This case won the Strategy and General Management category at The Case Centre Awards and Competitions 2024. #CaseAwards2024
Who – the protagonist
Chris Yangtian Xu, founder of SHEIN.
What?
In May 2021, SHEIN overtook Amazon as the most downloaded shopping app on the US iOS and Android app stores.
SHEIN was disrupting the fast-fashion market with its Instagram-style clothing, and online only presence.
Producing up to 6,000 products per day and creating new items in as little as three days, in comparison, SHEIN’s competitor Zara had a two-to-three-week turnaround.
SHEIN’S most important target market was Gen Z, with a 2020 survey of 9,800 American teenagers finding that the Chinese fashion company had surpassed Amazon as the respondent’s most popular online clothing stores. SHEIN’s social media presence and low prices met their needs.
Why?
SHEIN’S low-profile media strategy and online-only existence meant there was a lack of scrutiny.
But with a series of articles in the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times on the Chinese apparel maker in mid-2021, questions were asked of SHEIN.
How could a Chinese player quickly emerge from this competitive space? What was the role of digitisation in its business model? Issues about product quality, potential environmental impact, and sustainability were also raised.
Where?
SHEIN’s main markets could be found in Southeast Asia, the US, Europe and the Middle East.
In 2021, it served more than 200 countries and regions worldwide with a cross-border e-commerce business model.
When?
By 2021, SHEIN had positioned itself as “an international B2C fast fashion e-commerce platform” that focused on women’s wear, but also offered men’s apparel, children’s clothes, accessories, shoes, and other fashion items.
Key quote
“Each new design is basically a bet because SHEIN can estimate how well a product is going to do, but it doesn’t know for sure until it sells. Compared to its fast fashion competitors, SHEIN is able to take more bets, but at a lower risk. It’s able to place very small initial orders with these factories, about 100 or even smaller.”
Matthew Brennan, a Beijing-based writer and analyst of Chinese technology.
What next?
SHEIN’s top executives had a number of things to consider as they looked ahead to the future.
Should it have a physical presence and become a player both online and offline? Should SHEIN start penetrating the Chinese market? Should it expand to other new lifestyle areas such as furniture or home decoration?
There were many things to consider.
This is the first award win for Shuqing and Guoli, and HKU Business School, University of Hong Kong’s inaugural success. Meanwhile, INSEAD are the first school to win more than 100 Case Awards.
Winning the award
Shuqing and Guoli said: “The award means a lot to us, signifying that the case has been well-received in our academic community. We hope the case can assist educators in effectively teaching and motivating their students to think strategically. Additionally, the award indicates an increasing interest in Chinese players, such as SHEIN.”
Case popularity
Shuqing and Guoli continued: “We believe the case has addressed several important strategic questions, including digital transformation, business model comparison, competitive advantages, core competence, tech strategy, value innovation, and sustainability. Professors can use the case to cover various topics.”
Writing the case
They added: “When we started writing the case, very few people knew about SHEIN, and the company kept a very low profile with limited information in the public domain. There is much more data nowadays as SHEIN is preparing for its IPO.”
Case writing advice
Shuqing and Guoli commented: “Pay attention to the strategic dilemmas that companies face and introduce strategic frameworks they can use to guide their decisions.”
Teaching the case
Shuqing and Guol concluded: “It is one of our favourites. We use this case to teach various topics, including competitive dynamics, core resources and capabilities, digital and tech strategy, value innovation, global strategy, CSR, and sustainability. The strategic choice questions at the end of the case serve as an excellent starting point for engaging with students.”
Discover how this case works in the classroom.
The case
Who – the protagonist
Chris Yangtian Xu, founder of SHEIN.
What?
In May 2021, SHEIN overtook Amazon as the most downloaded shopping app on the US iOS and Android app stores.
SHEIN was disrupting the fast-fashion market with its Instagram-style clothing, and online only presence.
Producing up to 6,000 products per day and creating new items in as little as three days, in comparison, SHEIN’s competitor Zara had a two-to-three-week turnaround.
SHEIN’S most important target market was Gen Z, with a 2020 survey of 9,800 American teenagers finding that the Chinese fashion company had surpassed Amazon as the respondent’s most popular online clothing stores. SHEIN’s social media presence and low prices met their needs.
Why?
SHEIN’S low-profile media strategy and online-only existence meant there was a lack of scrutiny.
But with a series of articles in the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times on the Chinese apparel maker in mid-2021, questions were asked of SHEIN.
How could a Chinese player quickly emerge from this competitive space? What was the role of digitisation in its business model? Issues about product quality, potential environmental impact, and sustainability were also raised.
Where?
SHEIN’s main markets could be found in Southeast Asia, the US, Europe and the Middle East.
In 2021, it served more than 200 countries and regions worldwide with a cross-border e-commerce business model.
When?
By 2021, SHEIN had positioned itself as “an international B2C fast fashion e-commerce platform” that focused on women’s wear, but also offered men’s apparel, children’s clothes, accessories, shoes, and other fashion items.
Key quote
“Each new design is basically a bet because SHEIN can estimate how well a product is going to do, but it doesn’t know for sure until it sells. Compared to its fast fashion competitors, SHEIN is able to take more bets, but at a lower risk. It’s able to place very small initial orders with these factories, about 100 or even smaller.”
Matthew Brennan, a Beijing-based writer and analyst of Chinese technology.
What next?
SHEIN’s top executives had a number of things to consider as they looked ahead to the future.
Should it have a physical presence and become a player both online and offline? Should SHEIN start penetrating the Chinese market? Should it expand to other new lifestyle areas such as furniture or home decoration?
There were many things to consider.
Author perspective
This is the first award win for Shuqing and Guoli, and HKU Business School, University of Hong Kong’s inaugural success. Meanwhile, INSEAD are the first school to win more than 100 Case Awards.
Winning the award
Shuqing and Guoli said: “The award means a lot to us, signifying that the case has been well-received in our academic community. We hope the case can assist educators in effectively teaching and motivating their students to think strategically. Additionally, the award indicates an increasing interest in Chinese players, such as SHEIN.”
Case popularity
Shuqing and Guoli continued: “We believe the case has addressed several important strategic questions, including digital transformation, business model comparison, competitive advantages, core competence, tech strategy, value innovation, and sustainability. Professors can use the case to cover various topics.”
Writing the case
They added: “When we started writing the case, very few people knew about SHEIN, and the company kept a very low profile with limited information in the public domain. There is much more data nowadays as SHEIN is preparing for its IPO.”
Case writing advice
Shuqing and Guoli commented: “Pay attention to the strategic dilemmas that companies face and introduce strategic frameworks they can use to guide their decisions.”
Teaching the case
Shuqing and Guol concluded: “It is one of our favourites. We use this case to teach various topics, including competitive dynamics, core resources and capabilities, digital and tech strategy, value innovation, global strategy, CSR, and sustainability. The strategic choice questions at the end of the case serve as an excellent starting point for engaging with students.”
Instructor viewpoint
Discover how this case works in the classroom.
