Resources eCommerce AppsOnly launched in 2022, Chinese-owned online retailer Temu has exploded on the scene to become one of the biggest online shopping platforms in the world today.
To understand Temu’s rapid rise to prominence as well as its current standing in the field of eCommerce and where it could be headed in the near future, we’ve put together some statistics that will provide you with all the information you must be aware of Temu the company seeking to take on the app market.
What is Temu?
Temu can be described as an “everything” online shopping platform that sells almost everything you can imagine, from electronics and clothing to furniture for your patio.
The platform is based on an online marketplace model, much like Amazon, in which independent third-party sellers sell a lot of products. What makes Temu distinguish itself is its pricing, promoting items at incredibly low prices, like the $8.99 smartwatch, a tank top that costs $4.47, and a $9.39 dress.
These products come with advertisements to save more than 90 percent off special-time offers and a strong accent on scarcity and urgency strategies.
Although the media coverage of Temu from 2023 was less favorable than positive, it’s hard to contest the success of the platform and current position as the most popular shopping app within the US for both iPhone and Android and ahead of big brands like Amazon, Walmart, and Shein.
How Many People Use Temu?
Temu was launched only at the end of September 2022. In just a few months, it had already surpassed the 100 million users active in the US.
For a better understanding, Shein has just 13.7 million users in the US (74.7 million across the world, which is less than Temu’s number within the US). There are 112. million Amazon Prime users in the US.
Temu Revenue & Sales
The monthly GMV for September 20, 2022, was expected to be $3 million. This figure jumped to $192 million in January 2023.
The platform’s revenues have since increased exponentially, with a reported $3 billion during the first quarter of 2023. Based on this, we can calculate Temu’s annual revenues to be at a minimum of $6 billion.
In comparison, competitor Shein’s annual revenues are $24 billion. Temu’s revenue is lower despite having a bigger number of customers, which could be explained by their emphasis on discounted items, resulting in a lower average customer spend.
They are both still far further behind Amazon, which earns close to 700 billion dollars worldwide in revenue each year and is the eCommerce market leader within America. American market.
To give you a further comparison, Temu’s subsidiary company, Pinduoduo (owned by the identical owner company as the parent, PDD Holdings), generated 19 billion dollars in revenue in 2022.
Temu Net Worth
Since Temu is a privately-held company, there’s not any information that is available to the public regarding its net worth.
We have information on the fact that PDD Holdings, Temu’s parent company, is worth a total Net worth in the range of $128.79 billion. Since Temu is a significant portion of the assets held through PDD Holdings, we can suppose that the net worth of Temu is less than Shein ($100 billion) but is still far ahead of Amazon, which is worth around $1.5 trillion.
Temu App Statistics
As of July 20, 2023, the Temu application was able to boast more than 130 million users in just a year.
By the end of 2022, it was at 15 million. The app was reported to have been downloaded 30 million times during this month in July.
With these figures, Temu sits as the most popular retail app across the US in both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
Most downloads from Temu are from the US, which accounts for just more than 42 percent of their total downloads. The next most popular countries for Temu are Europe, the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
According to Similarweb, the Temu app’s use rate is third in the US in “Shopping” category and 43rd overall among apps.
Temu Traffic Statistics
Similarweb estimates Temu.com receives 286.6 million visits per month.
The site is ranked as the sixth-ranked marketplace in the US, following Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Etsy, and Target.
In general, Temu.com ranks as the second largest website according to visitors in the US and 92nd in the world.
How Did Temu Get So Big?
Temu’s capability to buy directly through Chinese manufacturers is a major factor in the growth of the platform. It allows them to sell products at significant discounts and lower the price of competitors.
Although, indeed, the caliber of goods offered in Temu is sometimes questionable, the low cost makes customers willing to take a risk.
Temu is also relying on aggressive marketing tactics, like discount rates of up to 90 and gamification strategies, promotions for app users, and frequent notifications.
A gambling-style “spin to win” discount shown to Temu website visitors
There have been reports of Temu being in contact with users a hundred times within three weeks. This was done via a variety of methods, including push notifications, SMS, and email.
Temu invests a lot in social media marketing, particularly making use of influencers to increase visibility on TikTok with young customers. The brand also aired multiple ads in the 2023 Super Bowl, which was many US customers’ first exposure to their Temu brand.
Does Temu Make a Profit?
It is believed that Temu doesn’t make any money at the moment. An article in WIRED states that the company has a loss of, on average, $30 per order. This translates into total losses ranging from $588 million to $954 million annually.
This is in part because of the lower margins needed to sell their products at a steep discount, as well as their aggressive marketing strategy as they try to increase their sales in the US with an advertising budget of $1 billion each month.
Will Temu Continue to Emerge as One of the World’s Biggest Shopping Apps?
Temu is a source of controversy because of its popularity with Shein, another emerging player in the market of eCommerce.
The majority of information you find about Temu on the internet is negative, ranging from concerns regarding the authenticity of the products available on the website as well as worker exploitation and privacy issues with data.
Their marketing and user acquisition strategy is extremely aggressive in the sense that some might say that it’s exploitation.
But despite all this, the Temu user base is growing, and it holds the top spot in downloads through Google Play and the App Store.
At present, Temu is unprofitable, and its current business model is not sustainable. Their path to profitability is to establish the Temu brand as an established brand within the US market, as well as get more marketplace sellers to follow the same model as Amazon’s.
