How Shein and Temu sneaked onto Amazon

In the fall of 2020, Amazon seemed unstoppable. Pandemic lockdowns supercharged its e-commerce business, and executives were busy hiring an army of new workers and expanding the number of Amazon warehouses across the United States. However, the tech giant would soon face the biggest threat ever to its online shopping empire, and it would come from an unlikely place: China.

Over the past few years, two Chinese e-commerce platforms — Shein and Temu — have quietly become some of the most popular shopping sites in the US. Shein specializes in high-end women’s fashion, while Temu focuses on home decor and housewares — the same type of affordable, made-in-China products that many American consumers associate with Amazon.