As news abounds that Indonesian government ministers have vowed to block the entry of Pinduoduo’s overseas site Temu, Temu has been quietly launched in Vietnam and Brunei, increasing the number of markets in Southeast Asia for the e-commerce platform to five.
Temu entered the Philippine and Malaysian markets in August and September last year, but it has obviously not gained momentum in the past year. In July this year, the Temu Thailand station was opened, which once triggered a discussion in the Thai media about the competitiveness of local small and medium-sized enterprises.
Including 5 Southeast Asian markets, Temu has operations in 82 countries and regions around the world as of October 7, 2024.
In July this year, there were rumors in the Vietnamese industry that Temu planned to open the Vietnamese market in October. Now it seems to be online as scheduled. However, the initial version of Temu Vietnam is relatively basic: it currently only supports English (no Vietnamese); it only accepts credit card payments (local wallets are not supported); and it seems that only two logistics companies (Ninja Van and Best) have been connected.
However, if Temu puts enough effort into the Vietnamese market, adding more languages, payment methods, and logistics options should just be a technical matter.
Ninja Van is a Southeast Asian e-commerce logistics startup headquartered in Singapore; after Best Huitong sold its domestic express delivery business in China to Jitu in 2021, it freed up some resources and energy to focus on overseas markets. The current order volume in Vietnam should be among the top in the industry, and BEST’s Indonesian branch has just opened at the end of August.
According to Temu Vietnam station, delivery time is 4 to 7 days, which is much faster than the 5 to 20 days for delivery to Malaysia and the Philippines. Compared to Southeast Asian countries, there are land routes for domestic delivery to Vietnam due to its geographical proximity.
According to Momentum’s recently released Southeast Asia E-commerce Market Report 2024, Vietnam is the fastest-growing e-commerce market in Southeast Asia in 2023, with an annual GMV growth rate of nearly 53%. Growth momentum continues in 2024.
Although Indonesia’s e-commerce growth rate is not as fast as Vietnam’s, as the most populous country in Southeast Asia, Indonesia’s e-commerce market still accounts for nearly half of the region’s share. Temu should continue its efforts to crack this market.
Just last week, Indonesian authorities reiterated that they would impose a ban on Temu to protect the country’s micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. However, everyone should not forget that Indonesia also banned TikTok Shop exactly a year ago. Two months later, TikTok Shop returned to the Indonesian market by acquiring local e-commerce platform Tokopedia.
The new cabinet led by Indonesia’s newly elected President Prabowo Subi Alpaca will be sworn in later this month, and the outside world will be able to learn more about potential policy directions through the specific arrangements for cabinet personnel.
There are also unconfirmed rumors in the Vietnamese market that Temu is negotiating for a potential acquisition of a former leading local e-commerce platform in Vietnam.