Temu is under fire from suppliers in China over a major change to its business model. The Chinese online shop is losing more and more trading partners, who are actively protesting against the new measures.
Towards a semi-managed model
After Amazon tried to poach Temu’s Chinese suppliers last month by allowing them to ship directly from China, Temu is going in the opposite direction: the platform is reportedly moving to a “semi-managed” model, similar to that of Amazon. Sellers become responsible for shipping, storage and delivery, tasks that were previously handled by Temu. The Chinese online shop also targets Amazon partners who have their own warehouses in the United States and Europe, according to the Financial Times.
Many suppliers are displeased with this move, however. They joined the partnership because they could send their unsold goods directly to Temu’s Chinese warehouses without having to worry about logistics. The new approach means that suppliers already have to send their products themselves to the US and Europe and store them in a local warehouse, which is much more costly and risky.
