Chinese online retailer Temu has become the most downloaded app in Nigeria on both the Android and Apple app stores in just a few weeks since ads started promoting its availability in the country.
The ranking by app tracking platform Similarweb comes after consumers were hit with an advertising blitz on social media that signaled the company’s entry into the country. Goods on Temu are now available in the local currency, naira, and available for delivery to Nigerian addresses.
Temu’s parent is the company behind Chinese online marketplace Pinduoduo. It first launched in the US in 2022 and has developed a reputation for being a retailer with cheap consumer wares that are quickly delivered, often drawing comparisons with Chinese fast fashion rival Shein.
After launching in South Africa earlier in the year, Nigeria becomes Temu’s second bet in Africa.
Temu was the top advertiser on Meta last year by reportedly spending nearly $2 billion on ads. In the US, the blitz has put it in contention for shoppers’ dollars as it drives up advertising costs and takes attention away from long-time players like Etsy.
Competition in Nigerian e-commerce is between smaller stores selling specific products and Africa-wide providers like Jumia. A leaner operations model focused on achieving profitability has seen Jumia reduce its advertising spend in the last two years.
The tenor of reactions to Temu’s Nigeria entry from industry analysts and consumers is a mix of admiration and anxiety. The retailer’s ascent to the top of the download charts indicates a successful launch strategy but there are fears that its operations will deplete local markets.
Beyond advertising, what could make Temu a seismic actor for Nigerian e-commerce is the control it has over its value chain, analysts say. Unlike many online retailers who act as middlemen between manufacturers and consumers, Temu is able to ship directly from factories in China. It gives the company a wide latitude to fulfil a vast variety of products at potentially cheaper prices.
And in emerging markets where price sensitivity means consumers have little loyalty to brands, Temu will effectively be preferred to other retailers.
Combined with gamified shopping that makes for an alluring user experience, the company’s presence could be “very, very dangerous, not only for Africa’s homegrown ecommerce platforms, but also for its fledgling fashion and design sector,” said Marie Lora-Mungai, an analyst who covers African creative industries.
Indeed, there have been some shifts in African e-commerce since Temu’s arrival on the continent.
Nigeria and South Africa could calm their local markets’ anxieties over the activities of global offshore online retailers by demanding concessions, Lora-Mugai said. “More specifically, I would force the platform to build factories and train workers locally.”
But some observers say only extreme measures like a ban will preserve local capacity. The takeover of e-commerce by foreign companies would be akin to Netflix and YouTube becoming preferred to local platforms for film distribution, said Oris Aigbokhaevbolo, a Nigerian film journalist and online publisher.
“Across fields, we have a new anthem: If it comes from Nigeria and a rival shows up from overseas, they’ll win. But you can’t really build a country’s economy like this,” he said.
Takealot, the Naspers-owned company that is South Africa’s largest online store, sold its fashion retail unit Superbalist in September. In October, Jumia closed Zando, a fashion retail unit that a few months earlier specifically named Temu and Shein among the companies it hoped to counter as a “trustworthy alternative” for African consumers looking to shop internationally.
When Takealot reported its financial results earlier this year, it accused Temu and Shein of exploiting loopholes “by using shipping methods that allow them to offer products at exceptionally low prices while avoiding duties, taxes and other government fees imposed on conventional retailers.”
It warned South African policymakers to update regulations to avoid widening disparities that could hurt local businesses. Its concern was echoed by the Institute for Chartered Entrepreneurs, a trade group that claimed both Chinese companies’ presence in South Africa could have “deleterious effects” and set back efforts to grow local industries.
By Alexander Onukwue, SEMAFOR
