Are you aTemu victim? If you’ve recently spent more than you’d like to admit on fun, quirky—and probably not durable—household items, like funky wall art or unusual kitchen gadgets, then you might already be addicted to this viralretailer.
The Chinese-owned e-commerce app is highly popular amongboomersand Gen Xers, who can’t seem to get enough of the platform’s eclectic array of inexpensive items. According to aBloombergreport, boomers placed twice as many orders as the averageGen Zshopper in 2023.
“I’d heard about Temu on TikTok, with people showing off their hauls and sharing promotional codes,”saidLucy Clark, who first logged in to the billion-dollar platform in 2023.
“I wasn’t searching for anything in particular.”
As the Chinese-owned e-commerceappTemu grows in popularity among boomers, Gen Zers are ridiculing their parents’ unnecessary online purchases
Image credits:Justin Sullivan
“I don’t know what to do, but she’s addicted,” the young man said.
“This is a serious problem,” Liam Dowling said of his mother’s Temu purchases
Image credits:liam_dowling
But that’s not all. In a second video, Liam showcased even more quirky objects his mom felt she needed in her life.
Similarly, Niya Condria was quite shocked when she entered her bathroom and discovered a new addition to her house: pink-and-white shower curtains with a massive pair of eyes that say “Hello gorgeous.”
“My mom da Temu warlock what is this,” she wrote. The eccentric print also extended to her room, where she saw that her new curtains, pillowcases, and bedsheets also featured the pair of eyes with incredibly long eyelashes.
Kylie Bress’ shower curtains and bath mat are now a photo of Stitch and his girlfriend, Angel
Image credits:morekyliebress
Perhaps Niya got luckier than Kylie Bress, whose shower curtains and bath mat are now a photo of Stitch and his girlfriend, Angel.
One reason why Temu is so popular is the “gamification” aspect of the app: the practice of implementing gaming-related elements into the e-commerce experience. The platform’s spinning roulette wheels with discounts are an example of this marketing strategy.
Temu has surpassed China’s other e-commerce giant, Alibaba
Image credits:livgrimshaw_x
Additionally, the Chinese retailer takes advantage of our natural fear of missing out on unique items or experiences—”perceived urgency”—with their flash discount deals and countdown timers advertising free deliveries, as perBBC.
“Temu often employs a combination of social proof, scarcity and frequently uses animated elements to capture consumers’ attention, more so than Shein and Wish,”explainsVilma Todri, an associate professor of Information Systems at Goizueta Business School atEmory University, US.
“When your mom’s Temu obsession hits your room”
Image credits:niyacondria
Mark Griffiths, professor of behavioral addiction atNottingham Trent University, UK, doesn’t think shopping at Temu could lead to an addiction in the clinical sense of the word.
However, the retailer’s aggressive marketing tactics might prompt people to make unsound financial decisions.
“I don’t think people would spend all day, every day on Temu… but likegambling, shopping is a commercial activity, and even if you’re not spending great amounts of time, you might be going beyond your disposable income,” he says.
Temuhas surpassedChina’s other e-commerce giant, Alibaba. In the first three weeks of 2024, it was downloaded over 31 million times globally, making it more popular thanAmazon‘s marketplace app,according toStatista.
The company’s consistent growth is evident in avideothat went viral on Reddit on Thursday (May 16). Titled “A regular work day at the Temu warehouse,” the footage shows a dozen workers swiftly scanning packages’ barcodes while others continuously add hundreds of boxes to the pile.
“I can’t wait to be a Temu mom,” one social media user wrote
Renan Duarte
Lei RV
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