Temu: Unveiling the Shopping Sensation - Affordable Discounts, Freebies, and the Pinduoduo Connection!

For much of the past two months, the most downloaded free app on both the App Store and Google Play wasn't TikTok, YouTube, or Instagram, but a retail app called Temu that emerged just four months ago. Temu distinguishes itself by offering significant discounts on a wide range of products, primarily sourced directly from Chinese factories or warehouses. Its popularity is not only fueled by remarkably low prices but also by a promotional strategy rewarding users with free items for sharing the app on their social networks and getting friends and family to sign up.

Despite being the U.S. counterpart of the Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo, Temu has started to gain a reputation for issues such as undelivered packages, mysterious charges, incorrect orders, and unresponsive customer service. The Better Business Bureau has received over 30 complaints about Temu, giving the company a customer rating of less than 1.5 stars.

What exactly is Temu, and how does it operate? At first glance, some users might question its legitimacy. Besides offering competitively priced consumer goods, Temu promotes opportunities to earn credits through spin-the-wheel games or by referring friends. The platform has seen widespread praise on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok, though some of the endorsements seem to use repetitive language.

Nevertheless, Temu is currently a legitimate platform, providing a variety of authentic, heavily discounted products, ranging from air fryers to wireless Lenovo earbuds ($8.98), computer keyboards ($15), to clothes ($1.69 for five pairs of socks). Users, turning to Temu for holiday shopping amid the highest inflation in a generation, have propelled it to become one of the fastest-growing platforms in the U.S.

The inventory on Temu's website or app is vast, with deals flooding users, offering running shoes for $17.48, universal wrenches for $4.48, and talking toy hamsters for $6.99. A banner proudly announces items at up to 90% off retail prices, thanks to a New Year's sale. The site's aesthetic mirrors that of a virtual dollar store, but this approach aligns with Temu's connection as a "sister company" to the Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo. Pinduoduo's success in China with heavily discounted products straight from manufacturers to low-income buyers inspired the launch of Temu in September to cater to the American market. Temu attributes its low prices to a "deep network of merchants, logistic partners, and Pinduoduo's established ecosystem built over the years," according to a statement from a Temu spokesperson responding to TIME's inquiries.

Source: PCMag