Chinese online retailers Temu and Shein have sharply increased their advertising dollars spend in Australia after an increase in tariffs made the US unattractive for sales.
In the June quarter, Temu was the largest digital advertiser in Australia and Shein ranked in the top 25, according to analysis by market intelligence company Sensor Tower.
And they have been gaining large audiences, according to unpublished data from Ipsos iris of users by PCs/laptops, smartphones and tablets.
Temu lifted its audience in the year to June by 58% to 18.4 million, and Shein by 31% to 6.2 million.
“Temu and Shein are pouring money into Meta, Google, YouTube and app ads in Australia, flooding the market,” Ori Gold, CEO & co-founder, Bench Media, said.
“Since the US became too hard with tariffs, they’ve shifted focus here. It’s already driving up ad costs and making life harder for local brands.
“More competition for attention, higher CPMs, tighter margins, and a shake-up in who can afford to play.”
Shein increased its ad spend in Australia by up 50% in the June quarter and Temu by 20%, according to the analysis by Sensor Tower.
The analysts say Sheinʼs increase in spend is notable as the Chinese e-tailer pulled back by 35% on advertising spend in March 2025 but has since accelerated spend in Australia as the e-tailer has pivots from advertising in the US.
Paaneri Moitra, search executive at The Media Store, said Temu has aggressively ramped up partnerships with media agencies and is steadily acquiring more small e-commerce clients quarter over quarter.
“However, some potential clients remain hesitant due to the platform’s ongoing brand stigma,” Moitra told AdNews.
“Also, while browsing Temu for a side table, I noticed several furniture listings marked with a ‘Local’ tag and promising two-day delivery. It gave the impression these sellers might be small, locally owned businesses.”
The Sensor Tower analysts say the end of the de minimis exemption in the US, where low dollar amount purchases are duty free, sparked a quick pivot by the Chinese e-tailers to the Australian market.
In Australia, Shein and Temuʼs advertising is up an average of 160% a month (April-June) versus March 2025.
Analysts say retailers such as Super Retail and JB Hifi are well positioned to outperform but the new players such as Temu could change that.
“The key question we see moving forward will be if increasing competition from the likes of Amazon, Temu and Shein changes this,” wrote analysts at independent investment and advisory group Jarden in a note to clients
Numbers from Similarweb show Temu taking audience traffic from Amazon, eBay, Kogan and Catch.
According to the latest global ad spend estimates by WARC (World Advertising Research Centre), retailers will accelerate shifts in marketing strategies in response to changing cost structures and consumer behaviour.
“As predicted in March, large Chinese retailers targeting US consumers – including Temu and Shein – have reallocated advertising spend to other markets such as Canada, Australia and Europe,” said WARC.
The rise of Temu in Australia (from the ACCC's digital platforms inquiry):
This story was originally published on AdNews, a sister publication to Ragtrader under Yaffa Media.