With almost 500 million users, Temu currently places second in the global e-commerce rankings and are the fastest-growing app for online shopping in the United States. While it was introduced to the United States only two years ago (September 2022), its cheap and affordable prices have caused people of all ages to buy their products from Temu. Their model on the app name and in commercials is even “shop like a billionaire”. Another reason so many use it is the variety of products; you can buy almost anything. For these reasons, people can buy a lot of things without having to worry about the price. This seems like it would be great for people who struggle to save and often find themselves trying to cut down on spending, but in reality, they’re spending more money without even realizing it.

If you plan on buying from Temu, there are a few things you should be aware of first. Temu uses several marketing strategies in and out of the app to get users to buy more. Some people tell themselves they will only buy things they need, but sometimes they buy more than they planned and spend money on things they don’t need because of prices and deals that are too enticing. I will cover how the devices are used before downloading the app, when opening the app/while buying items, and at checkout.

Temu advertises the app using several methods and platforms. People usually download apps when a friend recommends them or when they see others on the internet who have them and make them seem more significant than they are. Temu has ways for existing users to get free stuff by sharing it with people who could potentially be new users. They also pay influencers to create advertisements showing off huge “Temu hauls” on popular and well-known platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

In most of these advertisements, people are shown opening large packages, showing the large quantity of items and the prices of the products. Some ads show the free items they received and explain how to get the same deal as they open and review them. They also show what the items would cost if they didn’t get them for free. The purpose of these ads is to entice people with the possibility of getting a lot of free items they want, and they are encouraged by influencers to use their link to get $100 worth of items for the price of $0. These people don’t disclose to the audience that more steps must be followed after clicking the link. This is how they get you to download Temu but not get the promised items.

Now that users have downloaded the app, they are greeted with several hidden strategies on the app that Temu uses to get people to buy their products. Most of the time, some items are shown on the home screen to be cut down in price, when in reality, the prices are always the same, but the “old price” makes you feel like you’re getting a deal out of it. Many items are shown to be on sale for a limited time; the limited offers make people feel rushed into buying items, or else they won’t get such a deal again, but the deals usually last a long time and reappear as a new deal even if it has occurred for the same item again. Apart from this, several games and quest-like tasks can be done in the app that allows you to get items for free, but again, it’s a long process. Most of these side quests take a long time to achieve unless you spend more money to get those free items or share the link to the game.

Lastly, if a user has picked out an item and tries to check it out, but the total amount of that item is under $10, Temu will not allow the transaction to go through. A minimum of $10 must be spent for that user to receive their items. Temu makes it very easy to add items that can fill up the missing amount, whether by a few dollars or even a few cents. This is how people start buying things they don’t need; they don’t realize how much they could have saved from the few extra dollars they pay at the end of each purchase. Even after successfully checking out, Temu introduces you to a screen with items they think you will like based on previously bought items. And with a single click of the item, the product is automatically added to your order and paid for. Removing the product from your order may seem like a hassle since it has been paid for. You would have to go through a refund process, which causes some to give up and buy it anyway since it seems like more of a pain to get rid of since they may end up liking the item, and it’s probably cheap. MobiLoud says, “We can estimate Temu’s yearly revenue is at least $6 billion.” And some of this income might be coming from these commonly used strategies