France becomes Temu’s second-largest European market (#1683654)

France has emerged as Temu’s second-largest European market with 12 million monthly consignees, following Germany, the e-commerce platform revealed on Monday. The announcement came as Temu is facing increased transparency requirements under European Union regulations.

At the end of October, Philippe Wahl, CEO of La Poste, stated that e-tailers like Temu and Shein now account for 22% of the group’s parcel deliveries, surpassing Amazon, which accounted for 21%, and marking a significant increase from less than 5% five years ago.

From April to October, Temu recorded an average of 93.7 million monthly consignees across the European Union. Its largest markets include Germany, with 16.3 million consignees, followed by France (12 million), Italy (10 million), Poland (9.6 million), and Spain (9.4 million).

Temu also published its first transparency report for the EU on Monday, a requirement under the new Digital Services Act (DSA) aimed at regulating large online platforms. 

Temu, which has seen rapid growth in Europe due to its aggressive pricing strategy, is the international version of China’s e-commerce giant Pinduoduo, founded in 2015. The platform offers a vast selection of products, including clothing, toys, home décor, tools, and tech.

In June, the European Commission requested information from Temu and Shein to ensure their compliance with EU consumer protection laws, questioning the platforms about measures put in place to report illegal products. 

Other inquiries focused on “dark patterns” (misleading interfaces designed to manipulate user behaviour), protections for minors, transparency in product recommendation systems, and the traceability of sellers on these platforms.