As Sam Spratford reports in Publisher’s Weekly, Alibris has inked a deal to make over a million books available on Temu’s massive digital marketplace. It’s not too shocking, as Alibris seems to be chasing a model of breadth and speed; the company partnered with fast fashion brand Shein last year.
Temu already sell books, though they’re mostly craft and hobby titles, many coming from overseas. The deal with Alibris is part of Temu’s Local Seller program, meaning the listings won’t affect the supply chain: books will be sourced, stored, and shipped locally in the US.
Temu (originally a play on “Team Up, Price Down”) has become a shorthand for crappy quality and weird knock-offs. It’s also been dogged by accusations of breaching data privacy and intellectual property, not to mention other bad practices; among other things, a congressional study found a high risk of forced labor in their supply line.
We’ll have to see how it works out, but it seems like expansion to a larger online footprint through consolidation or partnership is the preferred business plan for digital retailers these days. With Goliaths like Amazon out there, I get the logic, but it’s always a little dispiriting to see everything, including used books, getting funneled into the same few buckets.