Australia has become one of the best "safe havens".
Recently, Temu has continued to increase investment in advertising and marketing in Australia, spending real money on promotion. With this strategy, it has quickly reached new heights in the local area, and its active users have reached a new level.
Since this year, Chinese cross-border e-commerce platforms represented by Temu and SHEIN have regarded Australia as a hot spot for investment. From relaxing seller qualifications, actively recruiting new merchants, to vigorously expanding logistics and other infrastructure, we will improve our competitive strength in all aspects.
In the current changing international situation, the United States continues to tighten its business policies and has canceled its tax-free policy for small-value parcels from China. Europe is following closely behind, and relevant plans are about to be implemented. With its mature and stable market foundation, Australia has once again become a hot spot in the eyes of Chinese e-commerce giants.
However, the surging local business opportunities are also full of thorns, and the Temu are far from finding a true safe zone.
Advertising and marketing surge, Chinese e-commerce platforms develop in Australia
When you open the game page, Temu shopping ads pop up.
While watching the short video, a SHEIN marketing message suddenly popped up.
…
Through platforms such as Meta, Google, YouTube and app advertising, Temu and SHEIN are pouring huge amounts of advertising money into Australia, and these ads are almost flooding the entire market.
Sensor Tower data shows that as of the second quarter of 2025, Temu's digital advertising expenditures in Australia have risen sharply, making it the country's largest digital advertiser. Compared with March 2025, its advertising expenditures in the second quarter have increased by 110% month-on-month. SHEIN successfully ranked among the top 25.
With intensive advertising, both have achieved remarkable results. In the past year to June 2025, Temu's audience increased by 58% to 18.4 million, and was listed as Australia's fastest growing website in 2025 by authoritative organizations; SHEIN's audience also increased by 31%, reaching 6.2 million.
Source: Internet
Temu and SHEIN, as cross-border upstarts who have just entered Australia in the past two years, have a lot in common: they have low-price genes, they have risen rapidly with advertising and marketing strategies, and they have brought proven successful experience to other markets with one click…
In May 2022, SHEIN opened its first pop-up store in Melbourne and officially entered the Australian market. As we all know, celebrity marketing through TikTok, YouTube and other platforms is the key to SHEIN quickly gaining popularity in various overseas markets. In Australia, SHEIN also copied this successful model and quickly became one of the well-known local fashion e-commerce platforms.
Public data shows that SHEIN Australia's revenue and profits will both increase in 2024. In detail, sales will reach US$1.23 billion, an increase of nearly 25.64% from US$979 million in the previous year, and profits will reach US$15.2 million, an increase of approximately 43.40% from US$10.6 million in the previous year.
About a year later than SHEIN, Temu was officially launched in Australia in a low-key manner in March 2023. There was no official announcement, but it was still expected to become popular and quickly attracted a large number of consumers. It is understood that the number of unique visits to Temu Australia station will increase by 72% in 2024, ranking first in iPhone downloads.
Not long ago, Temu fully opened Australia's "Local Seller Plan", allowing Australian companies with local inventory to settle in. Many onlookers followed the platform's footsteps and joined the Nuggets. The appeal and popularity are evident.
Chinese giants seek safe haven, Australia takes on traffic
At the beginning, SHEIN and Temu only regarded Australia as a mediocre part of globalization. They started to go all out in 2025. This change obviously has far-reaching strategic considerations.
On the one hand, Europe and the United States continue to tighten their import policies and comprehensively pursue and intercept Chinese goods. The first step is the tax exemption policy for small-value parcels. One of the important advantages that SHEIN and Temu rely on for survival has been cut, and they urgently need to find a new way out. In the past period, they have significantly reduced advertising and marketing in the United States and reallocated advertising expenditures to markets such as Australia.
On the other hand, Australia’s e-commerce market has huge potential and deserves in-depth investment. The Australian e-commerce market will reach US$43.61 billion in 2025, and is expected to increase to US$108.16 billion in 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 21.87% from 2025 to 2030. At this growth rate, the Australian e-commerce market will more than double in size within five years.
It is worth noting that the proportion of Australian consumers connected to the Internet is very high. In 2024, online shopping users accounted for approximately 63.94% of the total population, and their spending hit a new record of 69 billion Australian dollars, a 12% increase from the previous year. The prevalence of mobile shopping, unimpeded payment methods, and developed logistics and transportation… A series of complete e-commerce infrastructure have alleviated obstacles for giants to operate locally.
Image source: Marketplace Pulse
Moreover, Australian consumers are more tolerant of online shopping. Marketplace Pulse survey data shows that in the past five years, satisfaction with Amazon has plummeted in many countries around the world, including the United States, India, and Germany. Indian customer satisfaction has dropped from 80.3% to 53.2%. However, Australian consumer satisfaction has steadily increased, from 78.6% to 84.5%.
Compared with Australia's established e-commerce platforms, Temu and SHEIN were initially at a disadvantage in terms of package transportation timeliness. However, both have continued to improve on this shortcoming.
For example, Temu has established fulfillment partners in Sydney and Melbourne, successfully shortening the average delivery time for local orders to 4 to 6 days, which is closer to Amazon's standard delivery time. As Temu relaxes merchant qualifications, local merchants continue to join the platform, and many products can now be delivered the next day. Moreover, consumers can enjoy rich products at lower prices without paying Prime subscription fees.
Auto parts, computers, home appliances, clothing, furniture and other products are popular products in Australia and are also the categories where our country has advantages. Therefore, related products are selling like crazy on the e-commerce websites of Temu and SHEIN. In terms of fashion categories, Australia's per capita purchases rank first in the world, with each person purchasing an average of 56 pieces of clothing per year. SHEIN and Temu have become one of the preferred local shopping websites, comparable to Amazon.
Australia's friendly e-commerce environment seems to be a safe haven for Chinese e-commerce giants. In fact, the booming local demand for Chinese goods has produced a synergistic effect of "one plus one is greater than two" to a certain extent.
Surrounded by crises, Temu’s lingering development dilemma
However, in Australia, Temu and SHEIN have internal worries and hidden dangers externally. It is also a battlefield full of dangers.
From the perspective of downloads, new user growth and other dimensions, the two are indeed eye-catching, but this is achieved at a lower starting point and driven by large-scale marketing. Compared with the increase in downloads for new players from 0 to 60, compared with the increase from 80 to 90 for old players, the former is obviously more impactful. This performance can easily make people mistakenly think that the two have become the top e-commerce platforms in Australia. In fact, Amazon remains the dominant local force.
Semrush data shows that in 2024, Amazon will become the most frequently visited e-commerce platform for Australian consumers with a market share of 53%, accounting for half of the local market, followed by eBay and Kmart. According to a survey of Australian online shoppers, Amazon's success depends on several factors: fast delivery, ease of purchase, reliable and high-quality products, and a wide variety!
In terms of rich varieties, Temu and SHEIN may be popular in specific product areas such as clothing and small commodities. However, when the scope of competition expands to all categories, the advantages of the two are not obvious.
As Amazon launches competing products in Australia, the existing advantages between the two are likely to be weakened. The latest news shows that Amazon Haul has launched a beta version in Australia and will be fully open soon. Recently, some consumers can purchase hundreds of thousands of products at 60% discounts.
This is Amazon’s powerful counterattack against Temu and SHEIN. The industry believes that the good reputation Amazon has accumulated over the years will help it capture more people with low customer unit prices. Temu and SHEIN's own ongoing disputes, such as product quality issues and environmental issues, are all "stumbling blocks" to their progress.
The study found that only 12% of Australian consumers trust the quality of Temu's products, which may lead to a 7% drop in the number of shoppers; SHEIN's consumer trust level is also only 11%.
Out of curiosity and high cost performance, consumers place orders with a trial mentality, but their enthusiasm fades. Can large-scale advertising and marketing continue to drive consumers to repurchase? Many players expressed denial. More and more consumers are becoming mature under the baptism of the market and are more willing to choose trusted platforms. Unfortunately, Temu and SHEIN still need to work harder to build trust in the local market.
In addition to Australia, this is also their lingering development dilemma in the global market.
References:
hinese bargain shopping app Temu tops Australian download charts.marketingmag
Australia E-commerce Market Size & Share Analysis – Growth Trends & Forecasts (2025 – 2030) .mordorintelligence
Temu and Shein 'flooding' Australia with advertising dollars.adnews
