Taking first place again, Temu’s growth momentum is too strong!

Although it is a new platform in the global e-commerce market, Temu's performance is almost comparable to that of established e-commerce platforms. From its debut in early September 2022 to now, in just two and a half years, it has "survived" the fierce e-commerce competition and successfully established a reputation in many countries and regions around the world.

In recent days, after Temu won the annual championship in the US app download list, it has achieved remarkable results in the Korean market. In addition, its performance in many global markets is also constantly refreshing.

Temu downloads dominate in South Korea

Recently , data released by IGAWorks, South Korea's largest mobile data platform company , showed that in December 2024, Temu became the number one newly installed application in South Korea, and YouTube was the mobile application with the most active users that month.

In terms of newly installed apps, Temu continues to maintain a strong growth trend. Specifically, in December last year, Temu's new downloads in South Korea reached 1,177,405 times, topping the list of newly downloaded apps in the country that month. The social platform Instagram followed closely with 826,000 new downloads, and TikTok Lite ranked third with 819,000 downloads.

In terms of active platform users, YouTube had 46.82 million monthly active users in December, the largest number among all mobile applications in South Korea.

In the e-commerce field, the local platform Coupang is still in the lead, with 32 million active users in December. The total number of monthly active users of the three major platforms, AliExpress, Gmarket and Auction, is 13.9 million, nearly half of Coupang.

Although Temu's monthly active users are not as high as those of the old platforms, its leading number of new downloads in the fiercely competitive Korean market is enough to prove its strong market influence and consumer recognition.

In fact, Temu's rapid growth in South Korea can be seen from previous data.

In December last year , the Korean application market research report released by IGA Works showed that in the first 11 months of 2024, Temu's cumulative new downloads reached 18.04 million times, ranking first among all applications in the market.

In terms of user gender and age distribution, among all consumers, Temu is particularly popular among consumers of all ages over 20 years old, especially among female users aged 20 to 29, where the download volume is most significant. Among users aged 30 to 39, the download volume of female users is significantly higher than that of male users of the same age group.

In addition, Temu has topped the list of new APP downloads in South Korea just two months after entering the market. In June and July 2024, it also topped the list of new downloads in the country for two consecutive months. In September, it once again became the number one local APP with 868,000 downloads. With the strong rise of Temu, South Korea's freight volume also once soared, and in the first five months of 2024, it set a record high since 2009.

It must be mentioned that Temu expanded rapidly with its "low-price strategy", winning the favor of countless consumers while also bringing considerable pressure to local e-commerce platforms and companies.

A professor at Korea University pointed out that "except for Coupang and Naver, most online shopping platforms in South Korea are in a loss-making state and lack survival space at this stage." He also added, "Faced with fierce competition from foreign e-commerce platforms, local small and medium-sized platforms may find it difficult to survive unless they find new paths through restructuring such as mergers and cooperation, or achieve differentiation in professional fields."

Although the rise of platforms such as Temu has posed a certain threat to the survival of local platforms, on the other hand, under the fierce competition among major platforms, their functions have been updated and optimized, which not only brings consumers a better shopping experience, but also can further consolidate the platform's position in the market. It can be said that there are both advantages and disadvantages.

Outside of Korea, Temu also performed amazingly

It is worth mentioning that over the past period of time, Temu has not only performed well in South Korea. As of now, it has covered more than 80 countries and regions around the world, playing a role that cannot be ignored on the world stage.

According to the latest data, in 2024, Temu topped the mobile application download list in more than 40 countries around the world, with 550 million downloads, a 69% increase from the previous month, and as of December last year, its global cumulative downloads also soared significantly, and is about to exceed 900 million times.

Recently, foreign media reported that Temu has successfully become the world's second largest cross-border e-retailer, ranking after Amazon and before AliExpress. This trend just shows that in the global e-commerce circle, the status of Chinese e-commerce platforms including Temu is becoming more and more prominent, and Amazon may no longer be the only one in the future.

In addition, from the specific data released by some countries, we can also find that Temu has been attracting global consumers since its launch. Even though it has achieved some success in the early stage, it has not stopped its rapid pace. For example, the number of downloads and monthly active users is still breaking records. Recently, it has even launched plans to attract local sellers in many countries.

Let's talk about the US market first. In 2023, Temu became the favorite app of the local 18-24-year-old Generation Z consumer group, with 41.98 million downloads. In the past 2024, Temu was once again ranked first in the iOS app download list by Americans, becoming the favorite of young American consumers. It is reported that this is the second time that Temu has topped the list in the country, which undoubtedly shows how popular it is among Americans and its strong market influence.

Furthermore, Temu also performs very well in countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, and France. In the Netherlands, Temu officially opened to local companies at the end of last year, quickly attracting the attention of a large number of sellers and consumers; in France, an average of 12 million people shopped on the platform every month in the fourth quarter of 2024; in markets such as Germany, Denmark, and Italy, its popularity and downloads also lead other e-commerce platforms.

Temu also has a presence in Brazil, the largest market in Latin America . Since entering the market in June last year, Temu's downloads have quickly entered the top four shopping apps in the country. In addition, data from November showed that Temu's downloads reached 4.8 million times, surpassing Latin American e-commerce giant Meikeduo, and its monthly visits exceeded 100 million times, ranking fifth in the market. Compared with the month of its launch, this number has increased by more than 13 times.

To date, Temu has captured the hearts of consumers in dozens of countries and regions, and its influence around the world is becoming increasingly widespread.

In the future, as the platform expands further and its functions become increasingly complete, its position in the global e-commerce market will become more unbreakable. At that time, global consumers and sellers will have more choices, and competition among major e-commerce markets and cross-border e-commerce platforms will become increasingly fierce.