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Chinese apps TikTok, Temu and Shein take on Amazon in US in e-commerce push during holiday shopping season
- Pinduoduo has seen early success with its Temu app, which briefly topped download charts in November, as ByteDance launched a TikTok shopping feature in the US
- The companies are trying to follow the success of fast-fashion e-tailer Shein, but analysts say taking on Amazon on its home turf is an uphill battle
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Chinese shopping apps are racing to achieve a common goal: acquiring more US consumers.
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Americans were awash in bargain deals this shopping season as the growing rivalry among Chinese tech firms ByteDance, Pinduoduo and Shein led to jostling to win the hearts and minds – and dollars – of US shoppers.
Shanghai-based Pinduoduo, which gained popularity at home by offering cut-to-the-bone deals, launched the global budget shopping platform Temu in September to take on Shein, a fast-fashion platform also founded in China.
In the face of Shein’s massive popularity in the US, Temu was already seeing some traction in early November when it briefly became the most-downloaded shopping app.
Meanwhile, Chinese social media giant ByteDance has been exploring ways to further monetise the incredible influence of its short video app TikTok by tinkering with a shopping function in November that lets users turn their profiles into virtual shelves for selling goods.
The US, already a notoriously competitive retail environment, is now the main battleground for these Chinese tech companies that see connections with Chinese factories as giving them an edge in the fight for American wallets.
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