PDD-owned Temu’s first-half sales surge to US$20 billion, exceeding 2023 total: report

The six-month sales performance puts Temu on track to meet – if not surpass – its target US$30 billion in gross merchandise value this year

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Temu’s first-half gross merchandise value showed that interest from US consumers remained strong. Photo: Shutterstock

Ann Caoin Shanghai

Published: 11:00pm, 23 Jul 2024

International online budget-shopping platform Temu, owned by Chinese e-commerce giant PDD Holdings, saw its gross merchandise value (GMV) surge to about US$20 billion in the first half of this year, according to a Chinese media report, surpassing its overall sales of US$18 billion in 2023.

Apart from showing strong growth from overseas markets, Temu reached the US$20-billion GMV milestone faster than its Chinese-backed rivals Shein and TikTok Shop, according to a report on Tuesday by local media 36Kr.

Temu’s GMV already totalled about US$12 billion in the second quarter, with the United States accounting for around 45 per cent of sales in the same period, the report said. PDD, which also owns mainland Chinese discount retailer Pinduoduo, did not provide a breakdown of Temu’s first-half sales.

Nasdaq-listed PDD did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

PDD Holdings-owned online marketplace Temu initially went live in the United States in September 2022. Photo: Shutterstock

The latest six-month GMV results for Temu showed that recent speculation about waning interest from consumers in the US, as shoppers there were said to prioritise speedy deliveries over Temu’s low-priced-but-slow shipments, might have been exaggerated.

As such, Temu looks to be on track to meet – if not surpass – its projected sales this year. The discount marketplace was targeting a GMV of US$30 billion in 2024, nearly double last year’s total, according to a report last December by Chinese media LatePost.