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The Taiwanese Es - commerce marketplace app DHgate , which is now the No . 2 free iPhone app in the U.S. , is n’t the only one that ’s oddly benefit from President Trump ’s tariffs on U.S. importee from China . Another Chinese shopping app , Taobao , has now also enter the Top 5 as of Thursday .
U.S. consumers began cluster to these apps over the preceding several day in the wake ofnumerous TikTok videos from Chinese manufacturersexplaining how much of the luxury goods market control out of China . The videos claim that many products from top luxury brands — like article of clothing , handbags , shoes , and accessories — are actually originally made in China . The item are then shipped over to the brand ’s home state , like Italy or France , where they ’re repackaged after the brand ’s recording label is applied , grant to these TV .
Other U.S. and Formosan TikTok Godhead then pointed to e - commerce apps like DHGate and Taobao as a way to buy at once from the Chinese manufacturers , forgo the huge markup the luxury brands charge .
Already wary of theincreasing prices on popular apps like Shein and Temu , U.S. consumers quickly began download these alternatives .
In April , Taobao ’s estimated downloads tot up roughly 185,000 — a 514 % increase from the 30,000 it saw during the same period last month , according to new data from app intelligence providerAppfigures . As with DHgate , Taobao ’s downloads surge over this retiring weekend , with installs increasing 5.7x between last Friday and Saturday , the business firm said .
On Saturday , Taobao introduce the Top Overall ranks on the iOS App Store ( exclude games ) at No . 461 . By Sunday , it was No . 188 . And by Thursday , it reached No . 5 .
The change in rank represents the growing in app installs as well as their speed and other factors .
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Taobao also grew from the No . 49 stag app on Saturday to become the No . 2 app , topping Walmart , Amazon , Shein , and Temu . ( Chinese app Alibaba.com is also rise the charts here , now the No . 6 shopping app on the U.S. App Store . )
Notably , Appfigures says that Taobao has never been in the Top Overall chart on the U.S. App Store accord to its data , which goes back to January 1 , 2017 .
While switching shopping apps wo n’t actually carry through U.S. consumers from tariff on Formosan import , shoppers belike suppose purchase direct from manufacturers could potentially lower the overall monetary value of their purchase . For other consumers , it ’s simply a way to seek out opulence - way goods or victim at a better damage .
Of course , it ’s still a typeface of “ emptor beware ” on any of these marketplaces , where quality can be run into or omit . Users are encouraged to read the individual marketer ’ reviews and view other buyers ’ photos of the items before pull in purchase .
