More daily views than daily new Shein items [Nick David/Stone via GettyImages]
50 new fits... for 50 new TikTok vids. Amazon's feeling more like MySpace right now. After 152 days as the #1 ecomm app in the US, the 'Zon has lost the top spot to Shein. The Chinese online apparel retailer is a Gen Z favorite, thanks to low prices and a massive offering of on-trend clothing. Shein adopted the fast-fashion model pioneered by Forever 21, H&M, and Zara — then turbocharged it:
We do know one thing... Shein is raking in the big bucks. Sales reportedly more than tripled to $10B last year — well above Zara's online sales. Shein's US success is partly thanks to a loophole: Trump's 2018 China tariffs only applied to packages over $800 (very rare for a Shein order). Then China effectively waived export taxes for D2C companies, adding more fuel to Shein's US growth.
Welcome to "real-time fashion"... In the TikTok era, trends change so fast it's hard to keep up. Fast fashion retailers are struggling as Zillenials opt for second-hand Levi's over H&M florals. By sharing app search data with suppliers, Shein can react to new trends almost instantly. If peacock patterns are trending on Monday, Shein can tell Chinese factories to have peacock crops/shorts/earrings ready for shipping by next Wednesday — much faster than even fast fashion. One big downside: real-time fashion could result in even more waste and enviro-harm.