Global fashion e-tailer, SHEIN announced in June that they have expanded their international footprint in the Southeast Asian region with a new hub in Singapore. This expansion marks the success of SHEIN over recent years, which has emerged as one of the big players in the fashion e-commerce industry.
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Since its launch in 2008, SHEIN has experienced exponential growth with a strong community of over 100 million members. It has become the most downloaded shopping app in July 2021, with over 17.52 million downloads across the Google Play and Apple Stores worldwide, according to data from OnlineCasinoMaxi.de, leading the pack as one of the largest fashion e-tailers.
SHEIN’s massive range of products, where new items are introduced online daily, caters to a diversified group of customers who are able to achieve their ideal style all in one place at an affordable price. With consumer preferences constantly evolving, SHEIN is able to match these ever-changing shifts swiftly and engage consumers through their wide selections of product offerings.
SHEIN is known for its range of products for all ages, gender and body types. From beauty items and fashion apparels to lifestyle products and homeware, there is something for everyone. It is also known for its short lead time in production compared to their competitors, which helps in terms of constantly launching new designs for their customers on a daily basis.
SHEIN’s huge social media presence with over 80 million users allows the brand to form close connections with their consumers, through platforms such as Instagram, YouTube and Tiktok. With #SHEINgals, shoppers are encouraged to create user generated content, to share their looks and hauls on these platforms, forming a strong community of #SHEINgals consisting of over a million active individuals who are fans of the brand.
Retail in Asia had the pleasure to interview SHEIN about its business.
RiA: Can you start from the beginning, tell us the story behind Shein.com.
SHEIN is an international fashion e-commerce platform founded in October 2008, with the philosophy that “everyone can enjoy the beauty of fashion.”
The brand started with a focus on womenswear, but gradually expanded its offerings to beauty, men’s apparel, children’s clothes, accessories, shoes, bags and other fashion items.
RiA: What is the customer profile and how did you engage them?
Generally, we are popular amongst women who love fashion and we engage them through social media channels.
RiA: What are your major markets?
SHEIN mainly targets Europe, America, Australia, and the Middle East but we have expanded gradually to Asia – Southeast Asia as well.
RiA: Shein.com has grown quite fast in the past few years, what do you think is the main attraction for customers?
SHEIN prides itself on offering on-trend styles catering to our customers that would not break the bank in line with the philosophy that “everyone can enjoy the beauty of fashion.”
SHEIN is able to stay on top of the latest fashion trends from around the globe while rapidly bringing these styles to the markets, making it the ultimate one-stop-shop for the modern yet economical fashionista. We aim to promptly offer stylish quality products at appealing prices to every user in the world.
RiA: How has your strategy evolved in the past few years?
With the introduction of the SHEIN X program in 2021, SHEIN started to partner with emerging fashion designers and illustrators to launch their collection on our website. Specifically developed to offset recurring infringement issues within the industry, SHEIN X offers emerging talents a platform that will grow their revenue streams, amplify the designer’s product and brand to the massive global SHEIN consumer base, while highlighting each of their unique and stylish brand identities. SHEIN will work closely with the designers and take them from the inception phase to sampling, production, and distribution (via the SHEIN website).
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RiA: What are the next steps for the business?
We have just launched our first SHEIN X program with 3 Singaporean designers – Cheryl Teo, GRAYE and Reckless Ericka in July, and we intend to further extend it to other parts of Southeast Asia in the next few months to support the local emerging talents in the region.
We have also just launched our Malaysia standalone website on 22nd July to expand our product offerings to people in Malaysia. We also have plans to create a standalone website for shoppers in Indonesia.