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Online marketplace Temu is moving deeper into Shopify Inc.’s home turf with a program that allows Canadian businesses to sell goods through the e-commerce platform to customers in the country.
Temu, which originated in China but now spans 90 markets, said Monday it marks the first time Canadian businesses will be able to list their products directly on its site and app.
Temu positioned the initiative as a way to expand its product base while speeding up the fulfilment of orders. It said the program will only support businesses registered in Canada with local inventory and fulfilment capabilities.
The move, however, positions Temu more squarely in the home territory of Shopify, an Ottawa-based giant known for selling technology that global businesses use to power their e-commerce offerings. Kraft Heinz, Nestlé, Crayola and Gymshark are among the millions of Shopify customers.
Because Temu is a marketplace akin to Amazon, some may not see it as a direct competitor to Shopify, but with both offering sales avenues for small businesses, experts say Temu’s strengthened push into Canada is bound to boost e-commerce competition.
“It certainly has implications for Shopify, for Amazon, for all of the players in this space,” said Jenna Jacobson, an associate professor at Toronto Metropolitan University focused on retail.
Those implications will be playing out as Canadian shoppers are aiming to support more local brands to help the economy as U.S. President Donald Trump threatens to impose tariffs on Canadian goods.
Joanne McNeish, an associate professor at Toronto Metropolitan University specializing in marketing, expects the buy Canadian sentiment to factor into how many companies take advantage of Temu’s new program.
“I would rather see Canadian companies supporting Shopify, which is also a global online platform, than Temu,” she reasoned in an email.
Shopify did not immediately respond for a request for comment on the competition unfolding with Temu, which along with e-commerce business Pinduoduo is owned by PDD Holdings
Temu has yet to reveal what terms it will offer Canadian businesses or fees it will charge them. The Canadian Press sent a detailed list of questions to Temu about the Canadian launch, competition with Shopify and concerns about Temu’s platform, but no one was available to respond to them on Monday.
Though Jacobson saw Temu’s approach to helping local businesses sell to local customers as “really innovative,” she warned “the devil is going to be in the details.”
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