Breaking news! Temu is under investigation in another country

Temu seems to have encountered a "Mercury retrograde" in Korea recently. Just two days ago, the good news that "Temu has more than 8 million monthly active users in Korea" and "plans to set up an office in Korea to further develop the Korean market" was announced, but then it encountered various "inspections".

First, the relevant Korean authorities said they would investigate the collection of consumers' personal information by Chinese cross-border e-commerce platforms, including Temu; then they encountered a customs investigation and were asked to stop selling some non-compliant products.

I thought it had come to a temporary end, but then news broke that relevant Korean authorities were investigating Temu.

According to foreign media reports, the news has been confirmed by the Korean government and industry officials. It is reported that the specific investigation of the Korea Fair Trade Commission will focus on whether Temu has violated the consumer protection obligations stipulated in the Korean "E-Commerce Transaction Act" and whether it has violated the provisions of the Korean "Marking and Advertising Fairness Act" regarding false and exaggerated propaganda.

Readers who have paid attention to it know that since Temu was launched, it has quickly become popular with its "low price" as its killer weapon. Coupled with China's product supply chain advantages, the products on the platform are even more dazzling. So far, Temu does not seem to have suffered a Waterloo in any country.

Perhaps because of its rapid development, Temu has entered the public's field of vision. A while ago, Ireland and Hungary also launched investigations on Temu. The former is a normal investigation of large platforms, and the latter is also related to operations. I thought this "investigation trend" was only concentrated in Europe and the United States, but I didn't expect that South Korea in the Southeast Asian market has also joined this "army".

Like other sites, Temu adopted a strategy of issuing a large number of coupons to attract new users when it was first launched in South Korea, and of course, the "roulette lottery" game was indispensable. At the same time, local consumers were also dissatisfied with the platform's delivery delays and product quality.

It's not just Temu. According to data from the Korea Consumer Agency, South Korea received 673 complaints related to Chinese cross-border e-commerce platforms last year, three times the number of the previous year (2022), when there were only 228 related complaints.

South Korean media also believe that Chinese cross-border e-commerce platforms still have problems with illegal operations and counterfeit goods in South Korea. For example, the Korea Fair Trade Commission has identified 15 types of goods as banned or restricted online sales, including pharmaceuticals, harmful chemicals, electrical appliances or industrial products that have not obtained safety certification, etc., but these products can be found on Chinese e-commerce platforms.

Although Temu is the one under investigation , the actions taken by relevant Korean authorities against Chinese cross-border e-commerce platforms have been quite frequent recently. Therefore, sellers with business in Korea must be vigilant. Products and promotions must not only comply with the regulations of the platform, but also meet the requirements of various Korean laws and regulations.

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investigation