Shein cracks Korea's ultra-low online fashion market

Shein, a Chinese fast fashion online retailer, said on Thursday it has made its official debut in South Korea with the launch of its Korea-dedicated platform in April this year and will step up marketing efforts to lure cost-sensitive fashionistas.Targeting young female shoppers, it recently tapped Korean actress Kim Yoo-jung as the first global ambassador for its fashion subbrand Dazy.The Chinese e-commerce platform established its South Korean unit in December 2022. It has been promoting its products through social network services since August of last year.Its entrance into Asia's No. 4 economy is posing a new threat to Korean e-commerce platforms, joining its Chinese rivals AliExpress and Temu that are eating away at Korean rivals' market shares.Shein trails far behind Korean street fashion online malls such as Musinsa, Ably and ZigZag in terms of user number, but is penetrating into the country at a rapid pace with low-price clothes.Last year, Temu landed in South Korea following AliExpress' entrance in 2018, cracking the country's online retail landscape led by Coupang Inc., SSG.COM and Gmarket. Shein, also known as the Chinese version of Uniqlo, sees its user number in South Korea rising since the start of this year.Last month, the number of Shein’s active monthly users in the country climbed 10.3% to its record 660,838 from a month before, according Mobile Index, a big data platform. The figures are based on its app users on both Android and Apple smartphones.The user number is just one-tenth of that of each AliExpress and Temu, but contrasted with a decline in the MAU count for the two Chinese peers in the country during the same period.Sheil sells fashion products in over 150 countries excluding China. Last year its net profit came in at $2 billion, surpassing that of each Zara and H&M.“Just as AliExpress and Temu grew rapidly through ultra-low prices, we cannot rule out the possibility Shein coup rise to the top of domestic fashion apps," said a fashion industry official.Despite Shein's competitive pricing, industry observers said its success will depend on how fast, trendy and high-quality products they can provide.”Shein, along with AliExpress and Temu, are under scrutiny in South Korea over the safety of products sold on their platforms and the appropriateness of consumer protection measures.In April this year, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said some products sold on AliExpress were found to contain hazardous substances far exceeding permitted levels.The announcement came a month after South Korea unveiled a set of consumer protection measures targeting Chinese e-commerce platforms amid rising complaints about fake or low-quality goods sold on their malls.Shein is seeking to list on the London Stock Exchange after moving its headquarters to Singapore in 2022.By Sun A Leesuna@hankyung.comYeonhee Kim edited this article