Since its launch in September 2022, Temu has taken the e-commerce world by storm, becoming one of the most popular marketplaces globally in a relatively short period of time. Known for extremely discounted prices, the marketplace platform whose name means “team up, price down” is a subsidiary company of the Chinese Pinduoduo Holdings and sells a wide range of products that spans from women and men’s fashion to kitchen tools and appliances.
Temu is not the first e-commerce marketplace with low prices to gain popularity. AliExpress, the B2C subsidiary of Alibaba, is regularly used among shoppers globally and functions similarly to Temu, offering a range of low-priced products available in an online marketplace setting. The fast fashion marketplace Shein also has made significant waves in the e-commerce industry, having a similar, quick rise to popularity as an online marketplace with incredibly low prices.
Rising ethical concerns are also not the only issue Temu is dealing with. In 2024, the company faced class action lawsuits in the United States where plaintiffs alleged that their sensitive personal information had been stolen, and that the company had violated laws including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act to do so. Temu’s legal trouble does not end with consumers either. Aforementioned fast fashion brand Shein has taken legal action against Temu in at least five copyright and trademark infringement lawsuits since 2023.
With Temu’s generally dismissive response to the lawsuits filed against them, only time will tell how Pinduoduo intends on juggling the contrasting factors of the brand’s immense popularity and bad publicity.
A passing fad, or here to stay?
Temu claims it has three unique strengths that allow them to serve their shoppers, those being the ability to source the best available products, being able to manage complex logistical supply chains, and making use of consumer-to-manufacturing (C2M). These strengths seem to be serving the company well, as Temu was the most downloaded shopping app worldwide in 2023.Temu is not the first e-commerce marketplace with low prices to gain popularity. AliExpress, the B2C subsidiary of Alibaba, is regularly used among shoppers globally and functions similarly to Temu, offering a range of low-priced products available in an online marketplace setting. The fast fashion marketplace Shein also has made significant waves in the e-commerce industry, having a similar, quick rise to popularity as an online marketplace with incredibly low prices.
Trouble in paradise
According to the 'about’ page on Temu’s website, the company’s values include empowerment, integrity, diversity, and social responsibility. Overall, Temu presents its own image quite positively, even claiming to take appropriate steps to ensure ethical and environmental standards through its Third Party Code of Conduct and carbon emission offsetting respectively. However, ethical concerns related to over-consumption, labor practices, and even data privacy have not been dismissed. Because there has been no information made publicly available to support Temu’s claims of offsetting carbon emissions, and the company is believed to source many of its products from regions that have known problems with forced labor, using the word ethical to describe Temu becomes much more difficult when looking beyond the surface.Rising ethical concerns are also not the only issue Temu is dealing with. In 2024, the company faced class action lawsuits in the United States where plaintiffs alleged that their sensitive personal information had been stolen, and that the company had violated laws including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act to do so. Temu’s legal trouble does not end with consumers either. Aforementioned fast fashion brand Shein has taken legal action against Temu in at least five copyright and trademark infringement lawsuits since 2023.
With Temu’s generally dismissive response to the lawsuits filed against them, only time will tell how Pinduoduo intends on juggling the contrasting factors of the brand’s immense popularity and bad publicity.
