Amazon Haul (November 2024 launch): Amazon's ultra-low-price storefront response to Temu and Shein

Where Amazon was on ultra-low-price in 2024

Through 2022-2024 Temu (launched September 2022 by PDD Holdings) and Shein had grown rapidly in the US market on the back of ultra-low-price products shipped direct from Chinese manufacturers. By the first half of 2024 Temu was generating approximately $20 billion in sales, and approximately 150 million US consumers were shopping on Temu monthly by late 2024. Amazon's market share in the broader e-commerce category remained dominant but Temu and Shein were taking meaningful share specifically in low-price fashion, home goods, and electronics — categories where Amazon had been the established choice.

Amazon's structural challenge: matching Temu and Shein on price required either subsidising prices on Amazon main marketplace (which would damage seller economics for the millions of third-party Amazon sellers) or operating a separate low-price storefront with different operational economics. The separate-storefront approach was the path Amazon chose.

The November 2024 Amazon Haul launch

Amazon launched Amazon Haul in beta on November 13, 2024 as a dedicated ultra-low-price storefront with its own URL (haul.amazon.com) and distinct shopping experience from main Amazon.com. Pricing was capped at $20 per item, with most items under $10 and some items priced as low as $1. Categories included fashion, home goods, and electronics — the same categories where Temu and Shein had been growing. Orders over $25 qualified for free shipping; orders below paid $3.99. Stacking discounts offered 5% off orders over $50 and 10% off orders over $75.

The sourcing approach matched Temu and Shein: primarily direct from Chinese sellers. Products shipped from Chinese fulfillment centers to US consumers via Amazon-managed logistics. The shipping times were longer than standard Amazon Prime delivery (1-2 weeks for Haul vs 1-2 days for Prime) but consistent with what Temu and Shein customers had grown accustomed to. The strategic logic: Amazon wins on logistics-and-trust for higher-price purchases (Prime fast shipping), and Haul wins on price-with-longer-shipping for the impulse-discovery low-price purchase category.

Early traction and the 2025 de minimis impact

Through 2025 Amazon Haul achieved some traction but had not yet matched Temu and Shein's repeat-purchase frequency. Third-party survey research suggested approximately 24% of US consumers had purchased from Amazon Haul at least once; approximately 16% purchased from Haul monthly. The comparable monthly figures were higher for Temu (~28%) and Shein (~23%). The data suggested Amazon Haul was achieving trial but not yet displacing the established cross-border low-cost platforms as repeat-purchase destinations.

In April 2025 the Trump administration signed an executive order ending the de minimis exemption for packages from China and Hong Kong. The change affected Haul, Temu, and Shein simultaneously — all three had benefited from the exemption that allowed packages under $800 to enter the US without tariff. The post-de-minimis competitive dynamics are still playing out through 2025-2026. Amazon Haul has the structural advantage of Amazon's broader logistics-and-payments infrastructure plus the ability to subsidise some categories from Amazon's broader margin pool; Temu and Shein have the operational depth and consumer-acquisition momentum from being category-defining players. The outcome will depend on how each platform adapts to the new tariff environment.

How RGM thinks about defensive competitive response

When clients ask about defensive competitive responses to fast-growing low-cost entrants, the Amazon Haul case is the defining recent example of an incumbent matching the price-and-experience profile of disruptors. Three structural lessons. First, the separate-storefront approach was operationally smart. Subsidising prices on the main Amazon marketplace would have damaged third-party seller economics; the dedicated Haul storefront isolates the low-price model from the broader Amazon ecosystem. Second, the operational adaptations (longer shipping times, direct-from-China sourcing, $20 price cap) were specifically chosen to match the disruptor model rather than to defend Amazon's usual operational standards. The willingness to operate to a different standard for the defensive product was strategically significant. Third, the result has been incremental: Amazon Haul has achieved trial but not yet displaced Temu and Shein in repeat-purchase behavior. Defensive responses often produce trial-but-not-conversion results because the incumbent's broader brand association does not transfer to the disruptor's category.

The pattern is hard to copy without comparable separate-brand-or-storefront capability and willingness to operate to different operational standards. Many incumbents resist defensive product launches because of internal cannibalisation concerns or unwillingness to operate to disruptor standards. We tell clients facing fast-growing low-cost entrants to consider whether a dedicated defensive product (rather than competitive response in the core product) is operationally viable, and to be honest about whether incremental trial is sufficient or whether broader market-share defense requires more substantive product investment.

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