Temu, AliExpress lose users as product safety concerns grow

The logo of Temu and AliExpress [JOONGANG ILBO]

China’s two major online commerce platforms, Temu and AliExpress, saw their active Korean user bases decline last month as concerns over the safety of products sold on Chinese platforms continue to grow.

The number of monthly active Korean users (MAUs) on Temu and AliExpress reached 8 million and 8.3 million in May, respectively, reflecting respective decreases of 3.4 percent and 3.3 percent from the previous month, market research firm WiseappㆍRetailㆍGoods said Tuesday.

Experts attributed the decline to Koreans' growing anxiety about Chinese products.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on May 23 that a children's watch and necklace sold on Chinese cross-border shopping platforms Shein and AliExpress contained toxic heavy metals.

The two products were among seven children's products the government inspected this week, including hairbands and bracelets.

In April, the city government also announced that half of 22 tested products from AliExpress and Temu were “unsuitable” for use due to carcinogen contamination.

“China's large platform companies continue to offer their low-cost products in Korea, but the controversy surrounding its harmfulness seems to have swayed consumers’ decisions,” an industry insider said.

While users are still downloading both apps, the pace of new installation is slowing. The two, combined, recorded around 2.2 million new mobile installs in May, a fall of 25 percent from April and the lowest figure since last October, mobile data provider IGAWorks said Tuesday.

The combined number of new monthly installs surged to 4.1 million in March from 2.7 million in February this year. Temu's number began declining in April; around 2.3 million users installed the app that month, while just 1.7 million Koreans newly installed it in May and some 526,205 installed AliExpress

However, the Chinese e-commerce platform Shein saw a slight increase in its installs. The app was newly downloaded 187,763 times in May and 176,621 times in April.

BY CHOI HAE-JIN [choi.haejin@joongang.co.kr]