US consumers have flocked to Temu, a Boston-based shopping app that has become the most downloaded app for its "remarkable" selection of products and prices thanks to its parent company PDD Holdings, according to Time magazine.
Temu enjoyed popularity among many households during the important year-end holiday shopping season, Time magazine reported in its article "The Truth About Temu, The Most Downloaded New App in America."
Katy Benetti, a 68-year-old office manager at a storage facility in Dartmouth, Mass., is one recent Temu convert. She was just browsing the Temu site for Thanksgiving when she filled her shopping cart with 14 items totaling $90. Her order arrived within 7-15 business days, and she returned for Christmas shopping, forking out $223 for 34 items.
"I think that's the place I will be shopping from now on because it's got everything," she told the Journal.
Temu through its mobile app and website. Temu has been successful in accelerating its user growth by getting users to share referral links with their friends and family to sign up for the app. Temu ships reliably within 7-15 business days once a purchase is confirmed.
The Wall Street Journal separately reported that the Temu app had 10.8 million installations since its launch in September, making it the most downloaded mobile app in any category between Nov. 1 and Dec. 14, citing data from analytics firm Sensor Tower.
Temu is a reputable platform
Temu is the latest venture by PDD Holdings, a Nasdaq-listed multinational commerce group with a market capitalization north of $100 billion under the ticker PDD. Over the past decade, PDD Holdings has accumulated expertise and resources in commerce and trade globally, including a network of more than 11 million international brands and suppliers.
PDD Holdings offers Temu strong financial and operational backing in its expansion. As of Sept. 30, 2022, the listed parent company reported a trailing 12-month profit of US$5.2 billion on US$17 billion in revenue, with US$17.2 billion in cash, according to its SEC filings.
The group also brings deep know-how in logistics and supply chain management, serving more than 900 million users worldwide and handling more than 200 million parcels a day.
That may explain why Temu has been able to circumvent some of the usual teething problems associated with new e-commerce platforms due to its parent company's strength in logistics fulfillment. Temu has a 4.6-star rating on the Google Play app store and a 4.5-star rating on the Apple App Store.
Temu is "very much a real platform" with a variety of "real, heavily discounted products," Time reported, citing merchandise like wireless Lenovo earbuds (US$8.98), computer keyboards (US$15) and socks (US$1.69 for five pairs).
"The breadth of items and prices is remarkable," Time reported. Through its referral program, many new customers end up not paying anything at all and receive gifts "without even giving Temu their credit card information," the magazine reported.
Temu empowers users
Annette Parks is typical among the millions of consumers who have shopped on Temu and recommended it to her friends and family so that they can share in the attractive merchandise and prices.
"I have used other shopping apps in the past and either they have been overpriced, longer than usual shipping times, lost shipments, and substandard quality of merchandise," Parks wrote in a Dec. 8 app store review.
"I can tell you I just purchased a number of items [on Temu] which all are of an excellent quality and the prices are by far less than anything I seen before. I also have to add that my orders have arrived lightning fast (in about a week). I also love the lightning deals and the free shipping," she wrote.
Brianna Lukey, who lives in Fort Worth, Texas, is one of the many users who have benefited. She says she has received $200 worth of items from Temu for free and first heard about the app from a friend a month ago.
Lukey promoted Temu on Facebook, TikTok, and Snapchat, convincing friends to join the app. As a result, Lukey earned credits which she used to purchase a ring light for her small business, Array of Aura's, as well as an oil diffuser, necklaces, and a mouse and keyboard for her daughter.
"I know there's a lot of things that go around that may not be legit. But this was," she told Time.
Temu has said it will use its platform to offer consumers "the most value-for-money products with the best customer service and transparency." For the sellers, Temu said its platform will empower them to be more responsive to consumer needs by more giving them first-hand access to customer feedback.
"Temu is positioning itself at the forefront of the next era of e-commerce, which we believe will move beyond disintermediating or optimizing the manufacturing supply chain, into matching individualized needs and wants with global resources and delivering them efficiently," according to Temu . "This shift will lead to the creation of legions of new businesses, and Temu is prepared to support and enable them."
