Startup e-commerce platform Temu expands to Europe

By Casey Hall

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Ultra low-cost e-commerce platform Temu, owned by PDD Holdings has started selling to European markets including France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom.

The Temu.com website now shows all of these markets on its location drop down menu in addition to the United States, 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 United States 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 $58.5 billion.

Temu, which is headquarted in Boston, saw 19 million U.S. 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 United States.

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

 

(This story has been corrected to remove incorrect reference to PDD Holdings being Chinese-owned in paragraph 1)

 

(Reporting by Casey Hall; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)