I remember that not so long ago, Google was the undisputed king of information online. You needed to know how to fix your sink, figure out how much weight a gorilla can bench press, or buy some new sweatpants? Chances are, “Googling it” was your go-to first step.
Fast forward to 2025, and our behavior has completely changed. You might search TikTok or YouTube if you want to learn how to fix something. For shopping, many customers now start directly on Amazon rather than Google. And of course, we now have AI assistants like ChatGPT and Gemini, which offer compelling new ways to find the right products or services for us.
According to a recent study, 50 percent of fashion executives see product discovery as the key use case for generative AI in 2025, and 82 percent of customers want AI to help reduce the time they spend researching what to buy. With that in mind, it’s easy to understand that being cited by AI assistants will be crucial for businesses in the coming years—just like SEO was essential in past decades.
Recently, Ulta Beauty announced plans to launch a marketplace featuring beauty and wellness products. Earlier this year, Best Buy opened its own marketplace. Large retailers are turning to this model, from Urban Outfitters to Michaels.
There are several reasons why they would do so: increasing revenue through sales and advertising fees, gathering valuable market data, and of course expanding their assortment without holding more inventory.
You may have heard recently about Amazon overtaking Walmart’s revenues for the first time.
But Walmart is far from being out of the game; I would say they are a serious competitor in ecommerce.
In 2024, Walmart delivered five billion items on the same day they were ordered, twice as many as in 2023. Amazon does not communicate its numbers, but the growth is impressive.
I don’t think tariffs alone will be enough to kill Temu, and I’ve written about how the company has adapted. But there’s another Chinese giant selling large volumes to the U.S.: Shein.
Looking only at revenues, you’d think Shein is in great shape, with a 19% increase in sales, reaching $38 billion. However, the company saw a significant profit decline in 2024, with net income dropping by nearly 40% to $1 billion—which may have delayed its IPO.
Over the last few years, Amazon has been throwing s**t at the wall to see what sticks. Not everyone can be Amazon, but not everyone can be TikTok either. So, I’m not surprised to see that Amazon is shutting down Inspire, their TikTok-like feed of shoppable videos posted by influencers and brands.
As Paul Drecksler explained in a recent post, people go to TikTok for entertainment, not just with the intent to shop, and Inspire lacked the entertainment part. I believe very few people are looking for Amazon’s version of QVC, and many people tend to rely on existing social media for product discovery.
Another reason for this failure, in my opinion, is the lack of influencers on the platform. People want to see content from their favorite creators, and Amazon struggled to attract talent. They were mocked for the low rates they offered: at one point, Amazon said they would pay influencers $25 per video, with a payout cap of $12,500 for influencers submitting up to 500 videos.
Amazon is great for capturing customers at the bottom of the funnel, but when it comes to product discovery, I think there’s a lot of progress to be made. Maybe a partnership or an acquisition would work better, because I don’t see how they could turn their shopping app into a media platform that can compete with TikTok or Instagram.
Based on this article from PYMNTS: https://www.pymnts.com/news/ecommerce/2025/66-of-consumers-look-for-free-shipping-when-online-shopping/
What stood out to me more in this report were these findings: “48% of consumers prefer online marketplaces for this very reason”, and among those who made most of their recent purchases on marketplaces, only “18% said better prices are the key factor”.
While pricing is important, customer perception matters just as much. A $30 order with free shipping may often feel like a better deal than a $25 order with $5 shipping, even though the total cost is identical.
A little special post today as I collaborated with Artur Stanczuk, founder of MarketMaze, on a report discussing Amazon vs. Temu. Artur and I have known each other for a little over a year and frequently discuss the evolution of marketplaces and e-commerce. Given our shared views on the future of e-commerce, we decided to work together on a comparison article about two e-commerce titans: Amazon and Temu.
MarketMaze is a twice-weekly newsletter that delivers insights, trends, and stories from the world of e-commerce and marketplaces. It covers major industry players like Amazon, Shopify, and TikTok Shop, as well as tools, marketing, and logistics. If you haven’t subscribed yet, I highly recommend it—MarketMaze reports are a goldmine of industry insights for e-commerce professionals. Artur Stanczuk is also active on LinkedIn and can be found here.
If you ask your friends and family whether Temu is cheaper than Amazon, I guarantee everyone will say yes. But how much cheaper are we talking about? 10%? 50%? I was curious to figure this out, and it was difficult to find relevant data. I was not interested in looking at the marketplace as a whole because no one does 100% of their shopping on Temu or Amazon. Instead, I looked at specific items people might be shopping for and compared the prices between the two marketplaces.
Another thing you’d hear from your friends is that items from Temu take a very long time to arrive. However, for over a year, Temu has had plans to open warehouses in the U.S. and Europe. The company stated that “it will eventually process as much as 80 percent of European sales through these local warehouses.” Did Temu really follow through, or are most purchases still shipped directly from China?
Temu vs Amazon – By How Much is Temu Cheaper?
The methodology I used is pretty simple. I searched for six different keywords on both platforms. For each keyword, I compared the prices between Amazon and Temu for the top 30 results, including sponsored listings but excluding irrelevant results.
At first glance, it is obvious that Amazon tends to be more expensive. For every search term, both the median and the average price on Temu are significantly lower than on Amazon.
Another interesting fact is that Temu’s prices seem to be concentrated in the lowest values, while the spread for Amazon prices is much wider. This is due to Temu shoppers mostly looking for the best deals on off-brand items, while Amazon has a mix of unbranded and branded products at premium prices. Another reason is that Temu’s algorithm may have a stronger tendency to push higher-priced items down the search results, while Amazon allows higher prices in the first search results if the sales volume and velocity are high enough or if they are sponsored listings.
Where Does Temu Ships From?
For a long time, Temu shipped directly from China, using the de minimis rule and postal agreements to minimize duties and shipping costs. While Amazon is experimenting with the direct-from-China model with Haul, Temu announced over a year ago its plans to open local warehouses to ship domestically. So for our six items, where do they come from?
I was very surprised that for each search term, the majority of products on Temu shipped from local warehouses with very reasonable delivery times (seven days, sometimes less).
Of course, Temu did not stop shipping from China. If you scroll down long enough, you’ll see a lot more items shipping from overseas. But it is clear that they prioritize local products at the top of the search results. This could be because these orders are more profitable for them, but also because customers are pushing for faster shipping, even if prices are a little higher. Speaking of pricing, it is interesting to note that even though most items now ship from local warehouses, prices are still much lower than on Amazon (see charts above).
Conclusion
Temu is cheaper than Amazon, but the real question is—by how much? Based on the data, Temu consistently offers lower prices, with its products concentrated in the lowest price ranges, while Amazon sells a wider spread that includes premium brands.
Delivery times on Temu have also improved now that the majority of first-listed products now ship from local warehouses. While Temu still relies on overseas shipping for some items, the platform is clearly prioritizing speed alongside affordability. In conclusion, Temu isn’t only cheaper, it’s evolving fast, maybe becoming a more competitive alternative to Amazon than most people would expect.
My name is François, I’m the author of this blog. I love writing and talking about business and ecommerce. I hope you enjoy my work, feel free to contact me for any suggestion!
