The news: Temu launched an app that enables Shopify merchants to manage product listings, inventory, and fulfillment on Temu directly through their Shopify accounts.

• The app, available in the Shopify App Store, gives merchants access to Temu’s local seller program in more than 30 markets, including the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, Spain, and Australia.
• The tool is designed to attract more sellers, broaden Temu’s product mix, and help the platform offset the impact of countries closing their de minimis loopholes— which allow low-value parcels to arrive duty-free—along with other related challenges.

The details: The app aims to make it easy for the roughly 2.25 million small- and medium-sized merchants on Shopify’s platform to sell on Temu by eliminating the need to build separate infrastructure for each market.

• Merchants can instantly list products in each of the markets within Temu’s local seller program at once after syncing their product catalog with Temu's platform.
• From there, the seller can use the app’s features, such as one-click product sync to ensure its listings are accurate, real-time inventory updates to prevent overselling, and automated order and shipping coordination.

The context: Temu’s local seller program provides one way the once fast-growing ecommerce platform is adapting to a rapidly shifting landscape.

• Governments around the world are introducing new trade barriers. The US, South Africa, and Brazil have already closed their de minimis loopholes, and EU ministers last week set a €3 ($3.53) import tariff on ecommerce goods entering the bloc beginning July 1. These policies can directly affect sales: Nearly 1 in 5 US consumers (19.2%) earlier this year said shifting US trade policies would lead them to avoid buying from international platforms this holiday season, per Omnisend.
• Temu also faces intensifying regulatory scrutiny. In the US, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) earlier this month called for a federal investigation into possible IP theft and counterfeiting at Temu and Shein in a letter to US Attorney General Pam Bondi. In Europe, the European Commission recently conducted an unannounced inspection at Temu’s Europe headquarters in Ireland amid concerns the platform is gaining an unfair foothold in the EU market with the help of state subsidies, per Politico. The platform has faced scrutiny under the EU’s Digital Services Act over issues such as selling unsafe products and concerns related to minor protection and age-verification practices.

Our take: Temu is increasingly competing on a more level playing field with other online marketplaces. To succeed, it needs to ensure it serves its two key customers—third-party sellers and consumers—as well as, if not better than, its rivals.

Temu’s Shopify integration shows it knows its next stage of growth will rely less on rock-bottom prices and more on building a platform sellers want to stick with. The easier Temu makes cross-border selling, the better positioned it will be to go up against giants like Amazon and Walmart.

The integration also signals Temu’s shift from its origins as a low-cost disruptor to a more traditional marketplace—one that requires it to compete on service and trust in addition to price. How well it adapts will determine whether its explosive early momentum can turn into long-term staying power.