Temu lands in Pakistan: can it become the next Daraz?

After gaining immense popularity worldwide, PDD Holdings introduced Temu in Pakistan at the end of September 2024, and it has quickly become a household name.

The platform’s rise in popularity can be attributed to its extensive marketing, especially through social media ads. Temu’s ads started appearing literally everywhere, and they were so catchy that many users couldn’t resist downloading the app to try the new online shopping platform.

For years, Pakistanis have relied on Daraz, which is now owned by AliBaba. However, Temu offered something new — discounts and seemingly irresistible offers, which naturally attracted a population always on the lookout for good deals.

Within weeks of its launch, Temu became the talk of the town, with people exploring the app for its amazing discounts and a vast range of products. No matter what users were looking for, Temu appeared to have it, and it went a step further by offering, or at least claiming to offer, numerous free products to its users.

Temu’s ‘free’ gifts or hidden costs?

Upon downloading the app, users were welcomed with a spinning wheel, where the highest prize was Rs40,000. The wheel would spin, often landing on Rs40,000, and users were then taken to a page where they could choose items worth up to that amount.

The excitement of getting these items for free was short-lived, though. As users picked products, the app would direct them to invite their friends to download Temu in order to claim the free products. Even after sharing the app with several friends, many users found the gifts page disappearing, forcing them to start the process all over again.

For those who successfully completed the entire procedure, the final step was perhaps the most frustrating. To claim the free gifts, users were required to make a purchase of Rs25,000 to Rs40,000. The platform insisted that users complete a shopping spree before they could receive the free items they thought they’d get without spending a paisa.

Apart from this, the app regularly showed dozens of other free gift offers with similar procedures —inviting friends, spinning wheels, or performing other gamified tasks like watering trees or picking cards, all leading users to believe they’d won a prize.

However, many found the entire process overly complicated and annoying, with several people uninstalling the app in frustration. Some have even gone as far as calling Temu a scam or a waste of time.

But is it really a scam?

Temu’s global popularity despite data misuse allegations

Temu is a big company, and the question of whether it is scamming people is not easy to answer. In November 2024, the platform faced heavy criticism and was accused of selling users’ data.

The US government raised concerns about potential data risks, especially after Google suspended Temu’s sister platform, Pinduoduo, for containing malware. While analysts have stated that Temu poses less of a threat, the issues with Pinduoduo were reportedly more targeted at Chinese users.

Additionally, the US House Select Committee published a report highlighting that Temu does not ensure the products sold on its platform comply with the Uyghur Forced Labor Act. The report also pointed out that Temu exploits a loophole in US commerce laws, allowing it to avoid paying tariffs and complying with certain regulations.

Around the same time, the Austrian human rights organization NOYB (European Center for Digital Rights) filed its first complaints about General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) violations by several Chinese companies, including TikTok, Xiaomi, Shein, AliExpress, Temu, and WeChat. The complaints accuse these companies of illegally transferring European users’ information to parties in China.

Despite these serious issues, Temu’s popularity has not waned.

In 2024, it topped the list of most downloaded shopping apps globally, racking up almost 550 million downloads from the Apple App and Google Play stores. Its main competitor, Shein, came in second with around 235 million downloads.

Temu’s rapid rise in Pakistan amid backlash over product quality, misleading offers

Like other countries, Temu’s rise in Pakistan was evident. Many rushed to the app, from word-of-mouth and of course, the constant in-your-face Instagram ads and. were drawn in by its marketing as the cheapest option for online shopping and the promise of free gifts for new users. However, the platform’s reputation began to take hits as users started sharing their experiences on social media. Dozens of videos appeared on Instagram and TikTok, with people criticising Temu for not delivering the products it advertised. Others complained about receiving inferior items or the wrong products altogether.

Some popular Pakistani tech YouTubers, however, took a different stance. Bilal Munir, better known as “Video Wali Sarkaar“, is famous for his tech reviews, and he decided to give Temu a try. In one of his videos, he shared his experience, saying, “I ordered four products from Temu, and three of them were almost fine. The shoe was of inferior quality, and the headphones were sent in pink instead of the black I had ordered. But the other two products were okay. The platform seems legit, apart from the free product gimmick, which is a bit misleading since you have to spend money to get them.”

Usman Tareen, a regular user of Daraz from Narowal, also shared his thoughts. “I have been using the Temu app since November. I tried the coupon where you can pick three free items and pay for the rest. I ordered two jackets, a hair dryer, a sofa cover, and a table cover. The jacket, sofa cover, and table cover were from the free list, and I paid Rs4,525 for one jacket and Rs4,262 for the hair dryer. The items were not branded, but the quality was decent. The free items were just cover cloths, and they were better than I expected. The jacket was okay, but I feel that for the price I paid, I could’ve bought the same jacket from a shop. However, in Narowal, there aren’t many outlets like in Lahore.”

On the other hand, some users remained sceptical, especially about entering their payment details on a relatively new platform. Neha Jabbar, a UI/UX designer working at an IT firm in Lahore, shared her apprehensions about Temu. “There were a few jackets and bags that I really liked and wanted to order, but when I reached the checkout and saw that it only allowed card payment, I skipped the idea.

Temu is a new app, and when I asked my friends and colleagues, no one had tried it. At the time, it seemed a little shady as there weren’t many users in Pakistan, and I prefer cash on delivery for most of my purchases, even when I order from Daraz. Being a UI/UX professional, I also found the app’s interface too complicated. There’s too much text, and the in-app notifications and pop-ups can be overwhelming. The app keeps notifying you all day, pushing you to open it and claim free gifts. I know it’s a tactic to get more users, but they should improve the interface and definitely offer cash on delivery.”

While Temu has made a big splash in Pakistan’s online shopping scene with its marketing and promises of affordable products, the platform’s complex free gift processes and concerns about product quality have left many users frustrated. Though some have defended the app, many others remain sceptical, particularly when it comes to its free product schemes and payment options.

Whether Temu can maintain its popularity in Pakistan will depend on how it addresses these criticisms in the future because while users do love discounts, if the quality keeps getting compromised, no discount is sustainable to pull the tunes of the Pied Piper.