Shein, one of the world’s largest online fashion retailers, is reportedly considering expanding its business beyond selling its own-brand clothing to a marketplace platform.
The move to venture into the online marketplace will put Shien in direct competition with e-commerce giants such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s international shopping site AliExpress, Amazon.com Inc., amidst weak consumer spending and economic uncertainty.
Experts believe that marketplaces are the next big thing. Notably, Huge Commerce predicts that by 2024, 75 percent of the top social content creators and influencers in the world will have their own shoppable stores on marketplaces as part of commerce as a service. With so many marketplaces constantly releasing new updates and even new product lines, customer engagement has become increasingly important.
“The marketplace platform makes available a range of additional merchandise and shipping options, and we expect it to result in increased customer engagement and satisfaction,” the memo said.
Shein, which is now headquartered in Singapore, has grown rapidly and is diversifying its supply chain beyond China. The company manufactures its goods in Turkey and has leased and managed warehouses in Poland from where it supplies customers in Western Europe.
Shein’s ‘on-demand’ manufacturing model sets it apart from the competition because it uses customised software to monitor production in real-time and uses algorithms to predict customer demand based on past purchases, app usage and other factors. Hence, this is a great reason for its success.
Shein is expected to generate US $ 24 billion in revenue this year, adding to its current valuation of more than US $ 100 billion. The company is also backed by investors including Sequoia Capital China and General Atlantic
