Amazon’s super-cheap Temu competitor is here

Amazon launched its Temu and Shein competitor on Wednesday, offering ultra-low-cost items and trying to entice back customers fleeing the platform for better deals.

The new service, called Amazon Haul, is currently in beta testing and available on the app. It features clothes, electronics, and other products, often for as little as $2 or $3.

“Finding great products at very low prices is important to customers, and we continue to explore ways that we can work with our selling partners so they can offer products at ultra-low prices,” Dharmesh Mehta, vice president of Worldwide Selling Partner Services at Amazon (AMZN), said in a press release announcing the launch. “It’s early days for this experience, and we’ll continue to listen to customers as we refine and expand it in the weeks and months to come.”

Nothing on Haul costs more than $20, and much of it is priced less than $10, Amazon said. It offers free shipping on orders more than $25 and otherwise charges a $3.99 fee.

Unlike Amazon Prime’s two-day delivery standard, Haul orders will take up to two weeks to arrive since items ship directly from manufacturers.

Amazon’s strategy has largely been focused on fast deliveries and variety, but its foray into low-priced goods is its most blatant effort to compete with Shein and Temu (PDD), two Chinese-origin e-commerce companies that have upset competitors thanks to their rock-bottom prices.

Shein, the Singapore-based fast-fashion giant with a $45 billion valuation, and Temu, which launched at the end of 2022 and has already amassed more than 130 million global users, have had a meteoric rise.

They have already left other competitors like H&M, Fashion Nova, Forever 21, and Zara, in the dust when it comes to revenue and market share. And they have drawn the ire of online and physical retailers, from Jane.com to Etsy (ETSY) to Gap (GPS), who have blamed both Shein and Temu for turning the U.S. retail world order upside down.

Additional reporting by Rocio Fabbro

For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Read More