It's spending billions on advertising and draws shoppers in with its questionable tactics. But how can you resist Temu when it's so cheap?

Criticism of Temu ranges from data mining to rampant waste production to potentially forced labour use, but that hasn't stopped it becoming the world's fastest growing online retailer in just 18 months.

This story has been updated to reflect a reply we have received from Temu.

It has been accused of using slave labour, selling customers' personal details and feeding people's thirst for instant cheap goods at a fraction of the price of other retailers.

But despite the allegations and investigations by the likes of the US government, the e-commerce giant Temu keeps on growing.

"It's like AliExpress on steroids. It's hardcore," says BusinessDesk investigations editor Victoria Young - who's also a Temu user.

The Chinese-owned company has taken online retail to a new level and turned shopping into a game, she says, with a pyramid-style formula that uses influencers and the slogan "Shop Like a Billionaire".

Unlike its online rival Shein which sells fast fashion, Temu sells a vast array of products from clothing to wireless doorbell cameras to leather bags at rock bottom prices, and express ships them around the world.

It is less than 18 months old but is now the top app by downloads in the US, bigger than even Amazon. Its rapid growth has sparked investigations by US lawmakers into claims it uses forced labour and that it is importing products into the US duty-free.

The BBC reports UK anti-slavery charities have raised similar concerns, with suggestions that Temu sources its goods from areas where forced Uyghur slave labour is used.

Temu told the BBC that it strictly prohibits the use of forced, penal or child labour and that "anyone doing business with it must comply with all regulatory standards and compliance requirements".

Young explains Temu's background to The Detail and looks at the slave-labour and data mining allegations in the New Zealand context.

The company is owned by the Nasdaq-listed PDD Holdings, which was founded by billionaire Colin Huang. Formerly based in Shanghai, it has relocated to Dublin, likely for tax reasons.

Its products are dirt cheap because Temu cuts out the middle man, directly sourcing the products from the suppliers and selling on to the customers. Temu's aggressive, intense marketing model that relies on a form of pyramid selling, where customers refer it to their network of friends, sets it apart, says Young.

She describes how she was introduced to the online megastore by a friend. …

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