- Shein, which was banned from India in 2020, has regained access to the populous market.
- The Chinese fast fashion brand has entered an agreement with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries.
- It will sell products under a new e-commerce platform called Shein India Fast Fashion.
Shein is re-entering the world’s biggest consumer market, India, nearly five years after it was banned there in 2020.
India’s Ministry of Information Technology banned Shein and dozens of other Chinese apps including TikTok in 2020, citing concerns over national security and data privacy.
But Reliance Industries, a multinational conglomerate owned by India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, is bringing Shein back into the country under a new platform called Shein India Fast Fashion.
Business Insider’s checks showed that a new Shein app was available on Apple and Google’s app stores as of January 27. The app listing showed it was operated by Reliance Retail, Reliance Industries’ consumer arm.
Screenshots by BI
“The fashion OG is back!” a pop-up message on the app wrote.
According to a memo on the app seen by Business Insider, the brand currently ships products only to select regions, such as Delhi NCR, Mumbai, and Bangalore, India’s tech hub.
“Pan-India shipping very soon,” the notice said.
When BI searched the App Store in India for the original Shein app, a notice said it was not available.
The Reliance and Shein agreement was brought up in a parliament address in December when India’s commerce minister, Piyush Goyal, said the two companies had entered into a technology agreement to develop an e-commerce platform.
“The platform is intended to create a network of local manufacturers and suppliers who will manufacture products under the brand of Shein and sell them domestically and globally,” Goyal said.
Shein faces an uphill battle in the US, its largest market
Re-entry into India, the world’s most populous country with nearly 1.43 billion people, comes at a crucial time for Shein as it faces a reckoning in the US. The US is its largest consumer market, according to GlobalData estimates seen by Reuters.
But President Donald Trump imposed a 10% tariff on goods from China on Saturday, along with a 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico. During his 2024 campaign, Trump said he planned to impose tariffs of 60% or higher taxes on Chinese products.
Jeffrey Towson, the founder of US and China-based retail consultancy TechMoat Consulting, told BI in November that Shein and Temu, another budget Chinese retailer, won’t be able to escape the consequences of the tariffs.
“Shein and Temu excel at very low prices. That’s why American consumers love them. But there is nothing left to squeeze out of their China supply chains,” Towson told BI.
He said that consumers are likely to see price increases due to the tariffs unless “the supply chains are redirected,” which he said was “very likely.”
Representatives for Shein and Reliance Industries did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
