"Recently, April Banbury, the winner of the 'Miss England' pageant and a reality TV star, posted three outfits she bought from SHEIN on social media. She said, 'As a stylist with nearly a decade of experience, I want to share my expertise with everyone. I truly love these Chinese brand products; their quality and price are just beautiful!'"

Recently, April Banbury, the winner of the "Miss England" pageant and a reality TV star, shared three clothing items she purchased from SHEIN on social media. She said, "As a stylist with nearly a decade of experience, I want to use my expertise to share with everyone. I really love these Chinese brand products; their quality and price are just amazing!"

The superior quality-price ratio and secure shopping guarantee are among the key reasons why cross-border e-commerce platform SHEIN has become popular worldwide. Many consumers see SHEIN as a "super mall" with millions of products, not only browsing daily but also indulging in shopping sprees on various "big occasions" in life. Over the past two years, an increasing number of high-quality and cost-effective Chinese brand products have rapidly entered various aspects of overseas consumers' lives through cross-border e-commerce platforms like SHEIN, further tapping into potential niche markets overseas and bringing substantial orders to Chinese sellers.

Platform support enables Chinese sellers to accurately grasp overseas demand

The eye-catching dress mentioned earlier is from a clothing retailer in Guangzhou, China. When Chen Ning, a SHEIN seller from Guangzhou, learned that her brand's products were highly popular overseas, she was thrilled. In addition to frequently being recommended by overseas social media influencers, Chen Ning's products often appear in unboxing videos by consumers of various skin tones, with one particularly explosive video receiving over 910,000 likes. For Chen Ning, this level of attention used to be comparable to that enjoyed by international giants like Vera Wang, and she couldn't help but feel proud.

Since embarking on her cross-border journey with SHEIN, the frequency with which Chen Ning's brand products are discovered by overseas young and fashionable consumers has significantly increased. Previously engaged in traditional foreign trade, Chen Ning was initially introduced to SHEIN by her foreign clients. In a casual conversation, one of her clients mentioned, "SHEIN has considerable influence among young consumer groups overseas, and its products are trendy, making new products easy to sell." Taking the hint, Chen Ning decided to give it a try. Currently, she has over 500 single items available in her SHEIN store, a modest number compared to other online stores, but it has attracted over 15,000 loyal overseas fans who are always eager to see her latest styles, contributing to high-frequency purchase orders. Today, her store sells over 100,000 products every month, ranging in price from tens to hundreds of dollars, with estimated sales reaching $35 million in 2023.

Recently, coinciding with the graduation season overseas, Chen Ning's team has been busy developing exquisite products suitable for graduation parties. Topics such as "SHEIN Graduation Season" and "SHEIN Graduation Party Dresses" are trending on foreign social platforms, attracting new young trend-setting users. Chen Ning said, "Every year, the overseas summer season is a peak sales period, with many scenes related to vacations, parties, and graduations, leading to increased shopping desires." Empowered by the SHEIN platform, Chen Ning's team has made more targeted adjustments to product types and design elements based on the body characteristics and preferences of different market demographics, enhancing the quality of her products and increasing repeat purchases.

"Every new product launch is like starting a new business" - Chinese good products and brands are warmly welcomed overseas

Also busy preparing for the peak summer season is cross-border seller Zhu Chenyu. For the past two months, his team's main task has been to rapidly prepare a new batch of selected products, produce, shoot, and list them, including constantly innovating styles for home decorations such as group photo frames, gift boxes, picture frames, and scene layouts. Sales of these seasonal new products have been rapidly increasing since a month ago. In the "buyer's show," Zhu Chenyu sees these products being sold to many countries he has never visited, prominently displayed in customers' homes.

Many products are printed with a blessing: "The best is yet to come," which Zhu Chenyu loves. Having been on SHEIN for three years, his store's sales have steadily increased, reaching over $23 million annually, yet he still believes the best is yet to come.

"The most difficult part of supplying the overseas consumer market is grasping the timing of new arrivals and understanding user preferences. Initially, we rarely developed home decoration products because domestic demand in this area is not very high-frequency. But many foreigners have a sense of ceremony; they like to decorate their homes and take photos for commemoration, so timely home decorations become very important," says Zhu Chenyu. Home decor categories typically peak in sales before various holidays, and the SHEIN platform team pays attention to overseas consumption hotspots in advance, providing trend suggestions to sellers, including improvements in product titles and production of detailed product images, helping Zhu Chenyu's team explore better cross-border e-commerce operations together.

Looking back, when Zhu Chenyu first joined SHEIN, his team consisted of only three people, handling various tasks large and small. Now, with over 70 employees, the company's division of labor is clear, and its growth is stable. "Through SHEIN, we are continuously deepening our understanding of the overseas market. Before popular holidays, we plan new products and timing in advance, enabling customers to quickly find these products when needed. After the sales growth of new products, we will further optimize details based on feedback, extending the sales lifecycle of products," Zhu Chenyu says. His vision for the future is not just about accepting orders and focusing on production but also about deepening market understanding, improving the rapid response capabilities of production and supply, and creating valuable high-quality products.

"Every new product launch is like starting a new business," Zhu Chenyu believes that the popularity of a product does not necessarily mean sustained success for the store. Only by treating each new product development with the standard of a blockbuster can "new products" become "evergreen items," ensuring the continuous growth of store sales. This management philosophy has yielded significant results, and now Zhu Chenyu has accumulated many evergreen items and can always make new choices that fit current consumption trends. By constantly innovating, Zhu Chenyu achieved a 400% "snowball" growth in monthly sales in 2023 alone.

Zhu Chenyu also observed that not only he but also nearly 60% of sellers in his home furnishings industry cluster have been eager to try the cross-border track in the past two years, with many of them making SHEIN a key cross-border platform investment. With mature production and supply capabilities and high-quality goods, when these "small stores" entered the bustling "super mall," Chinese sellers who ventured overseas soon felt the enthusiastic feedback from the consumer market, inspiring them to operate steadily for the long term and build the reputation of Chinese manufacturing and Chinese brand products.

Although trends in overseas markets change rapidly, for cross-border sellers with a broader vision, opportunities outweigh challenges. With the increasing penetration of cross-border e-commerce platforms in overseas markets, good products and brands are receiving unprecedented attention and recognition. The Chinese brand "Outbound Team" brings not only the satisfaction of basic shopping needs to a wider consumer market but also the surprise of extreme efficiency and value for money. And this is just the beginning of this voyage.

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Cross-Border E-Commerce Logistics Baixiaosheng