Chinese digital shopping site Temu’s advertising spend jumped by an astonishing 1,000% year-on-year, according to data from analysis firm MediaRadar.
According to the study, ad spend for the site soared in the 11-month period from January to November 2023. Some 76% of Temu’s ad spend for the period was dedicated solely to social media, compared to 13% which was spent on digital display ads, according to the ad intelligence platform.
Although global spend figures are not available for the full year, MediaRadar did reveal that Temu spent more than £406 million ($517 million) in US advertising for the four-month period from September to December 2023.
Separately, estimates from Goldman Sachs analysts put the ecommerce giant’s total Meta spend for 2023 at around £945 million ($1.2 billion). Meta itself revealed that Temu ran 8,900 ads across its platforms last January alone.
Temu has grown in popularity in the past year after aggressively targeting its digital advertising spend across Tiktok, Meta and Google, following a marketing model similar to Shein and other ‘fast fashion’ sites.
It’s a similar story in the UK, where, according to Google Merchant Center ad data, Temu ranks higher than Amazon, eBay, Asos, Shein and Nike in ad visibility for “clothing and accessories” over the past month. The ratio of Temu visits which come from Google shopping adverts rather than organic search results is more than 100, while Amazon’s is just 10.
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According to a post on X from retail analyst Mike Ryan, a Google search for the term “buy Lego” pulls up more results for Temu than it does for Lego.com.
this absolutely sucks. pic.twitter.com/s6gnVmOE0q
— Mike Ryan (@mikeryanretail) January 15, 2024
The business is also investing more in television campaigns and appeared at the Superbowl last year, when a 30-second spot urged viewers to “shop like a billionaire.” It has said it credits the high-profile campaign for helping to put it on the map and plans to return again at this year’s event on 11 February.
Last year Temu provoked controversy when adverts which appeared on social media to publicise the site were banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for “sexually graphic” ads, including one which featured a child.
Its growth comes as traditional broadcast media has been experiencing a downturn, with ITV saying that it will have to reduce new shows and Channel 4 seeking emergency funding due to an advertising downturn in the sector.
Online advertising has come under increasing scrutiny in recent months, with Google facing criticism for showing some programmatic adverts on compromising or unsuitable websites.
