This is how Chinese marketplaces are putting Amazon under pressure

The platform environment is changing. Shopping, especially on Amazon, is still a given for many consumers: with a total of 60% of online retail, Amazon is the undisputed top dog and is ahead of both online (52%) and stationary purchases (35%). as a source of information. However, the emergence of newer providers such as Temu, Shein or the Tiktok Shop, which is expected to be available in Germany from 2025, are changing the platform landscape. The ECC Club study looks at the “battle of the platform giants”. Conclusion: Despite the bad image, consumers buy via the Asia platforms; Temu in particular now reaches a large number of buyers (32%). German retailers currently see neither marketplaces with goods from Asia (65%) nor the Tiktok shop (67%) as a threat to their own company in the medium term.

Although they are currently hardly seen as a threat, the vast majority of retailers (70%) are annoyed by the new providers. 78% are of the opinion that Temu and Co. gain unfair advantages in competition and do not care about issues such as sustainability (84%), data protection (79%) and product safety and quality standards (72%). The traders see politicians as having a duty to take action in the form of regulation and bans (78%) or assume that the market will regulate whoever gets their way (81%).

“Instead of just waiting for political or market-related regulations, traders should take action themselves. Despite their frustration, the majority also recognize the benefits of the new marketplaces with goods from Asia: These quickly pick up on trends and offer a huge selection of products. In this respect, it is important to learn from the new platforms where it fits your own positioning, be it through gamification on your own website or through a presence on the platforms,” says Julia Frings, project manager at ECC Cologne, classifying the study results.