Shein readies to launch its own marketplace

Shein is reading itself to expand its influence globally by leaping into the marketplace model. An example of this is the alliance that the company established with Amazon last July to start selling its products through the marketplace.

However, Shein's managers want to go with their own platform.

The Chinese company recently added Jessica Liu, former president of Lazada, to its ranks as vice president of global brand operations for this purpose. 

According to Shein's posting on its LinkedIn profile, "Liu will be responsible for global brand partnerships." With this addition, as TechCrunch reports, Shein wants to evolve into an all-encompassing e-commerce platform with its horizontal expansion into home appliances, pet products, and its most ambitious push from fashion: cosmetics, which fall under the Sheglam brand.

Shein marketplace: a bet to control global e-fashion 

Shein is projected to exceed expectations and generate $30 billion in gross merchandise value this year, Chinese news portal 36kr reports. Working with external brands could help Shein scale across product categories more quickly rather than relying on internal development. 

In this regard, Liu seems to be the right candidate to build Shein's third-party business, given her extensive experience with brands. Her e-commerce career began with Amazon China nearly two decades ago before she moved on to run the fashion and luxury arm of Tmall, Alibaba's online department store for big brands.

Shein pop-up showrooms strategy 

Over the past year, Shein has been experimenting with pop-up showrooms in several countries, including Spain, but has now gone a step further by opening Shein's offline store in Japan, representing the omnichannel strategy being tested by the Asian giant to conquer the ultra-fast fashion market.

Broadly speaking, Shein has already entered the marketplace model in Brazil, allowing the entry of brands and third-party sellers that want to sell their products through this format. To date, Shein only worked with the brand itself in its e-commerce. This situation opens a new horizon of possibilities closer to the model of significant marketplaces such as Amazon or Aliexpress.