Temu expands its marketplace to Europe

We previously discussed Temu's expansion into the European market in February, and now it's official: Temu has opened its marketplace to European retailers, directly challenging established platforms like Amazon. Brands based in EU countries such as Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and the UK can now register independently as sellers on the platform.

European retailers will be responsible for their product range, inventory management, and shipping. Temu, on the other hand, will set consumer prices for the products.

Temu has introduced a "local-to-local" business model alongside its existing shipping system. This allows selling partners to manage the shipping of their own goods, leveraging Temu's growing popularity in their respective countries. PDD Holdings, the owner of Temu, sees this approach as a way to speed up deliveries to customers in the West and expand its virtual product range.

The marketplace is officially open for registration for businesses with EU entities, including those based in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the UK, and the Netherlands. Currently, Temu does not charge any base or sales commissions to merchants and allows free posting of ads on the site.

Temu has garnered significant attention in Europe since its introduction last spring. For example, one-third of Germans made purchases through the app in the first year of availability. Due to its rapid growth, the European Commission has added Temu to the VLOP (Very Large Online Platforms) list, meaning it must comply with strict regulations under the Digital Services Act.

Some groups in Europe are concerned about the rapid growth of Temu and other Chinese marketplaces. In June, Ecommerce Europe and many of its national associations wrote an open letter calling for greater fairness in the European e-commerce market and better enforcement of existing regulations.