The New Era of Commerce:
Skyrocketing of SHEIN Amidst Pandemic
Fashion is something that we simply cannot unlove. With the growing age of digital, fashion has come to our mobile phones, computers, and tablets, which earlier were only available at retail shops and shopping malls. Fast fashion is very popular because it allows people to get in on current fashion trends while sticking to a budget. SHEIN is one of the top retailers and has an international B2C fast fashion branch in the industry that serves fashionistas around the world. This business is well-known for its low-cost clothing items.
SHEIN has been in business for a little more than a decade, and in that time, it has grown to be quite an operation. SHEIN’s unique business model is gaining the attention of other professionals who are hoping to make it big in the fast-fashion space.
In this article, we’re going to give you the rundown of SH. We will talk a bit about Shein as a company and how it has grown over the years. We how it turned out to be one of the most favored online businesses in the world amidst pandemic.
What is SHEIN?
SHEIN was established in 2008 in Nanjing, China, by Chris Xu, a Chinese-American graduate of Washington University who was born in the United States and whose background is in marketing and search engine optimization. He began by promoting bridal gowns online. SheInside was the retailer’s original name before being abbreviated to SHEIN in 2015.
SHEIN, a well-known online retailer, has recently grown in popularity with record-breaking sales of $10 billion expected in 2020, making it the most popular lifestyle fashion and apparel store in the entire world. 7 million users in the United States will represent the peak in terms of active users in 2021. It’s reasonable to say that SHEIN has already affected many of the ensembles worn on campus and left a mark on our wardrobes. SHEIN has been around since 2008, but its popularity only began to grow gradually before exploding in June 2020 as a result of COVID-19.
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How SHEIN Works?
SHEIN has quickly risen to the position of the unrivaled top company in the fast-fashion market by merely applying to the fullest the same business model that made Zara and H&M become the major fashion industry disruptors. Judging by the sales numbers, it looks like customers are willingly giving up some quality on the new trendy designs in exchange for cheaper prices. Additionally, social media and SHEIN may as well be made for each other.
SHEIN’s online storefront is pretty much a standard e-commerce store. Consumers can browse product offerings by collections, categories, styles, and more. The platform is equipped with a search engine, so if there is a specific product that you are looking for, you can put it in the search bar and relevant results will appear.
Transacting your order is very easy; first, you have to choose clothing, accessories, shoes, or whatever things that you want. They also have size charts so you can find the right fit for you! The fact that this store has free standard shipping on orders over ₱250.00 is very amusing. This makes it more steamy in the eyes of all buyers.
Just like most other e-commerce platforms, shoppers can add items to their “Shopping Bag” as they go. Once shoppers are ready to check out, they can review their shopping bags and move on to the secure checkout portal.
Transacting payment is very efficient because they offer almost all modes of payment such as Credit/Debit Card, Paypal, Gcash (Alipay+Partner), Paymaya, Grab, and Cash on Delivery.
There’s also this sale that if you pay through any online payment method, you’ll gain a 10% discount on your final bill.
Hold your horses, because the best part about this app is that it delivers your parcel exactly on date and time!!!
How SHEIN Suddenly Skyrocketed Amidst Pandemic?
In March 2020, numerous businesses had to temporarily close and some were permanently terminated since a large portion of the world was placed under lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Although prohibitions are being loosened in some countries, the future remains uncertain. Even reopening companies have rules imposing social distance; the wearing of masks, and restrictions on the number of consumers who can visit a place at once. When traditional shopping becomes challenging or even frightening, online shopping is becoming more popular. The fact that consumers were already embracing e-commerce by using online applications means that this transition became considerably easier.
Due to the massive trend of e-commerce, online applications have increased their sales, and SHEIN is no exception. SHEIN is one of the most eye-catching fashion brands to have appeared in the past three years, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to its ability to offer current fashion items at affordable prices, this company has emerged as one of Generation Z’s favorite brands in the US and other parts of the world. SHEIN has indeed experienced a meteoric rise since its US launch in 2017, and it has recently gained popularity in the past few months, with record breaking sales in 2020 of $10 billion. SHEIN’s sales in 2020 were less than half of Zara’s, but the brand is now a serious competitor for other fast fashion retailers due in part to its remarkable and seemingly unstoppable growth. The cause of the sudden rise of SHEIN was seen in the first growing viral on various social media platforms such as Tiktok and Instagram. Additionally, SHEIN’s social media marketing appeals to the consumer, especially to Generation Z. When the pandemic started, most people were focused all the time on using social media. A large percentage of Generation Z actively follow brands’ social media posts and feeds, according to a Lifestyle Survey conducted in April 2021. SHEIN encompasses a fashion statement that is on the same wavelength as Generation Z’s taste. Moreover, the said business offers free shipping, which is one of the more appealing aspects of online shopping since customers like having their products delivered to them without having to physically visit the business. All in all, innovation and technology will indeed advance with the emergence of a new era, leading to SHEIN’s prominence escalating as e-commerce overtakes traditional shopping.
Shein through Tiktok’s haul
Despite the slowing of economic activity because of COVID-19, it somehow sparked an increase in e-commerce and accelerated digital transformation. This brought about the rise of SHEIN and other online businesses aligned in the fast-fashion market. Nowhere else has there been such unforeseen and exceptional growth as in the digital and e-commerce industries, which have exploded in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. Although we are nearing the time we break free from this pandemic, this mode of transaction will probably still exist and continue to flourish in the future as people of this generation have already become accustomed to it. We will remember 2020 as the year that changed the future of both commerce and fast-fashion.
