Shein Business Model: How Does Genz’s Favorite Shopping Marketplace Work

Shein Stats & Facts: Funding & Major Milestones

Before we get going into the details of the Shein business model, we must have knowledge about its prominence and hold in the market. The app was founded in the year 2008 and by now, the company reached a value of $100 Billion. With eye-catching insights, the company grew to focus on its vision with scrutiny. 

SHEIN ships to over 154 countries across the globe and operates dedicated websites supporting the United States, Spain, France, the Middle East, and many other regions. Shein has become one of the most visited fashion e-commerce sites in the world, overtaking not only Next and ASOS but also having an existence in 230 international markets.

Founders– Chris Xu (formerly YangTian Xu)

Launched In– October 2008

Headquarters– Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. 

The Number of App Users– estimated 43.7 million users

Industry– E-Commerce

Company Valuation– $100 Billion

Total Funding Amount– $2.1 Billion

 

Shein Success Story

To comprehend the success story of Shein precisely, we need to have a look at things from the start. The owner of Shein, Chris Xu began by marketing the wedding dresses online. Further, in 2012, he extended business insights into women’s clothing and finally changed the brand’s name to Shein. Within a very short period of time, the company gained so much popularity from the women’s clothes that it initiated offering kids’ and men’s clothing also. One of the major eye-catching aspects of Shein that contributes to its success is that the company focuses on as little waste as possible. And to maintain the same, the company does not produce or create large quantities of products that the customers would not get lured with. 

Additionally, Shein uses varied data science techniques and algorithms to identify the new trends that prevail in the market. Shein is now one of the largest online-foremost fashion companies in the globe. Shein triumph roots from its intricate algorithm, determining the latest fashion trends and enabling the constant design of new products. Furthermore, with 6,000 additions added to the store everyday, Shein has adopted the fashion model and  accelerated on the pace.

Furthermore, this speedy inculcation of newly designed products is possible because of its exceptional supply-chain setup. Chris Xu has developed a close-knitted relationship with his suppliers from the very start. He also ensured paying them on time which added to the consistency of their connections.

On top of this, the factories are directed to use Shein’s supply-chain management software. This in turn authorizes the company to closely monitor the manufacturing process. Also, it helps in sharing real-time customer pursuit data with suppliers to helm design and production.

Finally, the Shein meets the design and production process in just 10 days. This is substantially shorter than its competitors, especially the opponents such as Zara which typically have a five-week turnabout time. The minimal prices are also a key contributing facet to the success of the firm.

Essential Feature of a Fashion App Like Shein

Before you discover the math behind the curtain, it’s time to understand how actually Shein works. Let’s explore essential features for a fashion eCommerce app like Shein.

• Registration and Signup

Integrate this feature into your ecommerce app for seamless user registration. Once users register on your app, create an account, your app can deliver a tailored experience every time they return. It’s unskippable to streamline the registration process, allowing users to sign up effortlessly through an email or social media credentials.

• Browse and Search

Include the browse and search functionality into your app like Shein to facilitate users to quickly find desired products, eliminating the painstaking task of scrolling endlessly. Establishing filters enhances this functionality, ensuring search results align precisely with user’s mentioned preferences, boosting efficiency and satisfaction.

• User Profile

Allow users to create customized profiles by putting images, personal information, contact details, addresses and payment details to facilitate purchases and order tracking, and ensuring a personalized shopping experience.

Plus, app owners leverage these profiles to provide loyalty rewards and benefits.

• Choose and Add to Cart

Just click on the product to access a comprehensive information of the product like product description, customer reviews, size details, and images. After ticking every checkbox, users add the products to their cart. In addition, they can add more items shown in the recommendation to their cart and proceed with their shopping experience seamlessly.

• Easy Checkout and Secure Payment

Launch your fashion e-commerce app with easy checkout and secure payment features. Keep it simple with credentials like shipping address, choosing a payment mode, reviewing order and making the transaction.

• Order History and Tracking

The order history feature acts as a USP (Unique Selling Point) of your app and simultaneously simplifies the process of monitoring their past purchases, especially if you want to repeat the order. Plus, order tracking proves beneficial to Shein in keeping users with real-time updates of the delivery.

This feature upholds the desire for instant gratification by reassuring users that their orders are en route.

• Return and Customer Support

If you are still perplexed about what makes Shein an epitome of success, it’s their comprehensive refund and return policy. Users can easily initiate returns or contact customer support for any assistance regarding orders and deliveries like size discrepancies.

With dedicated customer assistance support, an app like SHEIN can ensure a seamless shopping and shipping experience, addressing concerns or questions promptly.

How Shein Works: Shein Business Model Canvas

The Shein business model has taken such a toll on the growth insights that it is owning a higher place than famous retailers like Zara, H&M, and more. Shein confirms the tropes of famous data from distinct sources like social media, google trends, competitors’ websites, hashtags, and more has helped them handhold success in minimal time and stay updated about the current trends. After getting the crux of the current trends the in-house design team of Shein imbibes hundreds of fashion designers, who transform that data into desirable and updated products. Additionally, the factories that Shein works with provide Shein’s in-house software. This sends the acuities to the production of manufacturing partners within no time.

Furthermore, every Shein supplier has an account on the very internal platform that helps them check the prevailing sales, and stock levels, coupled with the manufacturing proposals of new clothing products. Since the company deals with the manufacturers on a direct basis, so Shein is able to curate new and updated designs within the time span of three days. Also, there are options for placing minimum or small bids. 

After the products getting curated as per the latest designs, the company then tests the precision of the products on its online storefront. When the product gets the verification of passing the test and is termed successful then the next step begins. The products are finally hopped out to be sold to a diverse range of customers. Simultaneously, the short lead times help the company to check, test, and work on more than one thousand new products on a daily basis. Besides this, Shein is based extensively on dropshipping, the products here are directly shipped from the factory to the consumer. Also, there are options where there is relaxation of local taxes extensively. However, the customers, here need to wait for quite a while to receive their packages. 

The company uses the consumer-to-manufacturer model and the model gets complete support from aggressive customer purchases and in-app advertising tactics. Besides that, Shein employs diverse gamification procedures such as countdown timers, trending stickers, subscriber discounts, and more. This adaptation is to attract and lure customers for making sudden purchases. The intent of employing gamification is to construct habits near the usage of a product. 

Proceeding along, Shein can also unlock further monetization tracks. For instance, it could allow manufactories to buy promotion space on the outlet or simply contain a commission for every sale. Nevertheless, trading clothes at a bargain already represents a giant business. 

Shein Revenue Model: How Does Shein Make Money?

Since Shein came into the market it has been one of the best online retailing companies. And it comprehensively served customers all over the world. The major business generation of Shein was by creating sales in three prominent countries. The United States, France, and Italy have been the countries where Shein marked its prominence since the start. However, the largest audience or market that generated the majority of revenue for Shein was the United States. 

Moreover, Shein is also famous for distributing its products in 154 countries with distinct websites as well as applications. Also, the variety in the item range contributes to the large sales volume of the company and extended revenue insights. Besides this, from every sale, the company generated a vivid profit margin. 

Steps to Develop an App Similar to Shein

Mobile shopping app solutions like Shein are a complicated endeavour involving numerous steps, from ideation to deployment. Primarily, apps like these offer a seamless and engaging shopping experience to users.

Here’s a quick rundown of the steps involved in creating a successful app like Shein.

Step 1: Do Your Homework

It’s important to do a thorough analysis of your market and competitors to create a fashion ecommerce app like Shein. When creating an Ecommerce app, it’s crucial to comprehend strengths, weaknesses and opportunities of your competitors to leave no slip ups.

Step 2: Design UI/UX

To craft a fashion app, it’s unskippable to turn a blind eye to the importance of user interface. The app design will determine its appeal quotient to users. After all, first impressions are the last impressions, and having an app with a visually appealing design is like an added feather in the hat.

So, start by outlining a detailed plan, consisting of wireframes, prototypes, and a complete structure and interface representing the complete flow.

Step 3: Choose a Trusted App Development Partner

Herein, your potential development partner will come into the picture. This step consists of setting up the infrastructure and writing the codes of line to create a database, designing APIs and implementing server-side functionality.

Also, consider implementing third-party services like logistic services, and payment integrations, to facilitate seamless and secure transactions.

Step 4: Test! Test! Test!

It’s a daunting thought to skip “testing”, especially when it’s about a mobile fashion shopping app. So, hire fashion app developers who are not just well versed with codes but can test the app rigorously to identify, analyze and fix bugs.

The testing process includes complete test cases, testing plans, and error-tracking systems to document the issues that are identified. This phase is specially designed to ensure that an eCommerce app is seamless before its roll-out.

Step 5: Roll-Out

When you are finished testing the app, and it’s error-free, it means you are just one step behind the finishing line.

Now, it’s time to roll out your app in the app store, just follow the app store submissions guidelines to launch your app successfully. Besides, to ensure a successful launch, every team member works collaboratively to increase user acquisition.

Step 6: Post-Launch Maintenance

Maintaining and updating a shopping app is an unskippable aspect of a successful journey. Adhering to this approach will allow you to address user’s feedback, add features, fix bugs, and ensure compatibility with the latest operating systems and devices.

Moreover, you can identify opportunities for improvement by examining user data and the app’s performance and making it a constant practice. After all, Rome was not built in a day!

 

 

Lessons You Should Learn From Shein’s Success

Shein is an app that initiated its business from scratch and now holds a prominent position in the market and global world. Being a business enthusiast, you must have the vision of catering to the needs of every sector of society, just like Shein does. For instance, there are sections helping the needs of plus-size ladies and promoting body positivity. Also, the tactic of using social media platforms like TikTok and accelerating the marketing was a masterstroke of Shein.

The ecommerce app development and availing authorization of an app is easier. But the difficult part is promoting the application and making it have a place in the market. The Shein business model has vividly portrayed that if you wish your app to take the flight of success then you must have an extended vision. 

Wrapping Up

After analyzing the working mechanisms of the Shein business model, it is apparent what led to its success. Therefore, you must also not wait anymore and get going with the curation of an application like Shein. All you need to do is choose an eCommerce app development company that will not just give you an app but provide you insights into the app’s growth also.

Apptunix is a leading mobile app development company in Dubai offering services across the globe.