Chinese fast fashion retailer Temu overtakes Shein to dominate Japan and South Korea apps

Among the top shopping apps in South Korea, Temu was the fastest to reach 2 million downloads at around 88 days. Shein took 382 days while AliExpress took 366 days to hit the same milestone.

Temu and Shein’s rivalry extend outside the e-commerce space to the courtroom. Shein sued Temu in December over intellectual-property infringement while Temu accused Shein in July of threatening and forcing manufacturers into exclusivity agreements. But recent documents showed that both parties have applied to end their lawsuits against each other.

Temu is backed by Nasdaq-listed Chinese tech giant PDD Holdings, which also owns China-based e-commerce app Pinduoduo.

Launched in the U.S. in September 2022, Temu was PDD’s first major push overseas and quickly found success among budget-conscious consumers.

In just a few weeks, the Chinese ecommerce app rose to the top of app stores and subsequently expanded rapidly across countries such as Australia, New Zealand, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and the U.K.

Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, the Chinese online retailer focuses on selling made-in-China goods, from fashion to household products, at low prices to overseas consumers. Similarly, Shein relies on contracted manufacturers, mostly in China, to design, produce and ship its low-priced products.

Temu made its foray into Asia through Japan and South Korea in July. It then entered the Philippines on Aug. 26 before launching in Malaysia on Sept. 8.