A Temu Christmas
I have this sinking feeling that it’s going to be a Temu Christmas.
Rather than the gift that keeps on giving, it’s the free gifts that never stop.
Temu is an online variety store where you can buy multiples of everything when you don't even need one.
As Time Magazine described, “Temu offers steep discounts on a slew of products, mostly shipped directly from Chinese factories or warehouses. In addition to incredibly low prices, Temu can no doubt attribute its popularity to its strategy of giving free stuff to users who promote the app on their social networks and get friends and family to sign up.”
Temu is addictive, particularly for young people; the more friends and family you sign up, the more gifts you receive.
There are stories of teenagers hijacking online devices, creating false accounts, and signing up new subscribers for the novelty of even more gifts – the phenomenon is difficult to explain, but it works on attracting customers and then bombarding them with games, incentives, and rewards.
A Chinese-based company owned by PDD Holdings, Temu first came to prominence in 2022 when it was launched in the US. It has now spread to more than 50 countries, and it wasn’t long before Australia became a target for vulnerable shoppers, caught in the bright lights, addictive games, and clever marketing of cheap products.
“A Roy Morgan survey in March this year (2024) found that 1.26 million Australians shop the site each month, with domestic sales alone on track to reach $1.3 billion this year.”
Christmas is a special time of year. For many of us, it is a time of giving and focusing on the most important things in life.
It is also time to pause, just for a moment, as we briefly exit the routine, humdrum, and monotonous chores that require our attention but not our admiration. Christmas encourages us to stop sweating the small stuff, to hold back on giving feedback, and to embrace the feelings of charity and kindness.
These feelings don’t always last long, and perhaps it’s looking forward to these times that I cherish most, but they come and then go just as quickly.
Alas, we are fortunate. Our children are spoiled when compared to others. They are spoiled with our time and love, a thirst for learning and education, and rarely do they have to wait until Christmas for alleged ‘must-haves’.
But Christmas with a cost-of-living crisis makes delivering for those who need it most even more difficult.
Santa will have his work cut out this year.
This Christmas is going to hit hard.
As the Salvation Army made plain, “Australia is in the grip of a social crisis right now. With costs of living – utilities, groceries, and everyday essentials – rising disproportionately to wage growth, the average household budget is being stretched to breaking point for thousands of families.
“Additionally, with historically low rental vacancy across the country, inadequate supply of social housing, and thousands of families on wait lists for public housing, the situation is set to get much worse for Aussies already struggling to afford a full meal or a week’s rent to keep their families fed and safe.”
So, who am I to judge if it is Temu Christmas? Who am I to criticise? The Chinese online retail juggernaut will provide families with lots and lots. Masses of products under trees at minimal cost, albeit with questionable quality and questionable safety, but what they will do is to create a sense of maximising feelings of giving.
For those of Generation X vintage like me, Temu is the Avon and the Amway (American Way) of our times - it's door-to-door sales online. I can still remember vacating the living room as mum welcomed an Avon representative who worked on commission to a ‘party’ held at our house. On reflection, it wouldn't surprise me if there was still aftershave and talcum powder in the laundry vanity.
Like Temu, Avon now competes in the online space with sellers receiving commission from sales generated on their homepage.
And I can remember friends of the family visiting to sell Amway, a business model offering a variety of beauty, health, and cleaning products, where you were also rewarded for signing up new distributors who were generously described as ‘business owners’.
Tasmanians will be strong contributors to Temu’s billion-dollar sales across Australia.
We have the highest proportion of low-socio-economic disadvantage in the country, only topped by the Northern Territory.
Temu offers an abundance of products at basement prices, creating a value-for-money proposition that is difficult to ignore during a cost-of-living crisis; it’s the perfect retail storm.
Sadly, poverty and homelessness are often underpinned by poor experiences and attainment in formal education, particularly literacy.
The cycle is difficult to break, with success stories far more complicated than the hold on families who are content to replicate the past. As a dreamer, I wish for a Christmas full of books and love and kindness. Perhaps I should check Temu for novels... Lo and behold…