Fast-fashion seller Shein wants to dominate more than clothes
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Much as Amazon conquered online shopping by selling books and expanding from there, Shein has a plan to become more than the place where American Gen Z teenagers buy $3 miniskirts and leopard-print bikinis:
- Shein now sells over 50,000 products in its “Home” category, from decor to stationery and pet clothing.
- As with clothing, the prices are impossibly low: only around 170 of those products cost more than $40, and the most expensive is an $80 set of storage boxes.
The takeaway: Shein found success in clothing by working directly with manufacturers and rapidly adapting to consumer preferences. By selling smaller, cheaper furniture and home decorations, it’s perhaps trying to replicate that trendiness in a category where products are usually intended to last several years.
- Users say Shein packages arrive in the U.S. within 7-9 days, faster than Alibaba orders and only twice as long as some U.S. stores.
- Shoppers seem to accept the proposition of slower shipping for cheaper items: in May, Shein’s app became the most-downloaded shopping app in the U.S., beating Amazon.
Also relevant: The other way Shein hooks users and gets them to spend more: its website is replete with games and giveaways that award “points,” which can be spent like money. If a shopper loses a game, they can get more chances by adding more items to their shopping cart or browsing the site for longer.
