Comparison of shopping experience between Amazon, Shein and Temu: the results are surprising

It is learned that recently, a consumer from the United States, Jennifer Ortakales Dawkins, purchased three similar products from Temu, Amazon and Shein, and compared the shopping experience of the three platforms in five aspects, including website experience, product price, product quality, delivery speed and return experience.

The three products Jennifer tested this time include pink high heels, clips, and checkered pants. The test results show that Temu has an advantage in website experience, but its prices are ridiculously low, which easily makes consumers imagine low prices and low quality; Shein performs best in product quality and has a moderate price; Amazon performs best in logistics and return experience, but its cost performance is not as good as the other two platforms.

Best website experience: Temu

Jennifer used image search on all three platforms during this shopping trip and compared the accuracy of search results and the richness of product selection on each platform.

According to Jennifer, Amazon's search results are the most accurate, showing the pants and hairpins that she is looking for. However, Amazon has a small number of optional products, hairpins only have multiple bundled products, and there are fewer options for pink high heels.

Shein has a wide range of products, but the search results are less accurate. Jennifer found the hairpins and high heels she wanted on the platform, but the pants didn't quite match.

In addition, Shein frequently pops up coupon windows to encourage purchasing additional items to get bigger discounts, and there are many recommended purchases, which are either the same as Jennifer's purchase or are targeted at other audiences, such as men's clothing and children's clothing.

For Jennifer, Temu's website experience is the best. The search results are more accurate for hairpins, but there are fewer choices for pants and shoes. However, Temu performs better in recommending more products, and the products it recommends are all unexpected and interesting products for consumers.

Jennifer said she spent the most time on Temu and added more items to her cart than she had planned. However, she considered Temu the most annoying shopping app due to frequent promotional pop-ups and emails.

Best Price: Shein

In terms of price, the three items Jennifer bought on Amazon were the most expensive, and some of the items were not eligible for free Prime shipping, so additional shipping costs were required. Jennifer spent about $74.99 on Amazon, including $17.98 in shipping fees.

Shein's product prices are between Amazon and Temu. After enjoying free shipping and a $10 discount from the platform, Jennifer's three items cost a total of $32.24.

Because Temu's products were priced so low, Jennifer was worried that the quality was poor, so she bought five more items in addition to the three items. The final total amount was $54.24, but because the additional discount was added at checkout, the final price was only $28.11.

Fastest delivery: Amazon

Amazon was the fastest in terms of delivery time. Jennifer placed all three orders on July 17 and received the first order from Amazon on July 21 and 22. Each item was shipped separately, but what Jennifer was dissatisfied with was that the shoes were packed in a bag instead of a box, which seemed a bit random.

Jennifer received her Shein purchase on July 23. Everything was packed in one package. The shoes were also packed in a bag, but it was sturdier than the Amazon bag. However, there were two faint white scratches on the toe of the shoe, which may have been caused during transportation.

On July 25, the items purchased from Temu were delivered to Jennifer. Everything was packed in a big orange package, which was wrapped with a lot of tape, so it was a bit difficult to tear open. Surprisingly, Temu's shoes were packed in boxes.

Best Product Quality: Shein

Jennifer was most disappointed with Amazon in terms of product quality. She said that the shoes she bought from Amazon felt undurable, the insoles had peeled off, and she could even see excess glue. They felt like they were only half the price of $40. Jennifer was also dissatisfied with the style and fabric of the pants she bought from Amazon.

In comparison, Shein's product quality is slightly better than Amazon's. The material of the high heels is comparable to that of DSW or Aldo's shoes. Although the pants are different from the style Jennifer wanted, the loose fit and comfortable fabric are a plus.

According to Jennifer, the quality of Temu's products is not much better than Amazon's. The material of the high heels is OK, the soles are higher than expected, and the laces have a very strange closure. The fit of the pants is similar to Amazon's, but the position of the stitching does not match, which makes the sides of the legs look awkward.

As for hairpins, the products purchased from the three platforms are not much different. They all look like cheap plastic products. The hairpins from Amazon are slightly larger. The hairpins from Shein and Temu are exactly the same, but the actual products look smaller than in the photos.

Best returns experience: Amazon

Finally, Jennifer decided to return all the items she purchased from Amazon. Amazon's return process is relatively convenient, and it only takes about two minutes to create a return for each item.

When returning the pants she bought from Shein, Shein did not provide a return shipping label, but instead processed an immediate refund. Jennifer said she did not like Shein's default practice of refunding but not returning the product, which would leave her with a pair of pants in her wardrobe that she might never wear.

According to Jennifer, once she understood Temu's return process, the process was very convenient.

Editor✎ Ashley/

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