Temu is tapping UK-based suppliers to sell its products on the shopping app as it ramps up pressure on high street competitors.
Under the ecommerce giant’s “local” initiative, customers can now buy items from UK-based sellers that will arrive in as little as one day, The Times reported.
The “local” products are mostly bulky goods, such as furniture, tents, winter coats and kitchen appliances that would be uneconomical to ship from China.
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Temu is thought to be planning to recruit dozens more staff in the UK to open a London office.
It is the latest move from the shopping app, which is used regularly by 12.1 million people and who have only been able to order cheap products from Chinese suppliers that have taken one to two weeks to arrive.
Temu is currently facing legal action from the European Commission following fears the platform is failing to stop the sale of illegal goods.
A formal investigation was launched last month over concerns the etailer, which was hit with legal action over “manipulative practices” in May, did not have sufficiently robust systems to prevent “previously suspended rogue traders” reappearing on the platform, with some goods returning within days of being taken down.
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