Temu, Shein branch deeper into selling toys during holiday shopping season

The two popular budget-shopping platforms are looking to win a bigger slice of the global market for toys

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Super Mario Bros toys are displayed at a Target store in Washington ahead of Black Friday on November 27, 2024. Photo: Reuters

Published: 3:39pm, 29 Nov 2024

Fast-growing speciality e-commerce sites such as PDD Holdings’ Temu and its rival Shein are branching deeper into the business of selling toys, as many American and European shoppers prepare to seek out steep bargains during the Black Friday weekend.

In previous years, Temu and Shein – which sell primarily from smartphone-based apps – would not have been the usual places for shoppers to buy toys and other holiday gifts. The sites face concerns from regulators and US-based consumer product makers about fakes and counterfeits.

The competing platforms serve as America’s digital “dollar stores”, offering mostly unbranded items – from bath towels and clothes to home appliances – at low prices. Now, both Temu and Shein are looking to win a bigger slice of the global market for toys, which fuel sales for retailers during the holiday season.

Toys drove US$108.7 billion in sales globally in 2023, according to market research firm Circana.

At Shein, which became popular selling US$5 T-shirts and US$10 jumpers, toys are one of the fastest-growing categories, a spokesman for the site said. Toys have seen double-digit percentage growth in sales volume on Shein’s platforms year on year, the spokesman said.

Temu said it is seeing an increase in searches for toys by prospective shoppers. To be sure, major mass-merchandise retailers Amazon.com, Walmart and Target remain the mainstay for toy shoppers – together representing nearly 70 per cent of US toy sales, said Linda Bolton Weiser, a research analyst at D A Davidson.