Report: More Than a Quarter of Americans Plan to Buy Gifts on Chinese Marketplaces

Thirty-six percent of Americans planned to shop for gifts this holiday season on Chinese online marketplaces such as Temu and Shein, a new survey from e-commerce marketing platform Omnisend found.

The survey, which asked 1,000 Americans about their holiday shopping plans, found that 82 percent of American shoppers are doing their holiday gift buying online this year, and 37 percent said they plan to reduce their holiday gift budgets, which may be why more than a quarter are turning to fast-fashion, low-cost marketplaces like Temu and Shein for their holiday shopping.

Of the 36 percent of respondents who said they were going to shop on Chinese marketplaces for their loved ones' gifts, 23 percent said they preferred Temu, and 18 percent said they planned to shop on Shein. Nearly 12 percent of respondents said they were gift shopping on TikTok Shop, and 7.3 percent said they would shop on AliExpress.

Breaking down the data by generation, 48 percent of Gen Z shoppers indicated they would shop for gifts on Chinese marketplaces.

Amazon.com remained the most popular platform of choice for holiday shoppers, with 94 percent of Americans indicating they typically use the e-commerce platform when purchasing gifts.

Total Retail's Take: Marketplaces like Temu and Shein have seen rapid growth in the U.S. in the last few years, thanks to a number of factors including their deep discounts on cheap products, their viral marketing, and Americans seeking out lower costs due to inflation. Rather than focus on delivery times — something their competitor Amazon has perfected — these online retailers focused on offering Americans the highest value at the lowest cost, giving rise to the fast-fashion trend.

Research from the app intelligence firm Appfigures shows that Temu is the most popular app among U.S. users ages 18 to 24, with almost 42 million downloads between January and October, while Shein had about 14.7 million downloads during that same period. The companies continue to be popular among Gen Z consumers despite their repeated environmental offenses. Shein, for instance, produces about 6.3 million tons of carbon dioxide a year, a number that falls well below the U.N.-proposed 45 percent target to reduce global carbon emissions by 2030.

Despite the allegations of unethical and environmentally harmful processes, Temu and Shein have given its competitors a reason to feel threatened. Ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday this year, for example, Amazon launched its mobile discount store "Amazon Haul," a Temu-like marketplace that offers products at $20 or less, but with slower delivery times.