Almost exactly a year after Indonesia issued a ban on social commerce that caused TikTok Shop to stop working in the country before resolving the problem with local partners, Jakarta has once again banned a Chinese e-commerce platform. This time, it’s Temu, one of the hottest platforms in the West and part of PDD Holdings, owner of Pinduoduo.
On 11 October, it was reported that Indonesia had asked Google and Apple to block the Temu app on their respective platforms in the country. The news came 2 days after the Ministry of Communications and Informatics announced that it would be blocking the app. At the time, reports said Temu was still downloadable from both the App Store and Google Play. It was also reported that Temu’s registration in the country was rejected earlier this year.
The Communications Minister Budi Arie Setladi confirmed that the move to block Temu from entering Indonesia was “intended to pre-emptively protect the country’s small and medium-sized businesses against cheap products being offered by Temu”, according to Reuters. This is because Temu’s business model connects consumers with factories in China directly, thus reducing prices massively. Budi describes the model of sending parcels from China at a low price as “unhealthy competition”.
Budi also confirms that Temu will not have the option of merging with a local enterprise like TikTok shop, since it is not working with local merchants like the social commerce platform is. With data showing that Indonesia’s e-commerce market total GMV will reach 82 billion USD in 2025, up 15% from its 62 billion USD in 2023, the move will deal a significant blow to Temu. With neighbouring Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand also mulling regulatory measures against the platform, Temu might need to adjust its strategy to expand into the market.
