Should you spend a lot time on-line you’ve got in all probability seen one among Temu’s vibrant advertisements – punctuated by its catchy tagline: “procuring like a billionaire”.
Temu specialises in promoting varied on a regular basis objects, together with clothes, toys and family items, for terribly low costs. Shanghai-based firm PDD Holdings launched the web market late final yr (initially in america) to cater to abroad clients.
Since then, Temu’s attain has skyrocketed. The total value of merchandise bought went from US$3 million in September final yr, to US$400 million in April. On the time of publishing this text, Temu was the preferred free iPhone app within the US, United Kingdom, Australia and Germany.
Why has Temu been such a large success? It is protected to say the platform has some successful methods that preserve customers coming again. However past that, much like different e-commerce platforms, utilizing it is not solely risk- or guilt-free. Listed here are some issues to think about when you’re considering of giving it a shot.
What are Temu’s secrets and techniques to success?
1. Worth
Many Australians would possibly affiliate “made in China” with low cost value tags and low high quality. Nevertheless, Temu’s customers are starting to view it as providing inexpensive merchandise that do not necessarily compromise on quality. In some circumstances, 10-20 merchandise will solely set you back US$20-30.
Temu claims it might probably supply these costs on account of chopping out the middlemen within the provide chain. Whereas the producers present the product particulars and the merchandise themselves, Temu handles every thing else – from customs processing to worldwide transport. This streamlining helps cut back unit prices.
Nonetheless, reaching such worth would not come with out a value. Issues are rising that Temu and its suppliers could also be operating at a loss. Nevertheless, it is common for startups to expertise damaging money move in their initial years as a result of heavy advertising and marketing investments, together with gives of aggressive costs and advertising and marketing campaigns – all of which is completed to construct model consciousness and achieve acceptance.
That is very true within the fast-paced e-commerce sector, the place success and failure occur swiftly. Temu and its suppliers, who’re primarily from Temu’s sister e-commerce platform Pinduoduo, are doubtless conscious of this dynamic.
2. An efficient advertising and marketing technique
Not like different e-commerce platforms that target purposeful advantages corresponding to saving cash, Temu caters to customers’ emotional wants. It overlays the procuring expertise with the thought of “procuring like a billionaire” – which additionally aligns with its value-based technique.
Temu entered the market at a time when customers had been grappling with international inflation, main them to hunt “worth”. Within the first month after its launch within the US, Temu invested some US$200 million in advertising and deliberate a US$2 billion funds for the year.
Given China’s management in live-streaming influencer marketing, Temu is now recruiting social media influencers, suggesting it’d leverage its Chinese language experience to discover a social-commerce technique. Social commerce harnesses a way of “friendship” conveyed by influencers, making the web procuring expertise extra partaking and product suggestions extra convincing. It additionally works particularly effectively with gross sales promotions.
Gross sales promotion ways
Whereas Temu employs frequent gross sales ways seen on different e-commerce platforms, it makes use of what’s arguably the broadest array of those methods. Listed here are just a few examples:
- Gamified experiences. Gamified promoting hinges on two core parts: problem and reward. Interacting with Temu’s spinning wheel is a minor problem, however the substantial low cost supplied is a significant reward. Such “video games” create the phantasm of getting fortunate, and subsequently generate optimistic feelings in consumers – whereas the reward offers them an incentive to interact extra critically with their searching, growing the chance of spending.
- Lightning offers and limited-time gives. One generally used promotion tactic includes creating the phantasm of shortage by supposedly “unique” gives which can be time-sensitive and will not come by once more. This may set off a concern of lacking out in customers.
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Reductions and free transport Providing easy value reductions and really inexpensive gross sales is a time-honoured approach of securing a loyal buyer base. As well as, Temu has the attract of providing free transport on orders with a really low minimal spend.
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Loyalty program. Customers can decide in to Temu’s advertising and marketing emails in change for receiving extra promotional content material, together with email-only promotions. E-commerce firms usually have entry to your private info (corresponding to your identify, tackle, age and cellphone quantity) and behavioural knowledge (corresponding to out of your search historical past and on-line classes). With this knowledge, the corporate can construct your person profile and goal you with personalised promotions and content to encourage spending.
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Search engine advertising and marketing. Many customers will see Temu advertisements on the high of their search outcomes on Google (within the type of “sponsored” posts) after they seek for a product.
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An AI-powered promotional technique. Temu’s sister firm working in China, Pinduoduo, is famend for its AI-driven recommendation system. It is doubtless Temu makes use of related AI algorithms, drawing on customers’ searching and buy historical past to supply personalised suggestions (a follow Amazon additionally partakes in).
Defending towards manipulation
Temu’s biggest profit to customers lies in its supply of worth. It might nonetheless have lower-quality objects, however that is frequent amongst all e-commerce platforms.
Additionally, Temu’s enterprise mannequin is constructed round emphasising top-selling merchandise, which helps filter out low-quality merchandise. Its 90-day free return coverage additional acts as a buffer for unsatisfactory purchases.
Nonetheless, Temu’s value-oriented strategy is probably not a great factor for customers on all fronts. Uncovered to such a wide selection of selling ways, customers would possibly turn out to be extra susceptible to overconsumption – which results in environmental waste and post-purchase remorse.
It is value contemplating your precise wants earlier than utilizing an e-commerce platform corresponding to Temu. You must also familiarise your self with the gross sales promotion ways getting used. Analysis suggests understanding these ways, in addition to advertisers’ intentions, may even empower younger kids to be sceptical and type a cognitive defence towards them.
Additionally, in gentle of Temu’s gamified promoting technique, customers should mood their enthusiasm for rewards. Shifting ahead, one helpful strategy could also be for colleges and governments to introduce instructional applications or social advertising and marketing campaigns that educate promoting ways, and advocate coping methods.
Temu did not reply to The Dialog’s request for remark.
Shasha Wang, Senior lecturer, Queensland University of Technology and Xiaoling Guo, , The University of Western Australia
This text is republished from The Conversation beneath a Inventive Commons license. Learn the original article.
(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is printed from a syndicated feed.)