The king of online: these are the keys to the success of Shein, the Chinese rival of Inditex »Galicia Skip to contentgalicianacionalc.ValencianaEsasenciashayfinanzas.Cominversiónsocial Investored Books Gol

The Asian company sells in more countries than Inditex, billed two billion euros more than the Amancio Ortega multinational in its online store in 2020, and its website is the most visited fashion page in the world

Clothing Store in Spain /EFE /Javier Etxezarreta

The online fashion business is eating the textile giants ground. Las grandes marcas como la fundada por Amancio Ortega llevan unos años atentas a la evolución de tiendas de ropa en la web, plataformas que, con un crecimiento exponencial, van suponiendo cada vez una amenaza mayor para Inditex, H&M y otras firmas de primera línea.

The Covid-19 Pandemia has consolidated the reign of the online clothing stores.The Chinese Shein, who has no physical stores or quotes on the stock market, billed around 1020.000 million dollars (over 8.600 euros), according to Bloomberg, far exceeding what Inditex sold on its online platform, 6.612 million euros, and assuming about half of what the Galician multinational for all its sales entered.Shein sells in 220 countries, four more than Zara's matrix.

Also, Shein.com es la página web de marcas de moda más visitada del mundo según el proveedor de inteligencia digital Similarweb, justo por delante de Nike, H&M, Macys, Zara y Asos, con aproximadamente 160 millones de clicks al mes (sin contar las visitas a la app), casi el 40% provenientes de Estados Unidos.

The keys to success

What has launched Shein to stardom?The Chinese company is based on an overwhelming variety of products, very small prices and constant discounts, and a very strong presence on social networks.In all these keys it differs from Inditex.

The variety is Pasmosa.Shein plays all dress styles (sports, classic, urban, alternative ...) both in clothing, shoes and women's accessories and even children.It offers specific products to do sports, cosmetics, electronics accessories, pet products, jewelry and lingerie, a sample that Inditex approaches in some categories, but is below.The key of the Chinese giant in this aspect is that its offer constantly renews at a frantic pace, with thousands of new garments every few days, a characteristic that does not have the Amancio Ortega firm.

Knowledgeable of the unabarcable of their offer, from Shein they make the easiest shopping experience to users filtering the content by colors, sizes, styles and even festivities such as Halloween, for those who are looking for things for the coming event. Inditex ofrece esta última opción en líneas juveniles como Pull&Bear, pero presenta carencias en las demás.

Discounts bombardment

As soon as you enter, the page bombard the user with discounts and offers.It offers free shipping to new customers, a 15% discount and several similar coupons that increase in value according to the final amount of the purchase cart.

The low prices, another of the main attractions of the brand, are obvious as soon as you enter the page.If a woman's sweatshirt is taken, for example.History is repeated in the men section;Basic straight cut pants in the Chinese store is worth € 14, while Zara offers € 30, thus evidencing one of the main online brand strengths.

Of course, the price difference is paid differently.Shein's garments have a lower quality than Inditex, with less durable and resistant materials.Users are usually aware of this when they decide to bet on the brand, but in the Fast Fashion culture the quality of the products is less and less in favor of the low price.

On this cost competition, Eduardo Zamáolo, president of the National Textile Trade Association (ACOTEX), explains that it is something that “already happened with physical stores, such as Primark”, where prices are also very low.The difference, he says, lies in the fact that online platforms such as Shein “completely discredit the value of a garment.That are selling you to jeans at 9 euros dismembers the value of design, quality, pattern and preparation ".

Social networks, client quarry

Another of Shein's strengths, in which it also makes a difference with Inditex, is that it is constantly aware of all fashions, trends and trends that appear among the youngest sector of society.It has a very strong presence in networks and triumphs among adolescents and young people, precisely because of its low price and covering all styles and new fashions.

Of all the networks, Tiktok is the one that owes the most (and to generation Z).The influencers and microinfluencers of the platform have made fashionThat in many cases they end up buying on the platform thanks to this type of advertising, as described by the analyst Pacy.

Shein's dark side

Although the Chinese company goes stern is wrapped in a deep darkness.Little is known about its founder, Chris Xu (or Yangtian Xu), and also the location of the brand's clothing factories, questioning the sustainability of the process, as well as the conditions of its workers.Although its environmental impact is unknown and the company ensures it is committed to the planet, Zamácola comments that these types of companies with such low -price and quality clothing “go against a world that intends sustainability, because you buy such a cheap shirt thatIf you get out of two days, you throw it and buy another one that is thrown in price, and that does is intensify the carbon footprint in this world in a sector as polluting as textiles.The consumer is being diverted to that type of garments, and that for the sector is very bad, ”.

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