Shein : An Emerging Fast Fashion Business Giant

Shein is an international B2C (Business-to-Consumer) fast fashion brand, based in Nanjing, China. It focuses mainly on women’s wear but is also known for men's apparel, children's clothes, accessories, shoes, bags and other fashion items. Unlike many apparel brands, Shein has a more holistic approach when it comes to catering the fashion demands. Founded in October 2008, it has embraced "everyone can enjoy the beauty of fashion" as its agenda. At present Shein is spread over 220 countries and regions in the world.

What does Shein Offer?

As an online fast-fashion retailer, the company has attracted a young and growing fanbase with their huge collection of on-trend styles, inexpensive new clothes that it releases online and through its app. Shein is known for its aggressive social media marketing and succeeding in dominating the world of trendy fashion. Due to its fast fashion strategy, it is able to produce in bulk and bring in the latest fashion trends in the market.

Shein targets the Gen Z through Instagrams and Tiktok Influencers, offering discount codes for low-cost styles. It offers them a wide range of fashion choices, from boho dresses and graphic tees to patterned blouses and chic swimwear, at a much lower cost. However, Shein is less known beyond its teen consumer base, although it has enough motivation now to expand up to the main street business. The breakthrough in anonymity could be the result of rising potential bidders.

Shein through its course

Chris Xu (sometimes known as Yangtian Xu) gave up his business of wedding dress to open Sheinside.com. He renamed the company as Shein in 2015 and began overseas marketing. The result is that Shein now has the largest market in the US followed by Europe, the Middle East and Australia. The company didn't have its own supply chain before 2014. The company used to buy directly from Guangzhou’s Shisanhang Garment Wholesale Market. But when the demands began to soar high, Xu created an in-house design team and within two years had assembled an 800-strong army dedicated to designs and prototyping for ultra-fast production.

Why is Shein a reliable brand?

Shein is one of the most downloaded apps. Analytics platform App Annie ranked Shein in the top 10 in the U.S., Brazil, Australia, the U.K., and Saudi Arabia. It claims to refresh its website with hundreds of new clothes every week. The items are created by machinery with emphasis on precision and attention to detail and style. Their products are both fashionable and reliable. Shein maintains a rigorous quality inspection before releasing the finished product in the market. They have well developed guidebooks for the workers to ensure flawlessness. 

Visually attracting the Gen Z

Since Shein has gained dominance in the social media marketing, they have much priority for photography. They seek to provide visually stunning images and detailed descriptions which is another factor for attracting the attention of the teens. They arrange for detailed photo shoots to capture their product in the best light possible. The Shein customer service is one of the best. They have telecommunication arrangements for different languages to communicate across the globe.

Shein has undoubtedly done brilliantly in the global market with an estimated annual revenue over $10 billion. It deserves the recognition it receives. It has future plans to develop new businesses in mobile payments, supply chain finance, advertising, and, of course, opening brick-and-mortar stores.