Another Chinese company coming after Shein and Temu in South Africa
Alibaba, one of the world’s largest e-commerce companies, plans to expand its footprint into Africa, and Durban has been selected as the strategic hub for its operations.
The eThekwini Municipality confirmed that discussions between Mayor Cyril Xaba and Alibaba officials took place at the company’s headquarters in Hangzhou, China.
It was there that plans were outlined to position Durban as the entry point for the Chinese giant’s broader push into African digital trade.
Durban’s appeal lies in its logistics infrastructure. The city hosts one of Africa’s busiest ports, has a growing warehousing and distribution network, and is supported by King Shaka International Airport, making it well-placed to handle large volumes of cross-border e-commerce activity.
The municipality believes the partnership will help local entrepreneurs, small businesses, and start-ups tap into global supply chains and international customer bases via Alibaba’s business-to-business trading platforms.
This move is part of a broader strategy by Alibaba to deepen its presence in African consumer markets.
Its retail subsidiary, AliExpress, has already made notable adjustments to better accommodate African shoppers.
In March 2025, it expanded support for local currency payments in several African countries, including South Africa, Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Morocco, and Tanzania.
This follows previous steps, such as integrating M-Pesa payments in Kenya and enabling Opay and Verve card payments in Nigeria, which removes one of the biggest barriers to cross-border online shopping.
AliExpress said these upgrades have helped it deliver orders in South Africa, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, and Tanzania within ten days, which is an improvement over the historically long wait times associated with overseas purchases.
AliExpress has also experimented with an on-the-ground presence in Africa. It opened its first showroom in Ethiopia, allowing wholesale buyers to browse products and place bulk orders directly.
The company said its goal is to simplify both the logistics and payment sides of online imports, describing Africa as a fast-growing and increasingly confident e-commerce market.
Chinese platforms taking over online retail in South Africa
Alibaba’s decision to expand into South Africa adds a powerful new competitor to a market already seeing rapid disruption from Chinese online retailers.
Shein and Temu, in particular, have reshaped the local e-commerce landscape in a remarkably short time.
A report commissioned by the Localisation Support Fund estimated that the two platforms generated about R7.3 billion in sales in 2024, accounting for nearly 4% of South Africa’s total clothing market and an enormous 37% of online clothing sales.
However, the report added that lower-cost imported apparel has cost the local economy approximately R960 million in manufacturing revenue and led to the loss of around 8,000 jobs since 2020.
Shein entered South Africa in 2020, while Temu launched in 2024, yet their combined market share of 3.6% is already larger than that of global fast-fashion brands such as H&M, Zara, and Cotton On combined.
Their business model—linking buyers directly with factories and eliminating middlemen—keeps prices extremely low, appealing to cost-conscious consumers.
Surveys have shown that while around half of South African online shoppers avoid the platforms altogether, those who do use them tend to become regular, repeat purchasers.
Their influence on the online retail sector is significant. Last year, Shein and Temu together accounted for over 15% of South Africa’s online shopping activity, second only to Takealot, which held 32%.
Their user numbers now rival those of Checkers Sixty60. New market data shows Temu’s consumer share increasing to 16.6% in 2024/25, up from 10.7% the year before, while Shein’s grew from 12.3% to 15.1%.
These figures suggest that Chinese e-commerce platforms are no longer niche alternatives but mainstream shopping destinations for millions of South Africans.
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