Amazon launched a new shopfront with electronics, home products, clothing, and other items under $20 to counter the growing competition from Temu and Shein, two inexpensive upstarts.
TakeAway Points:
- Amazon opened its inexpensive online store to compete with Shein and Temu.
- The “Amazon Haul” shopfront, which can be accessed via the company’s mobile app, offers “extremely low prices” on a wide range of products.
- Amazon claims that things will be delivered in two weeks or less, and customers will receive free shipping on orders over $25.
Amazon Haul
Amazon opened its inexpensive online store to compete with Shein and Temu.
According to the report “Amazon Haul,” the shopfront is accessible through the company’s mobile app and promises “unbelievable low prices” on a plethora of goods. Shoppers can buy $1 eyelash curlers and oven gloves or a $3 nail dryer. The company is offering free shipping on orders over $25, or a $3.99 shipping fee on orders below that threshold.
An Amazon spokesperson pointed to a company blog post announcing the storefront. The company noted that it screens the products offered through Haul to make sure they’re safe, authentic, and comply with regulatory requirements.
“Finding great products at very low prices is important to customers, and we continue to explore ways that we can work with our selling partners so they can offer products at ultra-low prices,” said Dharmesh Mehta, Amazon’s vice president of worldwide selling partner services, in a statement. “It’s early days for this experience, and we’ll continue to listen to customers as we refine and expand it in the weeks and months to come.”
CNBC previously reported that Amazon planned to launch its own discount webstore with goods shipped directly from China.
Anticipated delay in delivery
According to the report, Amazon is betting shoppers will wait longer for products in exchange for rock-bottom prices. The company noted that most purchases made in Amazon Haul will be delivered in under two weeks, “although shipping times may vary and are dependent on a customer’s delivery location.”
That’s a shift for Amazon, which has partly cemented its dominance in e-commerce by offering faster delivery speeds than its competitors. The company upended the online shopping world when it first offered free two-day delivery, and it’s been speeding up delivery times since then. Amazon now offers same- or next-day delivery, and in some parts of the U.S. it promises delivery within a few hours of an order being placed.
With Amazon Haul, the company is responding to the rise of Temu, Shein and TikTok Shop, which all have ties to China, the world’s second-largest economy. The platforms have rapidly gained popularity in the U.S. over the past few years by hooking deal-hungry shoppers with their low prices on clothing, makeup, home goods and other items.
Amazon is able to offer low prices through its Haul storefront by importing each item directly from manufacturers in China, similar to how Temu’s and Shein’s business models operate. To manage costs, the company says it won’t accept returns on items that are $3 or less.
