Temu steps up preparations to directly enter S. Korean market: sources

Chinese e-commerce platform Temu has been stepping up its preparations to directly enter the South Korean market since late last year, an industry source said Monday.

PDD Holdings Inc.’s Temu is in the process of hiring Korean employees for human resources, administration, public relations, marketing and logistics functions, an industry source familiar with the matter told Yonhap News Agency.

Temu also plans to set up an integrated logistics system for its product delivery in Korea, the source said.

Currently, Korean companies, such as CJ Logistics Corp. and Hanjin Logistics Corp., are Temu’s logistics partners in the domestic market.

Temu opened a Korean-language online shopping platform in July 2023 and established its business entity named Whaleco Korea LLC in February last year.

But Whaleco Korea has yet to hire any local employees.

Temu ranked third in terms of monthly active users (MAU) in the Korean market as of January.

Last month, the MAU of the Temu application reached 8.23 million in Korea, following South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang, Inc. at 33.02 million and Alibaba Group’s AliExpress at 9.12 million, according to retail market analysis service Wiseapp Retail.

When contacted by Yonhap, a Seoul-based spokesperson for Temu declined to confirm the company’s hiring of local staff workers or other preparations.