Temu, a Chinese online shopping platform, has been criticized for its marketing strategies to attract Korean customers, according to industry sources on Tuesday.
The app, owned by PDD Holdings, offers gifts and credits that can be used as cash to Korean shoppers who are looking for bargains.
The app also offers discounts of up to 90 percent, free returns within 90 days, and rewards of up to hundreds of thousands of won.
However, to get these benefits, Temu’s users have to invite their friends to join the app through a referral program.
The users and their friends can join daily reward events, but they need to invite at least seven friends for credits and up to 60 friends for freebies.
Temu entered the Korean market in July last year to compete with AliExpress, another Chinese online shopping platform that launched in 2018.
Many young Koreans in their 20s and 30s have shared their unboxing videos and photos of Temu products on YouTube and other social media platforms, hoping to get more views and subscribers, which can earn them money.
The number of Temu users in Korea increased from 520,000 in August last year to 5.7 million in January, as reported by WiseApp, a mobile market research firm.
Temu and AliExpress have gained popularity in Korea with their low prices and marketing campaigns, despite the long delivery times and low product quality. (Yonhap)
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