Member-only story
E-commerce
The Secrets Behind Temu’s Unbeatable Prices
How a Chinese e-commerce giant is using billions of dollars to disrupt the U.S. market
Temu is an e-commerce platform similar to Amazon, where users can purchase a wide variety of items and have them shipped to their homes.
Since its launch in September 2022, the Temu app has taken the world by storm, amassing an impressive user base of 250 million shoppers, 73 million of whom are American, .
This remarkable achievement raises the question: How has Temu been able to grow so fast despite competition from well-established platforms like Amazon and eBay? The answer lies in Temu’s primary selling point — its unbeatable prices.
A simple comparison of unbranded Bluetooth speakers on Amazon and Temu reveals a major difference. The average price for these speakers on Amazon hovers around $27, excluding shipping. On Temu, however, the same product is sold at an average price of just $7, with free shipping.
These low prices are what attract millions of shoppers to Temu daily. However, this begs another question: How can Temu sustain such competitive pricing?