User:Xiaotong Liang/sandbox

[LEAD] [All group members]

History [Sandy]
The history and development of Shein.

Marketing
On social media, Shein has 21.9 million followers on Instagram and 2.8 million followers on TikTok. Its low prices attract teenage internet shoppers with small budgets to post what they bought on social media. Shein also invites KOLs and celebrities with huge followings, like Katy Perry, to speak for the brands and perform on their virtual shows.

Moreover, for user growth, the company offers relatively low prices to stimulate demand. With more spending, customers can be rewarded with more discounts, which are encouraged to be applied to the next shopping. Shein not only make use of its algorithm-driven recommendation system, but also attracts customers to visit the platform frequently to do tasks, like adding items into the cart, watching the live stream and joining the show contest, in order to win points, which can be redeemed later. Therefore, it largely increases the opportunities for customers to be exposed to more information and shopping incentives.

Growth
This section should be broken up into 3
 * Shein's current market size and growth rate
 * Shein's marketing strategies and their effects
 * Shein's competitors and their comparisons
 * Shein's competitors and their comparisons

Products
According to Shein, it sells products in the following categories: women, plus-size, kids, mens, beauty, and home products. Its speciality is current fashion trends, with about 1,000 new items of clothing added to its site each day. It sells products from both in-house and external brands.

Many items are between US$5 - $10; a complete outfit including accessories and shoes can be purchased for less than US$30.

Manufacturing
Originally, Shein did not design its clothes. The company mainly sourced their clothing from China’s wholesale clothing market in the province of Guangzhou. However, Shein became a fully integrated retailer in 2014 when it secured its own supply chain system. Now, the company utilizes a network of manufacturing partners and suppliers in order to make and deliver its products more quickly.

On September 9, 2021, Shein released a supply chain transparency statement addressing concerns regarding working conditions along its supply chain, stating that it is “devoting substantial efforts and resources” in implementing a supplier audit program to prevent human rights violations from its partners. The company has not disclosed further details about company manufacturing processes.

Controversies
Trademark Disputes:

Import Regulations
The legislative bill Section 321(also referred to as “de minimis”) states that any import up to $800 per person is duty free. This bill has allowed Shein to deliver to the USA without paying taxes, making Shein have a competitive advantage over domestic companies in the USA. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of India banned the Shein app along with 59 other Chinese apps under Section 69A, saying “Upon receiving recent credible inputs that such apps pose threat to sovereignty and integrity of India, the Government of India has decided to disallow the usage ... both [on] mobile and non-mobile Internet-enabled devices.” Section 69A grants the “power to issue directions for blocking for public access of any information through any computer resource. However, it is still legal to purchase Shein products on other websites or routes that are not covered under Section 69A.

Health and Safety
Customers on Twitter criticized the company's labeling of a size 10 as an XL, as opposed to the industry standard of an XL encompassing  sizes 16-18. [15]

Shein was also cited in ____ for selling toddlers' jackets that contained almost 20 times the amount of lead permitted under Health Canada’s safety regulations. The company also sold  red handbags that exceeded permitted lead levels  5 times the amount [which standards? - canada?][were they cited/fined? what result?]. [16]

Human Rights Violations
In August 2021, Shein claimed on its website that its factories were certified by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the Labour Standards Organization SA8000 [12]. This was disputed and was considered to be a breach of the United Kingdom’s 2015 Modern Slavery Acts [12]. According to Reuters, Shein was also in violation of a similar anti-slavery law in Australia [20].

Fast Fashion
Shein is able to make predictions on trendy pieces and produce those items in as quickly as a span of 3 days [3]. Shein is also able to set itself apart from other competitors because it can order small batches of clothing and gauge their success, whereas other fast fashion retailers order large quantities, increasing their chances of losing profit [3]. Shein is estimated to order 100 items initially, whereas Zara may order up to 500 items [3]. Unlike Zara, Shein is also able to get around paying export and import taxes, contributing to their ability to produce more items [3].

Although Shein’s fast fashion operation has been reportedly called out for theft of designs, child labor, and its environmental impact, there is no substantial evidence for these accusations because Shein has not disclosed enough information to come to a definitive conclusion.