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Chinese fast fashion major Shein has reportedly made a comeback to India through a partnership with Reliance Retail
The app is available on both Google Play Store and Apple's App Store
Operations will entirely be managed by a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Retail
Chinese fast fashion major Shein has reportedly made a comeback to India through a partnership with Reliance Retail nearly five years after the app was banned amid diplomatic tensions between New Delhi and Beijing.
The app is available on both Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store.
In December last year, union commerce minister Piyush Goyal told the Parliament that Shein, which plans to re-enter India, in partnership with Reliance Retail, will have no access to the data collected from Indian users.
Owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, Reliance Retail relaunched the app on Saturday (February 1) , Reuters reported, citing a source familiar with the company’s plans. However, the firm did not make any official announcement regarding the launch
Inc42 has reached out to the company for comments on the development, the story will be updated based on the response.
Earlier in July 2024, Inc42 learnt the inner workings of Reliance’s plans to debut Shein in India once again.
However, operations will entirely be managed by a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Retail and all data and the app itself will be hosted and stored within India.
Shein, originally founded in China in 2012 and later relocating its headquarters to Singapore, is known for its extensive range of affordable western fashion.
In 2020, its app was banned in India, along with other Chinese apps like ByteDance’s TikTok, over data security concerns following a border dispute that strained Indo-Chinese relations.
The services will be initially piloted in New Delhi and Mumbai, the app’s homepage reads.
Reliance will pay a licensing fee to use Shein’s brand name, a source familiar with the matter said, clarifying that the partnership does not involve any equity investment. However, no further financial details were disclosed.
Brands such as Urbanic, Twenty Dresses, Cilory, attempted to fill the void but couldn’t quite match Shein’s popularity. Indeed, VCs also backed fast fashion and casual wear startups such as The Souled Store, Virgio, NewMe and others which looked to replicate the Shein formula.
