
Xin Ou
Research expert covering Greater China
China is a global e-commerce forerunner and home to the largest digital buyer population in the world. Everyone wants to get a piece of the action there, but few know how. One young company, Pinduoduo, managed to take over a large share of the market within less than a decade, challenging Alibaba's dominance.
Founded in 2015, Pinduoduo took two years and ten months to hit Nasdaq, becoming one of the fastest IPOs among Chinese internet firms. Today, Pinduoduo is among the world's top ten online retailers, and one of China's biggest online retailers in terms of active user numbers and market share. The success of Pinduoduo lies in its unique business model, a combination of group buying and social shopping. The platform encourages its users to join team buying to secure a better price and share links for various items with their friends in exchange for coupons.
Another key element to Pinduoduo's immense growth was its strategy to target the rural market. With more than 700 million residents, China's lower-tier market has overtaken first-tier and second-tier cities to be the new driver of the country's economy. Considering this, Pinduoduo built a solid user base in lower-tier cities and villages by offering steep discounts.
With the increasing popularity of mobile shopping, Pinduoduo has removed the shopping function on its website and focused on promoting transactions through its mobile app and WeChat mini-program. This mini program is a built-in application, which can be used by WeChat users without downloading or installing it. It was there that Pinduoduo secured its early customer network. As of September 2025, Pinduoduo remained one of the most popular WeChat e-commerce mini programs.
Encouraged by TikTok and SHEIN's phenomenal global triumph, China's e-commerce giants have been more eager to expand their overseas presence than ever. In 2022, Pinduoduo launched its international retail marketplace Temu. Within a short while, Temu got ahead of the pack thanks to its unique affiliate program and social marketing strategy. In March 2023, Temu beat TikTok to be the most downloaded app in the United States. In August 2025, the Temu app's global downloads reached 34 million, up from 450,000 in September 2022. Rapid expansion comes along with rising ethical concerns, such as over-consumption and labor practices, as well as regulatory risks. It remains to be seen whether the company can achieve sustainable development.

Detailed statistics
World: most valuable retail brands 2025

Detailed statistics
Pinduoduo's annual revenue 2016-2024

Detailed statistics
Pinduoduo's annual revenue 2017-2024, by segment

World: most valuable retail brands 2025
Most valuable retail brands worldwide in 2025, by brand value (in million U.S. dollars)

Leading large cap e-commerce companies worldwide 2025, by market cap
Leading e-commerce companies worldwide as of November 2025, by market cap (in billion U.S. dollars)

Global e-commerce market share of leading e-retailers 2024
E-commerce market share of leading e-retailers worldwide in 2024, based on GMV

Leading Chinese internet companies on the Fortune China 500 List 2025
Leading Chinese internet companies on the Fortune China 500 List in 2025, based on revenue (in billion U.S. dollars)

Most valuable e-commerce companies China 2024
Leading e-commerce companies in China as of 2024, based on market valuation (in billion yuan)

Estimated online retailers' share of e-commerce sales in China 2024-2026
Estimated leading online retailers' share of total retail e-commerce sales in China from 2024 to 2026

Pinduoduo's annual revenue 2016-2024
Annual revenue of Pinduoduo Inc. from 2016 to 2024 (in million yuan)

Pinduoduo's annual revenue 2017-2024, by segment
Annual revenue of Pinduoduo Inc. from 2017 to 2024, by segment (in million yuan)

Pinduoduo's annual gross profit 2016-2024
Annual gross profit of Pinduoduo Inc. from 2016 to 2024 (in million yuan)

Pinduoduo's total assets 2016-2024
Total assets of Pinduoduo Inc. from 2016 to 2024 (in billion yuan)

Pinduoduo's advertising expenditure 2016-2024
Advertising expenditure of Pinduoduo Inc. from 2016 to 2024 (in million yuan)

Pinduoduo's number of employees 2016-2024
Number of employees at Pinduoduo Inc. from 2016 to 2024

Monthly active users of leading shopping apps in China 2025
Number of monthly active users (MAU) of the leading shopping apps in China in August 2025 (in millions)

Share of Pinduoduo new users in China 2025, by gender
Distribution of Pinduoduo's new users in China during the 618 mid-year shopping festival in 2025, by gender

Share of Pinduoduo new users in China 2025, by city tier
Distribution of Pinduoduo's new users in China during the 618 mid-year shopping festival in 2025, by city tier

Share of Pinduoduo new users in China 2025, by age
Distribution of Pinduoduo's new users in China during the 618 mid-year shopping festival in 2025, by age group

Gross merchandise volume of Temu 2022-2026
Gross merchandise volume (GMV) of Temu from 2022 to 2024, with estimates until 2026 (in million U.S. dollars)

Monthly global downloads of Temu shopping app 2022-2025
Number of global downloads of shopping app Temu from September 2022 to October 2025 (in millions)

Countries with highest download share of Temu shopping app 2025
Download share of shopping app Temu as of November 3, 2025, by country

Monthly number of visits to temu.com 2025
Number of monthly visits to temu.com from February to September 2025 (in millions)

Breakdown of Temu users 2025, by gender
Distribution of visitors of temu.com as of April 2025, by gender

Breakdown of Temu users 2025, by age
Distribution of visitors of temu.com as of April 2025, by age

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