As it attempts to ramp up sales still further, Shein is now positioning itself as a marketplace for practically anything.
Shein, now based in Singapore, is pivoting from selling just its own branded apparel to becoming a marketplace platform where other merchants can sell everything from $1,200 commercial ice makers to 50-cent safety pins directly to consumers.
Furniture is among recent additions to Shein’s e-commerce platform
Shein launched the Sheglam cosmetics line a few years ago
Shein recently launched its marketplace in Mexico, Brazil and the U.S., with plans to roll it out in Europe later. Shein has also announced an expansion beyond its bread-and-butter categories: fashion, beauty and lifestyle.
Shein said it aims to offer incentives to 100,000 sellers to reach annual sales of $100,000 and 10,000 of them to hit $1 million in annual sales within three years. Most of the products sold by third parties are low-price, but the company’s U.S. platform now also lists wares from high-end brands like Paul Smith and Stuart Weitzman, alongside Shein’s own branded clothing.
Shein doesn’t sell to consumers in China, where the e-commerce market was saturated at the time of its founding.
What Shein has going for it is its large and loyal following, including an impressive social-media presence that lets it quickly detect trends—and spark new ones. Shein has more followers on TikTok than any other apparel brand
But Shein’s explosive success is rooted in a model distinctive from Amazon’s. The company uses algorithms to predict customer demand and preferences based on their browsing activities. It subcontracts with thousands of small factories, places orders in small quantities to test market appetite and replenish orders as needed, which helps cut inventory waste to low single digits
The new model also puts Shein in head-to-head competition with Temu, which has used Chinese third-party sellers from the start to ship extremely low-price wares to shoppers around the world. ByteDance’s TikTok is also poised to launch a similar shopping platform in the U.S.
In the U.S., the company has opened two large distribution centers and is building a third. Many of Shein’s marketplace products are now eligible for delivery in 4-7 business days. Currently, Shein’s customers need to wait up to 14 days for regular orders to be delivered, according to the company’s U.S. website.
Marcelo Claure, Chairman of SHEIN Latam, expressed at a press conference that all sellers who join this digital platform will have immediate access to the exclusive system. This will allow them to obtain real-time information, education and training, as well as benefits and incentives through the global sales training program called AceleraSHEIN.
The company's direct-to-consumer experience, global customer base, together with the AceleraSHEIN program, empower local communities and will give small and medium-sized businesses a boost to boost their sales and business growth," Marcelo explained. Claure.
Marketplace sellers will be able to benefit from weekly training sessions and workshops delivered by professional consultants hired by SHEIN as part of the AceleraSHEIN Academy . These sessions will provide them with a deeper understanding of your methodologies, such as new product launch strategies, to drive sales performance on the platform. Additionally, merchants will be able to gain additional benefits, such as featuring more products and increasing traffic, based on the training sessions and workshops they complete.
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