Temu’s “local warehouse” in SA

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Temu, the popular online marketplace known for bargain-priced goods shipped directly from China, recently launched its “local warehouse” in South Africa.

The warehouse will supposedly promise much faster delivery times for local shoppers, with items being delivered within one or two days.

But here’s the catch: Temu doesn’t actually own any warehouses in the country. How does it even work?

Temu’s warehouses

As reported by Mybroadband, the platform relies entirely on third-party logistics providers.

These are independent facilities where sellers can store inventory. On the Temu platform, products stocked in these facilities are tagged as “local” or from a “local warehouse”, but the warehouses themselves don’t actually belong to Temu.

According to the company, this setup is part of its local fulfilment model. Sellers manage the storage, shipping, and after-sales support themselves.

The idea is to shorten delivery times and improve customer service, something Temu says South African shoppers will start noticing as the model expands.

How the local fulfilment model works:

Sellers choose to store their products in third-party warehouses located within South Africa.

This allows for faster delivery since the items don’t have to be shipped from overseas. Temu highlights the estimated delivery time for each local product and even shows the fastest time a seller has achieved, along with how consistently they hit that mark, giving shoppers a clearer idea of what to expect.

Because these products are already in the country, they don’t incur import duties. However, shoppers should be aware that a R75 delivery fee applies for each seller if your order from them totals less than R650.

That means if you’re buying from multiple sellers and none of your orders exceed R650, you’ll be paying R75 per seller at checkout.