Omnisend surveyed 4,000 people across the US, UK, Australia, and Canada and found that Chinese marketplaces – including AliExpress and newer players like Temu and Shein – are gaining traction because of shoppers’ desire for value.
The marketing firm said over the past year, it has seen a significant shift towards Chinese marketplaces and said emerging platforms Temu and Shein were not a passing fad. They’re becoming a staple for online shoppers because “great prices speak louder than anything else, even when brand loyalty is weak,” it said.
Omnisend found that 34% of shoppers purchase something from the Chinese retailer once a month, compared to 29% for eBay, according to Pymnts coverage of the survey. However, over 75% of shoppers purchase something from Amazon at least once a month.
The survey found that people trust Amazon far more than Temu. But despite the low trust, people are still flocking to Temu: “Globally, only 6.4% say they trust Temu over Amazon, yet 48% have shopped at Temu at least once in the past year.” The reasons, according to Omnisend: great prices (53%), ease of use (31%), and special deals & discounts (29%).
Globally, an average of 17.5% of respondents believe Temu could overtake Amazon as the leading ecommerce platform, according to the survey, which was conducted by Cint on behalf of Omnisend in April 2024.
I personally have not purchased from Temu or Shein. I have real doubts about the quality of most low priced China made stuff. My experience with such stuff purchased via eBay in years past was that quality was in direct proportion to cost: cheap meant cheap and not long lasting. What is cheap in the short term is not cheap in the long term if you have to keep buying replacements for junk that doesn’t last. I suppose folks enamored of Temu may eventually find the same. But maybe they don’t care, or realize their getting swindled into buying the same crap over and over.
None Such is right–cheap is cheap. May as well get it for the cheapest price. f I see the same item on Amazon as I can get on Temu, well, they’re both being sold by Chinese vendors, so why pay the Amazon markup? When prices level out, and i believe they will (I’ve already seen at least one instance on Temu,) then marketplace opportunity wins out.