Tetley and Yorkshire teabags, Candy Kittens sweets, Fanta, Nerds, Tassimo coffee pods and Bounty wafer rolls are among the slew of products being sold via Chinese cut-price marketplace Temu by UK-based resellers.
While most goods on the platform are delivered directly from China, taking two weeks or more to arrive on these shores, the company has since late last year been recruiting UK-based suppliers to shorten delivery times, under its new “local” initiative.
Several food and drink products from household brands are now available from these “fast delivery stores” located across the UK.
Temu – owned by Chinese conglomerate PDD Holdings – expanded into Europe two years ago after launching in the US in 2022, and now operates in more than 80 markets worldwide. It has aggressively marketed in recent years, including running ads during the 2023 Super Bowl in the US, and mounting major campaigns on social media.
The Temu app was among the fastest-growing in the UK last year, according to Similarweb, with a 53% increase in monthly active users year on year, which now number more than 9.9 million. Its usage has soared thanks to its low prices – which come from China-based vendors being able to sell and ship directly to customers without having to rely on intermediate distributors. Research commissioned by Temu last year, conducted by CEBR, found UK households could save £2,961 per year by switching some of their shopping to the site.
Grocery price comparisons of Temu’s local sellers with other online retailers show a mixed picture. A 440-pack of Tetley decaffeinated teabags is being sold for £11.89 on Temu from a local seller, but is £11.46 from the official Tetley store on Amazon.
Meanwhile, a two-pack of Candy Kittens Eton Mess 140g bags is £7.72 on Temu, while the same is £4 on Amazon as well as Ocado. A 45-roll pack of Gentille toilet tissue is £12.22 on Temu, but £15 on Amazon. Two 1kg jars of Costco own-brand Kirkland hazelnut spread are being sold for £11.31 on Temu, but can be bought for £9.49 on the Costco website.
As well as the growing number of UK-based sellers offering legitimate products, Temu – whose slogan is ‘Shop like a billionaire’ – has become known for ‘Temu dupes’: products that appear to rip off or emulate better-known brands. This is particularly rife in the health and beauty categories, leading to a social media trend where influencers make up half their face with genuine make-up brand products, and the other with Temu-sourced ‘fake-up’.
@helinndoski Replying to @Maria TEMU DUPES vs THE REAL PRODUCT !!!🤣🤣 #makeup #makeupchallenge @NARS cosmetics soft matte @nyxcosmetics_uk brow glue @Fenty Beauty match stick @Rare Beauty ♬ original sound - Helin Doski
The Chinese marketplace poses a particular and significant threat to Amazon, analysts have suggested. Over three-quarters of products for sale on Amazon (77%) are being replicated on Temu, found a study by e-commerce marketing platform Omnisend. According to Omnisend, 17% of Brits say they see Temu as the main competitor for Amazon.
In the ‘health and beauty’ category, 96% of Amazon products have a close match on Temu, Omnisend found, with 4% having an identical match. For the ‘grocery and gourmet food’ category, 28% of products have a close match and 14% have an identical match.
“Temu is very good at jumping on viral products,” said Greg Zakowicz, senior e-commerce expert at Omnisend. “Once a product gains popularity online, it may reverse-engineer it, using cheaper materials, and quickly push out lookalikes.
“There’s no escaping the fact that if you are willing to forfeit a brand name, you can save a lot of money and have an almost identical product,” he added.
In response to the threat, Amazon is reportedly soon to expand its Amazon Haul offering to Europe after launching it in the US in November. The discount storefront is only accessible through Amazon’s mobile app, and features items shipped directly from China, all priced at $20 or less.
The European Haul launch is “set to significantly impact the retail industry, particularly in the budget and essentials sectors”, Florimond De Tinguy, VP north western Europe at commerce platform VTEX told The Grocer.
“By offering affordable products across categories such as beauty, petfood, and household goods, Haul challenges traditional and online retailers alike to rethink their pricing strategies and value propositions. With Amazon’s established ability to offer low-cost, fast delivery, competitors like Temu, Shein and even established retailers will feel the pressure to either match or exceed those offerings,” he added.
Temu is currently under investigation by the European Commission to assess whether it has breached the Digital Services Act for the sale of illegal products that don’t meet EU safety standards, the potentially addictive design of the service, and the systems used to recommend purchases to users. In March last year, Temu changed the terms of a promotion that offered participants up to £50 cash in exchange for considerable amounts of personal data, in response to user concerns and scrutiny by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
No comments yet