Fashion firm Shein makes inroads into the global market with a smart approach to please its consumers: an unbelievable speed focusing on social media, says e-commerce expert Matthew Brennan to Drapers’ Online. Brennan says that once an item is trending, Shein simultaneously increases social media activity for these products to boost sales further. (currency in British pounds)
Drapers’ Online:
Shein’s appeal is trendy, own-brand designs at ultra-low prices: jewellery starts at 50p, mini-dresses at £5.49 and trench coats can be bought for just £28.49.
The “new in” category for womenswear on its website is updated daily. On 11 August, its website showed 6,531 new products for that day. By comparison, Boohoo’s “new in today” category lists just 177 products and Asos 3,563 products, but neither state what time period this is represents. Asos also includes products from third-party brands.
Shein achieves this through an agile network of suppliers in China, which reportedly get designs to market in as little as three days, says Chinese ecommerce expert Matthew Brennan. In a deep-dive of the business on American business blog Not Boring, Brennan says Shein produces small quantities initially, but if an item sells well, it ramps up production for what he calls “real-time retail”, to describe the etailer’s quick response time to trends. Brennan says that once an item is trending, Shein simultaneously increases social media activity for these products to boost sales further.
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