Why China's Shein is beating ASOS, H&M and Zara at fast fashion

Chinese e-commerce company Shein took the top spot as the most downloaded app in the United States in May, according to a report from intelligence firm Marketplace Pulse. The fashion giant outperformed TikTok and Instagram on the Apple App store and was far ahead of Amazon.

Since 2015, Shein has become a leader in its industry, initiating a new era of fashion experts call “real-time retail.”

“What Shein has done is, it has established a new norm, which is real time,” Allison Malmsten of Daxue Consulting told CNBC in an interview.

“It is very fast, and the products are updated much more frequently and at a higher volume than any other fast fashion brand.”

But its name has also been marred by trademark infringement allegations and questions about the sustainability of its manufacturing process — controversies some experts say could threaten the startup’s investment prospects.

“If it wants to IPO and if it wants to gather investments, then it really has to come clear and people really need to have peace of mind about what is happening at the company,” Malmsten said.

Watch the video above to learn more about Shein’s rise, successes and challenges.

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[luzm]

If we are honest stores like Forever 21, Rue 21, and a lot of the time H&M too, all carry the same quality that Shein does for about 3x the Shein price. Everyone is using the same flimsy/delicate fabrics that fall apart after a handful of washes. That’s why Shein is winning against everyone else, they actually charge a reasonable price for the mediocre quality. Brands need to spend some of the money they spend in marketing on their raw materials and increase the quality to match the prices

[Sana-ikfo]

As if Nike is paying fair wage to the labourers in Bangladesh.

[jacquelinego]

As if Mango, Zara, and HnM doesn’t copy each other. Some of their designs are all similar, they only change the color or design of the buttons.

[miguel-h]

The other companies are no better than Shein. They’re just mad because they’re beating them at their own game! 😂😂😂😂

[a.y.greyson]

The use of artificial intelligence is why SHEIN is huge, clothes are produced upon search engine searches, rather then straight trends. They produce based on what is being searched.

[syncmastern]

Shein wins because it is honest with its customers: what you pay is what you get. You pay $5 for an outfit, you get a $5 outfit.

[coryplum]

Honestly, most fashion brands doesn't deserve high price, they spent more money on marketing and useless design but less money on quality. This is the true reason of SHEIN's success.

[kmtaylor]

You can't compare, SHEIN is the dollar store of fashion.

[AllisonSherman]

This administration is putting many families in difficult situations. A lot of people are financially struggling to live, put a roof over their head and put food on the table. Things are getting worse these days, if you don't find means of multiplying your money you might wake up a day to realise you didn't plan well for yourself and family…

[clarissaywy]

They don't only sell clothes and fashion items but also home decor and stationeries at dirt cheap prices, which is insane!

[jill]

Shein also has REAL customer photos of the clothes, so you can see how it looks on a not perfect model body. Super helpful in picking clothes out

[sentiasatransformasi]

i want to support sustainable fashion but it cost money. n nobody really nailed this issue. and no, $80 for a eco friendly shirt is still too expensive for most people

[aperson]

In this pandemic era where people lost their jobs and money dont come easily, who wants to spend a lot of money on clothes? That's why Shein is more successful than high end brands.

[ConradGosling]

There was a time when we " made it here", we had jobs for everyone and the products were of high quality, then the 1% wanted everything. Now Inflation drives prices up and if Inflation is high and jobs disappear by the millions we are in a recession and maybe headed for a Depression…So be careful with your money. It may take decades to get back on pay again. Luck to all.. I've seen folks make over $400k profit in a crashing market and pull it off much easily in a bull market Unequivocally the crash/recession is getting somebody somewhere rich...

[ritamy]

H AND M has way worse material on clothing with more expensive prices

[miketomes]

ASOS has become increasingly more expensive and ZARA has not been having the amazing sales that they once used to have. Not to mention, ZARA sizing has changed as well…limiting who can purchase from them. ZARA and H&M also has an issue with being bland and not truly innovative and fashion forward.

[scarletlady]

I literally took a break from shopping on SHEIN and came to YouTube to watch some music videos and this popped up!! SHEIN WONT LEAVE ME ALONE

[ladychips]

for me, and where I'm from Shein is the cheapest out of all 3. Hell, Zara isn't even considered budget friendly and is quite expensive.

[santiagocalatrava]

Thrift stores + sewing machine is the best combination of fashion ever 😎

[lg]

Considering the carbon footprint of fast fashion, being at the top is nothing to brag about