Chinese-owned e-commerce platform Temu expands to Europe

ULTRA low-cost e-commerce platform Temu, owned by China’s PDD Holdings has started selling to European markets including France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain and the UK.

The Temu.com website now shows all of these markets on its location drop down menu in addition to the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where it had previously already been available.

PDD Holdings did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment on the expansion.

Temu, the sister site of Chinese discount e-commerce platform Pinduoduo, has made a big splash since launching in the US last September, selling shoes, jewelry, beauty accessories and home goods directly from Chinese merchants for very low prices.

It’s a similar cross-border model to the one that has propelled Shein, which ships to more than 150 countries, to become the world’s biggest fast-fashion brand with annual sales of more than US$58.5 billion.

Temu, which is headquarted in Boston, saw 19 million US downloads in the first quarter of this year, according to mobile intelligence firm Sensor Tower, which also ranks Temu as the most downloaded app on Apple and Google Play stores in the US.

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The platform’s gross merchandise value – total sales before expenses – grew from US$3 million in September to US$192 million in January, according to data firm YipitData. REUTERS