During this year's Super Bowl, online shopping platform Temu garnered a lot of attention among US consumers with its adverts, which sparked an overwhelming response for its heavily discounted products. As a result, the Temu app was downloaded more than 100 million times from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store in the US.

Temu's rise has come as a shock to Amazon, which already faces competition from Shein in the apparel space.Temu seems to be gobbling up wider market share non-stop, prompting Amazon to launch its discount channel.

Amazon is reportedly planning to launch a new section of its website dedicated to low-priced fashion and lifestyle products, allowing Chinese sellers to ship directly to US consumers. The new section will include a variety of off-brand items, many selling for less than $20. Amazon plans to ship products directly from China to the U.S. with a target delivery time of 9-11 days.

Previously, Chinese sellers on Amazon relied on Amazon's own logistics service to ship their products to Amazon Logistics warehouses in the U.S., which then shipped them to customers. The new arrangement will help Chinese sellers cut costs and allow them to test the market for their products by producing them in small batches.

The model is very similar to Shein's on-demand manufacturing, which tests the market by producing a limited number of products and gradually increasing production as demand grows.

However, unlike Temu, Amazon's new section will allow sellers to set the pricing and categorisation of their products. Temu, which is supported by Poundland, is more strict, setting prices and managing sellers' storefronts and marketing campaigns.

In a statement, Amazon spokeswoman Maria Bosetti said Amazon is constantly exploring new ways to work with its selling partners to meet customer needs, but declined to reveal specific plans and timelines.

Chinese sellers will begin registering this summer and Amazon will start receiving products in the autumn, with the new section expected to be officially launched before this year's Black Friday shopping event, the documents show.

The shift has required Amazon to make strategic adjustments as Chinese merchants have grown to prefer other platforms in recent years amid fierce competition in overseas e-commerce markets.The number of products sold by Chinese sellers on its site grew more than 20% year-on-year in 2023, and the number of Chinese sellers with sales of more than $10 million grew by 30%.