The curious case of Temu's Fluffy Boots at $0

Temu and Shein make up the pinnacle of fast fashion: rock-bottom prices and continuous offers, combined with an immense variety of available products, attract consumers of all ages. These consumers, eager to snag cheap duplicates, are willing to endure rather lengthy shipping times. Thus, Temu and Shein have over time become the platforms from which the majority of replicas worn worldwide originate. Ultimately, the strategy of the two Chinese giants is quite simple: persistently copy successful garments and articles from those that flood the catwalks of fashion weeks and the for you pages of TikTok, then sell them at objectively off-market prices on their own e-commerce platforms. The latest viral article on Temu goes by the name of "$0 Fluffy Boots" and blatantly draws inspiration from the model worn by Irina Shayk, Mariacarla Boscono, and Vittoria Ceretti during the last FW24 fashion show in Saint Moritz by Moncler Grenoble. As one can infer from the name of the article sold on Temu, it is a boot covered in fur (reproduced with materials that are more than subpar) and is listed on the site for the unusual sum of €0.

If Temu's retail prices for items attract and retain customer after customer, let's just imagine how many users dream of the possibility of owning a boot without even having to link their prepaid card at the time of payment. Before the aforementioned model was "sold" for €0 on Temu, videos of haul, unboxing, and fit checks of the boot had already gone viral on TikTok when it was still being sold for around €20. However, Temu has deeply considered how to best make their sales strategy work. In fact, only new users can receive the Fluffy Boots for free, but not before reaching a significant amount with the items added to the cart. Temu's advertisement, in fact, is very clear about the offer: «Only for new app users with qualifying orders». In the coming weeks, Temu could witness a staggering surge in downloads, with new users potentially being enticed by an offer rarely seen before on an online retail platform and which, even outside the realm of ultra-fast fashion, could be replicated sooner rather than later.