An
Amazon
contract
worker
stacks
packages
onto
a
luggage
cart
outside
an
apartment
building
in
New
York
on
April
16,
2024.

Angus
Mordant
|
Bloomberg
|
Getty
Images



Amazon

plans
to
launch
a
new
section
on
its
site
dedicated
to
low-priced
fashion
and
lifestyle
items
that
will
allow
Chinese
sellers
to
ship
directly
to
U.S.
consumers,
CNBC
has
learned.

The
storefront,
announced
at
an
invite-only
conference
for
Chinese
sellers
on
Wednesday,
would
mark
Amazon’s
most
aggressive
attempt
yet
to
fend
off
growing
competition
from
e-commerce
upstarts
Temu
and
Shein,
which
both
have
ties
to
China,
the
world’s
second-largest
economy.


Temu
and
Shein

have

expanded

their
presence
in
the
U.S.
in
recent
years,
luring
an
increasing
share
of
American
shoppers
with
their
rock-bottom
prices
on
clothing,
electronics,
home
goods
and
other
products.

Amazon’s
storefront
will
feature
a
range
of
unbranded
items,
many
priced
under
$20,
according
to
a
presentation
to
Amazon
sellers
viewed
by
CNBC.
A
mock-up
of
the
storefront
showed
a
gua
sha
facial
massaging
tool,
arm
weights
and
phone
cases,
among
other
items
for
sale.

Amazon
will
ship
the
products
directly
from
China
to
the
U.S.,
with
the
goal
of
delivering
them
to
shoppers
within
nine
to
11
days,
the
presentation
shows.
In
the
past,
Amazon
sellers
in
China
have
relied
on
the
company’s
fulfillment
services,
called
Fulfillment
by
Amazon,
to
send
goods
to
warehouses
in
the
U.S.
before
they
are
dispatched
to
customers.

The
company
pitched
the
arrangement
as
cost
savings
for
Amazon
sellers
in
China,
and
said
merchants
would
be
able
to
test
new
items
through
small-batch
production.
Shein
uses
a
similar
model,
referred
to
as
on-demand
manufacturing,
producing
a
limited
quantity
of
goods
and
manufacturing
more
as
demand
increases.

In
a
statement
to
CNBC,
Amazon
spokesperson
Maria
Boschetti
said,
“We
are
always
exploring
new
ways
to
work
with
our
selling
partners
to
delight
our
customers
with
more
selection,
lower
prices,
and
greater
convenience.”

Boschetti
declined
to
comment
further
on
the
company’s
plans,
which
were
first
reported
by

The
Information
.
It
is
unclear
when
Amazon
intends
to
debut
the
storefront,
but
the
presentation
notes
it
will
start
accepting
products
this
fall.

China-based
merchants
have
made
up
a
sizable
contingent
of
Amazon’s
marketplace
for
many
years,
but
the
company
is
making
a
renewed
push
to
court
sellers
there
as
it
faces
growing
competition.
In
December,
Amazon

announced

a
new
“innovation
center”
in
Shenzhen,
a
popular
technology
and
manufacturing
hub,
and
it
also

slashed
the
fees

it
charges
merchants
selling
clothing
priced
below
$20.

Amazon
said
in
2023
the
number
of
items
sold
by
Chinese
sellers
on
its
site
grew
more
than
20%
year
over
year,
while
the
number
of
Chinese
merchants
with
sales
upward
of
$10
million
increased
30%.

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