It is reported that Pinduoduo’s cross-border e-commerce platform Temu has officially entered the Korean market, accelerating its expansion in Asia. On July 1st, Temu was officially launched in Japan and entered the Asian market for the first time.
Since it was officially launched in the United States in early September last year, Temu has continued to expand its territory around the world. Up to now, Temu has entered 27 countries and regions, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Britain and the United States.
Consistent with the practice in other countries, in South Korea, Temu also cooperates with local third-party logistics service providers to provide efficient logistics services to local consumers. It is reported that Temu currently cooperates with four logistics companies including Hanjin, Korea ePOST, KYOUNGDONG and CJ Group.
In the promotion of the new site, Temu continued its low-price promotion strategy, providing consumers with the full reduction of large coupons on the home page and free shipping services. The Korean site shows that the product delivery time is about one to two weeks.
Due to the maturity and geographical advantages of the e-commerce market, Japan and South Korea have unsurprisingly become the primary targets for Temu to enter the Asian market. As early as 2018, South Korea became the fifth largest e-commerce market in the world, second only to China, the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan, with a relatively mature market, high per capita GDP and strong purchasing power of residents. According to Statista’s statistics, in 2021, the penetration rate of e-commerce in South Korea was as high as 68%, and more than 33 million people in South Korea’s existing population of more than 51 million have had online shopping experience.
However, what is special about South Korea is that it is also the main target market of AliExpress, Pinduoduo’s competitor, and Ali and Pinduoduo will have a fierce battle in South Korea. The strategy adopted by AliExpress is to operate in key countries and markets, and South Korea is an important battlefield for AliExpress. To this end, Ali has built the preferred warehouses in Weihai and Yantai. In March this year, AliExpress officially launched the Choice service in South Korea, focusing on high cost performance. At the same time, it upgraded its service to provide services such as 3-5 days delivery, free shipping and free return.
These investments have enabled AliExpress’s South Korean orders to reach a three-digit growth in March this year. According to Korean media reports, the average usage time of AliExpress in Korea has even surpassed that of Coupang, a local e-commerce giant.
Post time: Jul-26-2023