According to data from global trade intelligence company ImportGenius made available exclusively to Reuters, e-commerce behemoth Shein is sending more inexpensive clothing and household goods to U.S. warehouses from China to shorten shipping times for customers.
Shein, famous for its $10 blouses and $5 biker shorts, used to make many American customers wait two weeks or longer to receive their purchases. In especially during the holiday shopping season, analysts claim that this has given the fast-fashion e-tailer a competitive disadvantage over larger competitors like Target (TGT.N), Walmart (WMT.N), and Amazon.com (AMZN.O).
In order to compete with well-established retailers on delivery dates as it prepares for an initial public offering, analysts told Reuters that Shein would probably continue to increase its bulk shipments to the United States.
The import data obtained by Reuters demonstrates Shein’s efforts to catch up in terms of delivery time to companies like Amazon, which has pushed to provide next-day or two-day delivery to customers who pay $139 annually for its Prime membership service.
Furthermore, Shein, which has often flown goods directly from China to customers, has changed its business model as a result of the move. There are no physical stores for Shein in America.
From 312,385 pounds (141,695 kg) imported in bulk on container ships in 2021 to over 6.8 million so far this year, Shein’s ocean exports of clothing have surged more than 2,000 times over the previous two years, according to import statistics obtained by Reuters. Nearly all of them originated in China, where Shein sources its large selection of affordable products from a network of suppliers.
Shein constructed a warehouse in Whitestown, Indiana, in 2022, where it typically keeps its stock before shipping it to customers within four to seven business days.
In 2022, Shein already offered “QuickShip,” a quicker shipping alternative for items kept in the United States. According to ImportGenius statistics, the retailer’s bulk imports delivered to the United States via ocean freight grew by approximately 790% in the same year, from more than 312,000 pounds to more than 2.7 million.
According to estimates on its website, Shein’s typical shipping time frames, which can range from nine to 14 days, are much shorter for items qualified for QuickShip.
Long waits would probably lead to “infrequent” purchases from Shein from customers, especially during the crucial holiday shopping season, according to analysts at UBS on Tuesday.
Shein continues to send its merchandise mostly by air in individually addressed parcels; the bulk of these packages enter the United States under the “de minimis” trade clause, which exempts them from tariffs.
According to a report released in June by a committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, Shein and Temu, an online retailer founded in China and controlled by PDD Holdings (PDD.O), receive close to 600,000 parcels daily as a result of the exemption. Shein shied away from responding to the estimate.
According to Juozas Kaziukenas, the founder of e-commerce analytics company Marketplace Pulse, the e-tailer can prevent unsold inventory building up in warehouses by shipping goods directly from China through air. According to ImportGenius statistics, Shein did not import any apparel by ocean freight until 2020.
Shein has stated that it intends to increase the amount of storage space in the United States through the development of its Indiana facility and the opening of a new warehouse in Cherry Valley, California, which is anticipated to happen soon.
