Online shopping giant Temu is suing competitor Shein, saying the fast fashion giant is using “gangster-style” intimidation tactics against merchants.
In the lawsuit filed Wednesday, Temu says Shein has implemented increasingly aggressive strategies to “illegally interfere with Temu's business,” including intimidating merchants who list their products on both platforms and issuing tens of thousands of Illegitimate deletions due to copyright.
Temu and Shein have previously sued each other
“Recently, Shein has gone to the extent of falsely imprisoning merchants who do business with Temu, including detaining merchant representatives in Shein offices for many hours while Shein confiscates merchants' electronic devices, gains access to proprietary information from Temu through merchants’ seller accounts and threatens merchants with penalties for doing business with Temu,” the lawsuit states. Shein did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit filed this week offers a rare glimpse into the business of Temu, the massive bargain-priced online hypermarket that is growing rapidly in the US. For example, the lawsuit says that more than 100,000 images are uploaded to Temu.com each day and that it receives, on average, 170 copyright takedown requests daily, 63 percent coming from Shein.
The lawsuit comes as Shein prepares to go public in the US, which could happen in 2024. But for years, the company has been embroiled in controversies over its labor practices, its supply chain and its pattern of sale of copies of articles by small businesses. Shein has tried to defend itself against some of the criticism: In 2022, it said it would spend $15 million to improve standards in factories after a report found workers were being subjected to illegally long working hours and wage withholdings. Shein has also hosted several in-person events across the United States, in an attempt to pull back the curtain and engage directly with shoppers (one such event in New York left me with a lot of questions).
Read the full lawsuit below:
