative Subscriptions revenues also consists of personnel and the related overhead costs, including share-based compensation. Our cost of revenue increased during 2019 due to an increase in the number of registered users and premium subscriptions, increased sales of domain registrations and the increased headcount of our customer care organization. We expect our cost of Creative Subscriptions revenues to increase with the increase in the number of registered users and premium subscriptions as well as increased sales of domain registrations.

Cost of Business Solutions Revenues

Cost of Business Solutions revenue consists primarily of the allocation of bandwidth, hosting and support costs associated with the provision of the components that comprise the Business Solutions segment. Cost of Business Solutions revenue also consists of revenue share payments according to our agreements with third-party providers, including Google for the G-Suite application. It also includes costs that we incur when transactions are processed through Wix Payments, such as credit card interchange and network fees (charged by credit card providers such as Visa, MasterCard and American Express) as well as third-party processing fees. We expect our cost of Business Solutions revenue to increase both in dollars and as a percentage of revenue as more users purchase these products and services and as a larger volume of payments are transacted through Wix Payments.

Research and Development

Research and development expenses consist primarily of personnel and the related overhead costs, including share-based compensation, related to our solutions and service development activities including new initiatives, quality assurance and other related development activities. We expect research and development costs and expenses to continue to increase on an absolute basis as we develop new solutions and add functionalities to our existing solutions and services and expand our offerings including mobile and other solutions. We expect research and development costs and expenses to decrease as a percentage of revenues.

Selling and Marketing

Our primary operating expense is selling and marketing. The significant majority of our selling and marketing expenses are user acquisition costs, which consist primarily of fees paid to third parties for our cost-per-click advertising, social networking and marketing campaigns and other media advertisements. We intend to continue expanding our user acquisition efforts to drive revenue growth while focusing on our return-on-investment targets. In addition, we direct a significant portion of our marketing expenses towards more traditional advertising, including television commercials. Other selling and marketing expenses also consist primarily of personnel and the related overhead costs, including share-based compensation for personnel engaged in sales, marketing, advertising and promotional activities. Our marketing expenses also include billing costs in connection with the processing fee of our collections. We expect our selling and marketing expenses to increase on an absolute basis as we penetrate our existing markets and expand to new markets, hire additional personnel and increase our collections.

General and Administrative

General and administrative expenses primarily consist of personnel and overhead related costs, including share-based compensation, for our executive, finance, human resources and administrative personnel. General and administrative expenses also include legal, accounting and other professional service fees and other corporate expenses. We expect our general and administrative expenses to increase on an absolute basis as we penetrate our existing markets and expand to new markets, hire additional personnel and incur additional costs related to the growth of our business. We also incur costs associated with being a public company in the United States, including compliance under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and rules promulgated by the SEC and NASDAQ, and director and officer liability insurance.

Financial Income (Expenses), Net

Financial income (expenses), net consists primarily of costs related to derivative instruments we enter into for foreign exchange transactions to hedge a portion of our payments in NIS and revenue transactions denominated in euros and British pounds, as well as income and expenses related to the change in the fair value of such derivative instruments. In addition, financial income (expenses), net includes the fluctuation in value due to foreign exchange differences between our monetary assets and liabilities denominated in NIS.

Taxes on Income

Taxes on income consist mainly of taxes we pay or accrue due to our international activity. At the end of our last fiscal year, our net operating loss carry forwards for Israeli tax purposes amounted to approximately $137 million. After we utilize our net operating loss carry forwards, we are eligible for certain tax benefits in Israel under the Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investments, 1959, or the Investment Law. Accordingly, if we generate taxable income in Israel during the benefit period, we expect our effective tax rate will be lower than the standard corporate tax rate for Israeli companies, which was 24% in 2017 and 23% in 2018 and thereafter. Pursuant to the current Beneficiary Enterprise program, the Company is entitled to a tax benefit. For more information regarding the tax benefits available to us as a Beneficiary Enterprise, see “Item 10.E. Taxation.” Our taxable income generated outside of Israel or derived from other sources in Israel which is not eligible for tax benefits will be subject to the regular corporate tax rate.

Comparison of Period to Period Results of Operations

The following table sets forth our results of operations in dollars and as a percentage of revenues for the periods indicated:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2017				2018				2019
	Amount		% of Revenues		Amount		% of Revenues		Amount		% of Revenues
	(in USD thousands)
Revenues
Creative Subscriptions		391,347		91.9		525,350		87.0		644,491		84.7
Business Solutions		34,289		8.1		78,354		13.0		116,597		15.3
Total		425,636		100.0		603,704		100.0		761,088		100.0

Cost of revenues
Creative Subscriptions		64,108		15.1		84,752		14.0		120,905