The battle with Temu is expanding again! Is Amazon Haul going to Europe?

Low-price e-commerce has already created a storm in many regions, and even a strong company like Amazon has been forced to get involved - the low-price mall "Haul" is the best proof of this.

As a "resistance to Temu and Shein", Amazon launched the low-price mall "Haul" in November last year and placed high hopes on it. Recently, it was revealed that the low-price mall will make a big move again.

Low-price mall business may expand to Europe this year

According to CNBC, an authoritative American media , Amazon "is looking to expand its business that competes with Temu and SHEIN outside the United States."

Amazon.com Inc plans to launch its low-price marketplace business, “Haul,” in Europe later this year , according to two people familiar with the matter .

While an Amazon spokesperson said the company had "nothing to share about its plans for Haul," it did say the company was "always exploring new ways to work with its selling partners to delight customers around the world with greater selection, lower prices and greater convenience."

In addition, Amazon released two job postings in early February: one was to recruit a software development engineer to join the Haul team to assist in the global launch; the other was to recruit a senior product manager to assist in the launch in Mexico .

Although the first job posting has been withdrawn , the leaked news and these two job postings all illustrate Amazon's ambition to expand its low-price mall overseas.

In many ways, the expansion of Amazon's low-price marketplace is inevitable.

On the one hand, before it was launched, the low-price mall was considered by the outside world to be "born to cope with the rise of Temu, SHEIN, and TikTok Shop." With these platforms performing well in multiple markets , it is not easy for Amazon to continue to sit on the Diaoyutai . Data shows that as of December 2024, Temu's cumulative global downloads have reached nearly 900 million times, ranking first in global e-commerce application downloads and growth rate ( SensorTower data); SHEIN has become the world's most visited clothing and fashion website ( Similarweb data); TikTok Shop's global GMV has also exceeded US$32.6 billion (Tabcut.com data), all of which have brought considerable competitive pressure to Amazon.

On the other hand, even economically developed countries like Europe cannot escape the trend of "consumers are buying cheaper goods". According to market analysis, European consumers have a growing demand for low-priced goods, especially in the context of economic uncertainty and rising living costs . Not to mention other countries and regions with relatively backward economies . In addition, platforms such as Temu and SHEIN have also proved that the "low-price market" is a piece of "fat meat" that can be chewed .

Amazon is working hard, but there is still a lot of room for low-price shopping malls to develop

Amazon's emphasis on the low-price mall can be seen from its launch time - it was launched before Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday. The low-price mall did not disappoint Amazon's expectations, with explosive orders and even sold out during Black Friday; even on the second day of Black Friday, the low-price mall's best-selling products reached 2,700, including many of the top 100 products in Amazon's sales.

However, perhaps because it is in the testing phase (it is still in the testing phase), the low-price mall has problems such as slow delivery and lost orders. Some American users also reported that some products on the low-price mall are even cheaper on Amazon's main site. For example, a vegetable washing basket is priced at $11.99 on Haul, but a similar set is only priced at $4.88 on Amazon.

Another issue is the sales volume of the low-price mall. At the end of January, Amazon launched a promotion for the low-price mall, with discounts of up to 90% on some products. The discount was so strong that a "shopping cart" with a total price of $79 could be sold for $8, with free shipping. Amazon can be said to be losing money on this promotion, but even so, the sales volume of the low-price mall is still only a small part of Temu's."

In addition, a survey shows that only 8% of consumers said they had shopped on low-price malls, and about 30% of consumers even said they were not aware of the platform . This means that the popularity of low-price malls among buyers is still very limited. In comparison, Temu and SHEIN are much more popular among consumers. About 28% of consumers said they had shopped on Temu in the past six months, and 22% of consumers had shopped on SHEIN.

Analysts believe that this is because consumers prefer to make accidental purchases and explore unexpected discoveries on platforms such as Temu and SHEIN, while Amazon is more of a first choice for consumers when they have a clear purchase need. In addition, low-price malls lack elements with gamification design, making it difficult to attract consumers' random browsing.

Fortunately, although it is not well-known, with Amazon's "endorsement", 28% of respondents said they trust Amazon Haul more when making purchases . In comparison, the proportions of Temu and SHEIN are only 17% and 13%.

In addition to the above market competition, policy changes have also put low-price malls under pressure in the U.S. Most of the sellers in low-price malls are from China, which means that low-price malls, like Temu and SHEIN, will be affected by the T86 small tax exemption policy.

In Europe, can low-price malls catch up?

Back to the European market. Although Amazon has not responded positively to the issue of entering the European market , industry insiders have pointed out some challenges that low-price malls may face when entering new markets.

The first issue to be affected is the express packaging problem . Sources revealed that Amazon may use plastic packaging to deliver goods in low-priced malls in Europe , but this conflicts with the company's sustainable development goals in the local area.

In addition to packaging, there are also differences between the two markets. European consumers have different shopping habits, consumption preferences, and environmental protection requirements from American consumers. In addition, because multiple countries are involved, culture, language, regulations, and product tariffs that have been repeatedly mentioned in the past two years are also issues that need to be resolved.

Another thorny issue is market competition. In Europe, platforms such as Temu and SHEIN, which are positioned in the same way as low-price shopping malls, have already established themselves and even become very successful .

In the "Top 100 European Cross-Border E-commerce Markets" released by Cross-Border Commerce Europe, although Amazon topped the list, AliExpress ranked 2nd, Temu ranked 5th, and SHEIN ranked 8th. On this basis, these platforms have not relaxed their layout in the European market. For example, Temu started inviting European merchants to settle in early and started a new local sales model; SHEIN is also accelerating its expansion into multiple categories and plans to launch a comprehensive e-commerce platform in Europe this fall.

As a newcomer , TikTok Shop is also vigorously developing the European market this year. Recently, there was news that TikTok Shop will further expand its European territory and open sites in Germany, France and Italy . In addition, a major new rule has been launched in the European region: if a seller owns a company entity in any of Spain, Germany, France and Italy, and at the same time enters and launches TikTok Shop, he can open sub-stores in the other three countries to achieve sales throughout the European Union .

Not to mention that there are many platforms in Europe that perform well in terms of low prices, such as Cdiscount and fnac Darty, so Amazon still has a lot of work to do if it wants to "catch up".

However, although Amazon faces many challenges in launching its low-price mall in Europe, it still has a chance to gain a foothold in the market with its strong brand influence and supply chain advantages. At the same time, the overseas expansion of the low-price mall has brought more opportunities and challenges to sellers . Sellers need to actively adjust their strategies according to market conditions , optimize product positioning, and improve quality and service to cope with challenges and seize opportunities.

Amazon Haul

Global Expansion

European Market