Shopping on Shein and Temu for holiday gifts? You're not the only one.

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. By all accounts, we’re living in an accelerating age for consumerism, one that Temu, which is owned by the Chinese e-commerce company PDD Holdings, and Shein, its fierce rival, supercharged with social media savvy and an interminable assortment of cheap goods, most shipped directly from merchants in China based on real-time demand. Software company Salesforce said it expects roughly one in five online purchases in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada to be made through four online marketplaces based or founded in Asia: Shein, Temu, TikTok Shop - the e-commerce arm of video-sharing platform TikTok - and AliExpress. “They're very cheap and everything is just so cute.” Unlike Shein, Temu's appeal cuts across age groups and gender. Temu is allowing sellers to ship products to customers from local U.S. warehouses and says the move will allow it to sell larger items like furniture as it expands its selection of big-ticket items.