Temu: The on the web procuring upstart that is grow to be the most downloaded app in the US

Hong Kong
CNN
 — 

A new on the net browsing platform joined to a person of China’s major suppliers has speedily develop into the most downloaded app in the United States, surpassing Amazon and Walmart. Now it’s wanting to capitalize from an physical appearance on America’s biggest stage.

Temu, a Boston-primarily based on line retailer that shares the exact owner as Chinese social commerce huge Pinduoduo, designed its Super Bowl debut on Sunday.

Temu, which operates an online superstore for just about everything — from household products to apparel to electronics — unveiled a industrial in the course of the game that inspired individuals to “shop like a billionaire.”

The pitch? You do not have to be one particular.

“Through the most significant phase feasible, we want to share with our individuals that they can store with a perception of freedom since of the selling price we offer you,” a Temu spokesperson informed CNN in a statement.

The 30-second spot displays the company’s proposition to users: Come to feel like you are splurging by acquiring plenty of stuff cheaply. A woman’s swimsuit on Temu prices just $6.50, whilst a pair of wi-fi earphones is priced at $8.50. An eyebrow trimmer charges 90 cents.

These amazingly small rates — by Western expectations, at the very least — have drawn comparisons to Shein, the Chinese quickly style upstart that also gives a wide selection of inexpensive apparel and dwelling items, and has built substantial inroads into markets which includes the United States.

Shein is deemed a person of Temu’s competition, together with US-based price cut retailer Desire and Alibaba’s AliExpress, in accordance to Coresight Study.

Temu, pronounced “tee-moo,” was introduced previous year by PDD, its US-outlined dad or mum corporation formerly regarded as Pinduoduo. The enterprise formally adjusted its identify just this month.

PDD’s subsidiary Pinduoduo is a person of China’s most popular e-commerce platforms with roughly 900 million users. It built its name with a team-shopping for business design, making it possible for folks to save income by enlisting pals to obtain the very same item in bulk.

On its site, Temu states it utilizes its mum or dad company’s “vast and deep network … developed in excess of the many years to provide a vast assortment of cost-effective top quality goods.”

Because its rollout in September, the application has been downloaded 24 million situations, racking up much more than 11 million every month active buyers, according to Sensor Tower.

In the fourth quarter of very last yr, US application installations for Temu exceeded people for Amazon

(AMZN), Walmart

(WMT) and Goal

(TGT), in accordance to Abe Yousef, a senior insights analyst at the analytics organization Sensor Tower.

“Temu soared to the top of equally US app retailer charts in November, exactly where the app even now retains the major position now,” he instructed CNN, referring to iOS and Android cell app stores.

Yousef mentioned the organization had been notably successful at obtaining new users by providing incredibly very low selling prices and in-app flash promotions, these kinds of as 89% off sure things.

The firm is already eyeing new territory. This month, Temu mentioned on Twitter that it strategies to extend to Canada.

Michael Felice, an associate associate at administration consulting organization Kearney, mentioned Temu stood out simply just by selling solutions with no higher markups.

“Temu might be exposing a white place in the market place whereby manufacturers have been developing at serious very low value, and together the worth chain there is been so significantly bloated charge passed on for margin,” he explained to CNN.

“That mentioned, American consumers may not even be ready to take some of these price points … There’s always the concern, ‘is it also low-priced to be superior?’”

Deborah Weinswig, CEO of Coresight Analysis, has cautioned that it might be way too early to convey to regardless of whether Temu will be capable to manage these very small prices, no cost transport and other perks.

“Temu aims to continue to experiment in marketing and advertising and offerings, which is feasible thanks to its useful resource-prosperous guardian firm,” she wrote in a report.

Its launch, she stated, “comes at an opportune moment, as individuals research for price amid even now-elevated inflation and a diploma of economic uncertainty.”