Temu and Shein effect: door-to-door purchases reached the highest value in 22 years

The data reflects the import of items shipped through postal services, a phenomenon encouraged by the flexibility of small shipments, greater Chinese supply and a cheap exchange rate. These are clothing, footwear, cell phones, computers, furniture, household items, personal care accessories, thermoses and toys, among other products.

If the gaze extends from April 2025 to March 2026, goods shipped by courier reached US$ 1,047 million and grew 220% year-on-year, triple than in the same period last year. Thus, the amount accumulated in those 12 months It surpassed all previous records since the series’ inception in 2004 and was the highest in 22 years.

“Behind the strong growth of goods dispatched by postal service there is not only a cyclical leap, but a deeper, more structural change. We are beginning to operate with more common purchasing channels at an international level in a context of greater openness, more access to the courier and with an exchange rate that enhances it,” he said. Soledad Pérez Duhaldedirector of Latam market intelligence at Abeceb.

After the flexibility in 2016, the item that includes purchases of small shipments accelerated during the pandemic in 2020 (US$ 338 million) and in 2021 (US$ 563 million), stabilized in 2022 (US$ 587 million), fell in 2023 (US$ 455 million) and in 2024 (US$ 238 million), and returned to accelerate in 2025 (US$ 893 million).

The jump registered last year was favored by the commercial opening during the current administration, including the purchase limit extension by shipment for personal use de US$ 1.000 a US$ 3.000, the exemption of tariffs for the first US$ 400 and the extension of the peso with the purchase of up to 50 kilos per piece.

“More than just looking at how much this channel is growing, the important thing is to understand what it is anticipating: a greater participation of direct purchase schemes, a more marked integration with the global offer and a competitive pressure that is beginning to be felt more clearly in some local segments, especially in the most price-sensitive ones,” said Pérez Duhalde.

Door-to-door is also enhanced by an exchange rate that during the administration of Javier Milei appreciated 3% and since the devaluation of December 2023, 15%; the rise of digital platforms, such as AliExpress and Amazon; and the oversupply of Chinese goods at prices that the local industry cannot compete at from Temu and Shein.

“The possibility of import direct (up to five purchases per year are now allowed; you don’t have to go through a company first, unlike other consumer goods) and a cheap dollar made it grow that way,” said Haroldo Montagu, chief economist at Vectorial.

The other side of imported consumption is replacement of local production and employment by foreign competition. Free market last year went from demanding “clear rules” regarding the Temu and Shein preview a open a logistics center in China. Lumilagro, a “success” case according to the government, closed its plant in March and began importing thermoses from China.

According to a work by the Institute of Thought and Public Policies (IPyPP), chaired by Claudio Lozano, business reconversion is accompanied by layoffs, suspensions, plant closures, lifting of production lines and replacement of national manufacturing with imported merchandise.

“But the decisive fact is that this strategy does not imply giving up profitability. On the contrary, imported goods reach the final consumer with prices well above their import costs, which allows sustaining very high gross margins,” he says.

At Lumilagro, a thermos with an import cost of $8,178 sells for $44,000 without taxes: 5.4 times more. In Essen, a saucepan with an import cost of $50,055 is offered for $384,000: 7.7 times more. At Easy, a folding chair with an import cost of $4,230 sells for $32,000: 7.6 times more. And at Adidas, a shoe with an import cost close to $26,790 is sold for $100,000: 3.7 times more, according to the survey.