The e-commerce giant Temu, which rapidly captured market share with its aggressive pricing strategy, is now undergoing significant policy changes that are reshaping the landscape for cross-border sellers. Recent adjustments to advertising rules, traffic allocation mechanisms, and front-end access permissions are forcing merchants to fundamentally rethink their operational strategies.
Advertising Reserve Funds: Unexpected Cost Pressures
The most immediate impact comes from Temu's mandatory advertising service fee reserves. Numerous sellers report having ¥1,000 automatically locked in their payment accounts as advertising reserves, creating unexpected cash flow pressures. For small and medium-sized sellers particularly, this frozen capital could limit their ability to invest in product development and marketing initiatives.
Traffic Allocation: The Shift to Dual-Channel Model
Temu is transitioning its traffic distribution system to a dual-channel model combining advertising and promotional activities. This evolution marks the end of simpler times when sellers could rely solely on either paid ads or organic traffic. Merchants must now strategically allocate advertising budgets to high-converting products during peak periods while actively participating in platform promotions to maximize visibility. Calculating precise advertising ROI has become an essential skill for survival on the platform.
Front-End Access Restrictions: New Data Visibility Challenges
Additional complications arise from Temu's tightened front-end access policies, now restricted to local residential IP addresses only. While designed to ensure data authenticity, these restrictions create monitoring difficulties for international sellers. Merchants are developing workarounds such as modifying store IDs in product links or creating front-end accounts to track their stores, though these methods offer only partial solutions compared to previous monitoring capabilities.
Strategic Adaptations for Sellers
Facing these dual pressures of rising advertising costs and reduced data visibility, cross-border sellers must optimize operational efficiency across several key areas:
- Precision Advertising: Deep analysis of user demographics, refined keyword selection, and data-driven campaign adjustments to maximize advertising efficiency.
- Platform Engagement: Active participation in relevant promotional events with tailored marketing strategies to boost product visibility and conversions.
- Multi-Channel Monitoring: Leveraging both platform analytics and third-party tools to maintain comprehensive operational oversight.
- Supply Chain Optimization: Strengthening supplier relationships to ensure product quality and inventory stability while minimizing overstock risks.
ERP Solutions: Navigating the New Landscape
In this evolving environment, comprehensive management systems like Easyship ERP are gaining importance by offering specialized solutions for Temu's various operational models. These systems provide critical advantages:
- Flexible order scheduling to avoid holiday delivery delays
- Unified inventory management across multiple storefronts
- Logistics cost optimization through platform integration
- Automated financial reporting for accurate profit analysis
Temu's policy changes reflect inevitable growing pains in cross-border e-commerce. Successful sellers will be those who combine strategic adaptation with operational efficiency, leveraging both platform insights and management tools to maintain competitiveness in this dynamic marketplace.