In this year's Super Bowl live broadcast in the United States, online shopping platform Temu dominated the advertising focus, attracting the attention of many American consumers for its dazzling array of discounted products. The Temu app has since become the best-selling app in both the Apple App Store and Google App Store in the United States, with over 100 million downloads.
The emergence of Temu has put Amazon's nerves on edge, and before it, another shopping platform, Shein, had already surpassed Amazon in the clothing segment. Temu's performance is more like trying to steal all the meat from Amazon's mouth, which also forces Amazon to launch its own discount channel.
Overall, Amazon is planning to launch a new section on its website that specifically offers low-priced fashion and daily necessities, and allows Chinese sellers to ship directly to American consumers.
According to a seller introduction provided by Amazon, the new version of Amazon will launch a series of unbranded products, many of which will be priced below $20. Amazon plans to ship products directly from China to the United States, with the goal of delivery within 9-11 days.
In the past, Amazon's Chinese sellers relied on Amazon's self operated logistics services to first deliver products to Amazon's logistics warehouse in the United States, and then the warehouse arranged for shipment. Amazon pointed out that the new arrangement can help Amazon's sellers in China save costs, and sellers can also test product sales through small-scale production.
This mode is very similar to Shein's "manufacturing on demand" management, that is, test the market first for the products with limited production quantity, and increase the output with the growth of demand.
In addition, unlike Temu, Amazon's new section allows sellers to determine the pricing and category of their products on their own. Temu, supported by Pinduoduo, is relatively more strict. The company sets prices for products and is also responsible for operating storefronts and conducting marketing activities for sellers.
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Amazon spokesperson Maria Boschetti stated in a statement that Amazon has been exploring new ways of collaborating with sales partners to meet customer needs. But she refused to disclose the specific plan and implementation time.
But the leaked seller files show that Chinese sellers are required to start registering this summer, while Amazon began accepting products in the fall of this year. Someone analyzed that the new version of the board is highly likely to be officially launched during this year's Black Friday Shopping Festival.
This is also an important step for Amazon to revive its appeal in the hearts of Chinese merchants. Due to the intense competition among overseas e-commerce platforms, Chinese merchants have gradually reduced their favor towards Amazon in recent years, and Chinese merchants are an important group that constitutes the source of supply, which has forced Amazon to change its strategy.
Amazon pointed out that in 2023, the number of products sold by Chinese sellers on its website increased by more than 20% year-on-year, while the number of Chinese merchants with sales exceeding $10 million increased by 30%.
Last December, Amazon also announced the establishment of a new innovation center in Shenzhen and promised to significantly reduce service fees for clothing sellers priced below $20.