By Casey Hall
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – The ultra-low-cost e-commerce platform Temu, owned by China’s PDD Holdings, has started selling in European markets including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom.
The Temu.com website now shows all of these markets in its location dropdown menu in addition to the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, where it was previously 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 caused quite a stir since its launch in the United States last September, selling shoes, jewelry, beauty accessories, and housewares directly from Chinese merchants to China. Very low prices.
It’s a cross-border model similar to the one that has propelled Shein, which ships to more than 150 countries, to become the world’s largest fast-fashion brand with annual sales of more than $58.5 billion.
Boston-based Temu recorded 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 the Apple and Google stores. Play 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.
(Reporting by Casey Hall; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)