After a pandemic-fueled boom in demand, Nova Tissue faced a stark reality: rising costs, shrinking sales channels, and pressure from large retailers threatening its future. The UK-based toilet paper and kitchen roll manufacturer needed a new way to reach customers and sustain growth. In search of a solution, Nova Tissue turned to Temu—and found a new source of growth. 

Founded in 1986 by Khurram’s father, Nova Tissue started as a small operation with a single machine run by family members. Over the years, the company grew into a £14 million business with two production lines and 40 employees, supplying wholesalers, supermarkets, and retailers across the UK. 

For decades, Nova Tissue thrived through traditional sales channels. But in recent years, the company found itself under mounting pressure. Many of its smaller retail clients had shut down, while larger customers consolidated, reducing its client base from 200 to just 30–40 key accounts.

At the same time, the cost of raw materials and energy soared, further squeezing profit margins. Large retailers, which once provided stable revenue streams, began demanding lower prices while tightening their grip on the market, leaving manufacturers like Nova Tissue with little negotiating power. 
 

Looming Crisis
 

“Our traditional sales channels are under attack,” Khurram says. Faced with these mounting pressures, Nova Tissue had to rethink its business model.

Long before turning to Temu, Nova Tissue had already tested the waters of e-commerce. The company listed its products on mainstream platforms and its own website, but growth was slow, and support was limited.

According to Khurram, working with these platforms was frustrating. Every few months, a new account manager would take over, unfamiliar with the company’s needs, and getting answers to problems was a slow and unreliable process. Despite its efforts, online sales remained a small portion of the business. 

Then, Nova Tissue heard about Temu. 

Welcome Relief

Temu is a direct-from-factory e-commerce platform that launched in the UK in April 2023. Unlike other platforms, it connects manufacturers like Nova Tissue directly to consumers, eliminating intermediaries and passing the savings along. Since last year, Temu has been inviting UK merchants to join its platform to widen the range of local products and reduce delivery time.

Temu’s arrival was welcomed by consumers facing rising living costs and looking for more affordable shopping options. A recent Omnisend study comparing Temu and Amazon found that shoppers save an average of 40% when buying on Temu, confirming its price advantage. According to Similarweb data, Temu is now the world’s second-most visited e-commerce website, trailing only Amazon.

Initially skeptical due to past challenges with e-commerce, Nova Tissue listed its products on Temu in December 2024. The response was immediate. As soon as the products went live, demand surged, with orders pouring in and quickly surpassing expectations.

Khurram was stunned by how well the platform worked. Unlike other e-commerce sites, where sellers often must spend heavily on advertising and promotions to gain visibility, Temu required none of that. The company simply set a price, uploaded its products, and the sales rolled in.

What started as a test quickly turned into a major sales channel. Sellouts became frequent, daily sales surpassed £10,000, and several Nova Tissue products became UK bestsellers. The company had to rapidly increase stock, adding 500 to 1,000 units at a time to keep up with demand. As sales momentum built, it became clear that Temu was outpacing every other e-commerce platform Nova Tissue had ever used. 

“Once we started to sell on Temu, we realized that the sales volumes are huge. The potential is massive!” Khurram says. “And this is even without doing anything.”
 

Creating Jobs

With orders flooding in, the company faced a happy challenge: scaling operations to meet demand. To keep up, Nova Tissue expanded its workforce, hiring more staff in dispatch and customer service. What had started as a shift in sales strategy was now creating real economic impact, bringing more jobs to the UK.

Beyond the high sales volume, Temu offered other crucial advantages. For Khurram, one of the biggest concerns about e-commerce was protecting the Nova Tissue brand. Unlike other platforms where third-party resellers can quickly flood the market with competing listings, Temu provided safeguards to ensure that manufacturers retained control over their products. That reassurance gave Nova Tissue the confidence to continue expanding on the platform. 

Profitability was another factor that set Temu apart. While all e-commerce platforms take a share of sales, Khurram found Temu’s margins significantly more favorable. The cost of selling on the platform was lower than other major sites, making it a more attractive option for manufacturers looking to grow their online presence. 
 

Growth Driver

Currently, seven percent of Nova Tissue’s revenue comes from e-commerce, translating into £1 million in sales. The company expects its online sales to double this year. What was once a secondary revenue stream has now become a major driver of growth. 

Khurram believes Nova Tissue’s potential is still largely untapped. He sees Temu as a platform that could reshape how UK manufacturers connect with consumers, especially as more shoppers look for affordable alternatives. Looking ahead, he is optimistic about what the platform could do for the UK businesses and consumers with the “local-to-local” model and how it could continue to drive Nova Tissue’s expansion. 

“I think the potential is really massive. I don't think the mainstream public has really grasped Temu yet in the way that it potentially could,” Khurram says. “If this is what the platform can do now, then I'm really excited as to where it might be in three, four years.”