Amazon revealed Wednesday (June 26) that it was planning to launch a dedicated low-price fashion and lifestyle online store to allow Chinese sellers to ship directly to consumers in the United States. 

The Information first reported on the matter, emphasizing that the move was the company's most aggressive attempt to fend off competition from China-based e-commerce platforms Temu and Shein, which have crept into the US online retail market in the past few years. 

It is unclear when Amazon intends to launch the service, but a presentation revealed to reporters noted that it would begin accepting products this autumn. 

On the other hand, China-based merchants have made a sizable cohort in Amazon's marketplace for many years, prompting the company to renew its efforts to court sellers in the face of growing competition.

In 2023, Amazon said that the number of items sold by Chinese sellers on its site grew more than 20% yearly, while the number of Chinese merchants with sales north of $10 million increased by 30%.

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Amazon's Discount Service Aims to Go D2C Route

It is understood that Amazon's discount section would feature a range of unbranded items, many of which would be priced under $20. Amazon would ship these Items from China to the US, with the goal of delivering them to shoppers within nine to 11 days. 

This approach is a direct-to-consumer (D2C) development to a previous Amazon process involving sellers in China who rely on Fulfillment by Amazon, the company's fulfillment service, to send goods to warehouses in the US before dispatching them to customers. 

The firm primarily pitched the arrangement as a cost savings scheme for Amazon sellers in China, saying merchants would be able to test new items through small-batch production and scale them up as demand grows. Shein currently employs this model, which it calls on-demand manufacturing. 

Amazon spokesperson Maria Boschetti told CNBC that it was "exploring new ways" to work with its selling partners to offer more selections at lower prices and with greater convenience. 

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