“Shop Like a Billionaire” reads the strap-line for Temu on the Google Playstore. Temu is a new eCommerce platform, operated by Pinduoduo, China’s second largest shopping app. In September ’22 Temu launched its mobile app and website, which are both available to US customers only.

Temu offers products in a number of categories, ranging from appliances to jewellery & accessories. Already a massive eCommerce player in China, Pinduoduo now looks to have set its sights on overseas markets, starting in the US.

The name “Temu” stands for “team up, price down”, which refers to the social commerce and gamification features that companies like Pinduoduo, Alibaba and JD.com are well known for. Users are encouraged to share deals with their friends in return for free products and they can also play casual games like growing fruit at virtual fruit farms or spinning the wheel to win coupons.

My first impression is that Temu is looking to compete on price and on range of products. The number and type of products available through Temu feels quite overwhelming, and there are a lot of sharp prices, discounts and promotions to draw customers in.

Main learning point: Temu’s formula seems to be working! Recent stats show nearly 25 million app downloads in the US, four months after its release, and its popularity continues to grow in what must be challenging and saturated market for eCommerce companies.

Related links for further learning:

1. https://marcabraham.com/2020/08/10/product-review-pinduoduo/
2. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/02/chinas-e-commerce-giant-pinduoduo-launches-us-shopping-site-temu.html
3. https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/22/pinduoduos-sister-shopping-app-temu-tops-us-app-store/
4. https://42matters.com/blog/?p=social-commerce-app-temu-nearing-25m-u-s-downloads
5. https://restofworld.org/2023/temu-mobile-gaming/