Amazon attacks Temu & Shein head-on with its own discount price platform

We have known this for a few months already: Amazon is working on a direct competitor to Temu and Shein in the low-cost sector. But until now, the project still remained confidential. Today, Amazon unveiled its new service, Haul, whose aim is to offer ultra-competitive prices on a whole bunch of everyday products. To offer such low prices, the firm has chosen to follow the model of its Chinese competitors: thus, packages are shipped directly from China to the USA, which implies longer delivery times and a return policy of product much more restrictive compared to Amazon.

Direct competition: cheaper prices, longer delivery times

To conquer the market, Haul is quite clearly inspired by its competitors, whether it is the prices charged or even the interface of its platform: we thus find the famous presentation of products in a grid, and a whole bunch of Attractive visual artifacts to highlight the objects to be purchased on the site. In terms of product range, it is quite vast, while remaining low-cost: very few products exceed 20 dollars. Note also that delivery is free for any order over $25, while you will have to pay a fee of $3.99 for any order below this level. Amazon intends in particular to take advantage of its trusted status to conquer the low-cost market, with many users still not daring to attempt purchases from lesser-known and sometimes misleading resellers like those offered at Temu and Shein.

So, if Haul offers lower prices, this also implies much slower delivery (you will have to wait between 1 and 2 weeks to receive your order directly from China). For now, the site is only available in beta on web browsers and smartphones, and only in the United States (at least, for the moment).