724In July 2025, Colombia's e-commerce market landscape underwent dramatic upheaval.
Chinese e-commerce platformTemu, with an astonishing speed of 100,000 parcels per day and 2.2 million orders per month, left international giants like Amazon and AliExpress far behind, forcefully rising to become the country's second most visited e-commerce platform, second only to Latin American local giant Mercado Libre.
Image source: Internet
Behind this number, more than26.4 million parcels flow from Temu to Colombian households every year. When the platform's monthly visits broke through the 24.8 million mark, remote areas along the Caribbean coast such as La Guajira, Bolívar, and San Andrés unexpectedly became growth engines, with user search activity in these regions showing exponential increases.
“Cutting out the middleman isTemu's price blade”, Maria Fernanda Quiñones analyzes, saying that the platform, through frequent discounts, gamification mechanisms, and factory-direct models, has forcibly compressed product circulation costs to less than 30% of traditional channels.
Image source:straitstimes
Low-price blitz, rewriting Colombia's e-commerce landscape
Temu, which officially entered the Colombian market in March 2024, staged a lightning expansion in just 16 months.
Latest data shows its market share has soared to18.7%, making it Colombia's third largest e-commerce platform, only behind Mercado Libre and Falabella.
Temu's rise has directly impacted the original market structure. Former local champions Éxito and Linio have been overtaken, while Amazon, with 22.4 million monthly visits, has fallen to third place.
Image source:larepublica
What's the secret? OpenTemu's APP, and the screen is flooded withdiscountedproducts that bombard consumers' visual nerves.3C accessories and fast-moving consumer goods have become platform bestsellers, paired with the "invite friends to get free products" social viral mechanism, resulting in user growth of over 400% in half a year.
Temu's algorithm system analyzes consumers' browsing history and purchasing preferences in real time, accurately pushing personalized coupons and flash sale events. This "thousand faces for a thousand people" marketing strategy has greatly improved purchase conversion rates.
Image source:Temu
An underestimated market, Colombia's e-commerce potential explodes
Colombia's market has long been underestimated by global e-commerce giants, yet it hides astonishing potential. This country with a population of over50 million, has more than half its population under 35 years old, and an internet penetration rate of over 70%, providing fertile ground for e-commerce development. 510
Government policy support has become a key driver. Measures such as simplifying customs procedures, reducing taxes, and establishing Latin America's first e-commerce department have accelerated market growth.In the first quarter of 2025, the country's total e-commerce sales reached 27.3 trillion pesos (about $6.6 billion), a year-on-year increase of 16.4%, far outpacing GDP growth.
Worldpay's "2025 Global Payments Report" outlines a clear growth roadmap for Colombia's e-commerce market: in just six years (2024-2030), the total market size is expected to surge from $16 billion to $35 billion, achieving over 110% growth, with the annual compound growth rate (CAGR) remaining at a high level of 13%.
Hot-selling categories show distinct regional characteristics: young people pursue cost-effective clothing and footwear; the real estate boom drives demand for home goods; high second-hand car ownership boosts auto and motorcycle parts sales; whileRappi's "30-minute delivery" service has made online fresh food shopping a new habit.
Image source:360radio
Final thoughts: How long can the myth of low prices last?
AsTemu tears open an 18.7% market share in Colombia, the power of "disintermediation" continues to be unleashed in emerging markets.
AsTEMU plans to replicate the Southeast Asian bonded warehouse model in Bogotá, and to use the USMCA agreement in Mexico to bypass tariffs, its global localization strategy has entered deep waters.
The battle for cross-border e-commerce has only just begun. The future belongs to those who understand the efficiency of China's supply chain and are willing to take root in local warehousing, logistics, and payment ecosystems.Temu's Colombian campaign proves: low prices are a sharp spear, but localized operations are the shield that protects the results.
The market always rewards innovators, but only those who respect the market can laugh last.
