Visitors gather at fast-fashion online retailer Shein's booth during a commerce expo in Zhengzhou, Henan province, in October. (PHOTO/CHINA DAILY) Zhang Min has taken over his parents' eyeglasses factory, which was founded more than a decade ago in Taizhou, Zhejiang province. The factory mainly received foreign trade orders and supplied various types of glasses for offline brand owners and dealers in the United States in its early stages of development.
However, its orders fell dramatically due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Looking to expand sales channels and reach more overseas consumers, Zhang decided to shift tactics by using cross-border e-commerce platforms. To bring about this result, Zhang registered with fast-fashion online retailer Shein.
"Consumer preferences vary in different countries, and we should dare to develop new products and open up new overseas markets," Zhang said, adding that her company usually determines whether to increase production in line with the latest sales and market trends, instead of manufacturing new products or stocking up goods blindly. Zhang said the biggest takeaway since she opened an online store on Shein is that glasses are an important fashion accessory, while young consumers exhibit strong demand for glasses in different scenarios, such as shopping, parties and tourism. Currently, sales from Shein's online marketplaces have accounted for nearly half of Zhang's total revenue, with its turnover reaching nearly 10 million yu.