US retailers see surge as spending slows on Temu & Shein
A sharp deceleration has been witnessed in US consumer spending growth in April on ultra-discount Chinese retailers like Temu and Shein, as per Consumer Edge (CE), a leading provider of global consumer data-driven insights.
In the three weeks leading up to April 27, American brands including Old Navy, Ulta Beauty, Nordstrom Rack and Savers Value Village picked up a significant amount of redirected consumer dollars from former Temu and Shein shoppers.
Consumer Edge data reveals a sharp slowdown in US consumer spending growth on Temu and Shein in April 2025, amid rising US-China trade tensions and policy changes. Former shoppers redirected spending to American retailers like Old Navy and Ulta Beauty. Temu's growth fell from 50 per cent to near zero, and Shein's from 30 per cent to 20 per cent.
According to the data, Temu's US year-over-year spend growth slowed sharply in April 2025—decelerating from nearly 50 per cent growth at the start of the month to almost zero growth by the end. Shein experienced a similar deceleration; with year-over-year spend growth declining from approximately 30 per cent to around 20 per cent during the same period. This dramatic slowdown coincides with rising US-China trade tensions, the elimination of the duty-free de minimis treatment for low-value imports and a reduction in advertising spend that had previously fuelled both platforms' rapid growth.
To identify where consumers spent their money, Consumer Edge analysed shoppers who made at least two purchases at Temu or Shein in January or February 2025 but no purchases in March or April, as per the study.
"The data isn't just showing a slight dip — we're seeing a rapid reallocation of spend from these popular Chinese discount platforms, and we're able to isolate exactly who's driving it," said Michael Gunther, vice president, head of insights, Consumer Edge . "Our cohort analysis gives us the ability to track what former Temu and Shein shoppers are doing now—not just in general, but down to the specific brands seeing surges in growth among this group. The current political and economic climate, including policy shifts and pricing pressures, is causing US consumers to alter their spending behaviour drastically. Our near-real-time data shows where this significant shift in spend is landing."
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