Online shopping platform Temu performed strong in the first quarter, with downloads rising 57% amid economic uncertainty and growing US-China tensions.
The ecommerce service, owned by multinational e-commerce giant PDD Holdings, is an international sister app of Pinduoduo, which recently came under scrutiny as it can allegedly bypass users’ cell phone security to monitor activities on other apps, check notifications, read private messages and change settings.
Boston-based Temu, however, was not implicated and still fares well on the international arena.
According to market research firm Sensor Tower, Temu became the most downloaded app in the US in the first three weeks of March, bringing its total to 33 million.
Temu has remained the top ranked app Apple’s App Store and Google Play since November.
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Similar to its rival Shein, Temu offers cheap goods to price-sensitive consumers overseas for sometimes as little as under $1.
Temu was rumoured to be launching the UK at the end of March, yet no official launch date has yet been announced.
“Temu’s wide assortment of low-priced products ranging from clothing to electronics to home decor have proven to have mass appeal in the US market,” Seema Shah, senior director of investor research at Sensor Tower, said.
“Shopping apps such as Temu offer incredible in-app deals for consumers, which are more relevant than ever as macroeconomic conditions have become increasingly constrained amidst rising inflation.”
