Reliance Retail to bring back Chinese brand Shein to India: Report

Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail Ventures Limited is all set to bring back the Chinese fast fashion brand Shein to India. Reliance will sell Shein products through its app as well as retail outlets, marking the Chinese label’s return to the country four years after it was banned from India following Indo-China border tension.

Shein is the latest foreign brand that Reliance Retail brings to India, after other leading names that include ASOS, and Tiffany & Co. The Chinese label’s entry into India follows a deal that Ambani’s Reliance Industries struck with the brand in 2023. Market watchers view Shein’s entry as a boost to India’s $10-billion fast fashion market, a sector that is expected to have a market value worth $50 billion by the fiscal year 2030-’31.

Manish Chopra, Meta India’s former head of partnerships, could head Shein’s India operations, The Economic Times reported, adding that Shein businesses in India will be managed by an outfit owned by Reliance Retail, and the Chinese brand will reportedly receive a licence fee as profit share. All essential data of the venture will be stored in India, with Shein having no access or rights over these.

The licence agreement with Reliance Retail would allow Shein to utilise India as a hub of supplies for its worldwide ventures. In return, Shein’s technological expertise could aid Reliance Retail in creating a single global supply chain out of more than 25,000 Micro, Small, And Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) that are operational in India. The agreement would also help increase India’s export of garments and textiles.

The fashion brand Shein was founded by Chris Xu in 2008. The IPO-bound Chinese fashion company’s valuation has lately oscillated from $66 billion in May last year to $45 billion in early 2024, according to Bloomberg. The company is right now facing enquiry from lawmakers in the United States over alleged forced labour. Once launched in India, Shein is expected to be a competitor to Tata’s Westside and Myntra, the online site propped by Walmart.