Partners Reliance Retail and Shein are planning to expand their Indian supplier base and start overseas sales of India-made Shein-branded clothes. This is likely to take place within 6-12 months time.
According to a report in Reuters, the China-founded, Singapore-headquartered fashion retailer has been discussing plans with Reliance Retail since before the US imposed tariffs on Chinese imports that pushed them to diversify sourcing. They want to increase Indian suppliers to 1,000 from 150 within a year.
The report said they aim to set up 1,000 Indian factories making Shein-branded clothes within a year for both the Indian markets as well as some global websites. The India-made clothes would be first listed on its US and British websites.
Shein has licenced its brand for domestic use to Reliance which “is responsible for manufacturing, supply chain, sales and operations in the Indian market”.
In December, Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal told parliament that the Shein-Reliance partnership aimed to create a network of Indian suppliers of Shein-branded clothes for sale “domestically and globally”.
Shein sells low-priced apparel such as $5 dresses and $10 jeans shipped directly from 7,000 suppliers in China to customers in around 150 countries. Its biggest market is the US, where it is adjusting to tariffs on low-value e-commerce packages from China that were previously imported duty free.
The retailer launched in India in 2018 but its app was banned in 2020 as part of government action against China-linked firms amid border tensions. It returned in February under a licensing deal with the Reliance Industries unit, which launched SheinIndia.in selling Shein-branded clothes produced in local factories. In contrast, Shein’s other websites mainly list goods from China.
Reliance has contracted 150 garment manufacturers and is in discussion with 400 more, according to two people who declined to be identified due to confidentiality concerns.
The Shein India app has been downloaded 2.7 million times across Apple and Google Play stores, averaging 120% month-on-month growth, data from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower showed. Offerings during its first four months have reached 12,000 designs, a fraction of the 600,000 products on its U.S. site. In the women’s dresses category, its cheapest item is priced at 349 Indian rupees ($4) compared to $3.39 on the US site as of June 9.
