Reliance and Shein Form Partnership to Introduce Rapid Fashion in India

After a year of reportedly forging a strategic partnership, Reliance Retail Ventures is planning to launch the Chinese fast-fashion brand Shein in India in the coming weeks. Reliance Retail reportedly owns and operates physical stores as well as an app where users may purchase products of Shein.

India banned Shein from selling its products on its own app in 2020 as part of a larger crackdown on Chinese applications in response to rising border concerns between the two nations; this move comes four years later. Manish Chopra, a former director at Meta (Facebook), is reportedly going to be hired by Reliance Retail to head up Shein's operations in India.

How the Reliance-Shein Partnership will work?

The business is also setting up boutique studios in specific European towns to track Western fast fashion trends and immediately ship them to India. Officials from Reliance Retail said that a separate company will run the operations, and that Shein would not be investing in the company in any way. One of them said, "Shein is expected to be paid a licence fee as a share of the profit of the Indian company, and any payment to Shein will only be made out of profits of the Indian company."

Indians’ Shopping Habit

Although a large portion of the population in India has access to smartphones and the internet, the data show that this does not translate to much when it comes to purchasing clothing. Only 4% of Indians prefer to purchase online entirely, according to a survey by Localcircles (a community social media platform). The remaining 47% prefer to shop in stores. About 40% of people like a combination of the two, and the majority prefer the "touch, feel, and try" approach.

On the contrary, the convenience of online returns and the prevalence of sales were major factors in people preferring to shop online. Immediate gratification and hassle-free exchanges and refunds are two further advantages.

How Shein has an advantage with this partnership?

Because of its physical stores and online marketplace, Shein might be able to meet the needs of all sorts of Indian customers. Also, in the year ending in March, the fast fashion industry in India had a growth of about 30%. According to Redseer (a market research firm), this is five times larger than the overall fashion segment.

Top worldwide garment manufacturers and retailers saw a 40-60% increase in sales from FY22 to FY23, according to media reports. These brands and shops include Zara, Uniqlo, Pepe jeans, Levi's, and many more. This exemplifies the increasing demand for fashion products in India, an opportunity that Reliance may seize by partnering with Shein.