Shein makes low-key return to India with Ambani after 2020 ban

By P R Sanjai and Satviki Sanjay

Shein has restarted its India operations in partnership with Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd., as the fast fashion seeks to tap buyers in the world’s most-populous country where it was banned in 2020 on on security fears.

Founded in China but now based in Singapore, Shein’s mobile app and India website, Sheinindia.in, were launched without any fanfare last week by NextGen Fast Fashion Ltd. — a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd. overseen by Isha Ambani. The app has over 10,000 downloads on Google’s Play Store and is ranked no.9 among peers on Apple’s store, according to data from the platforms.

“The OG is back,” said a banner on the landing page of Shein’s mobile app, which is selling dresses for women with a starting price as low as 349 rupees ($4) while shirts for men were retailing from 499 rupees onward.

The service is currently available only in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Bangalore and New Delhi, the apps shows, adding that the countrywide shipping would be starting “soon.”

The roll out of Shein — one of the world’s most valuable startups bolstered by its model of high-volume, ultra-cheap fashion — marks the end of an almost two-year process that included tying up with the retail-to-refining conglomerate and securing approvals from the Indian government.

This gives Shein access to the India’s massive consumer base as it navigates the new US tariffs and weighs one of the biggest listings in London in years.

The re-entry will also boost Reliance’s offerings amid intensifying competition from Tata Group’s fast fashion retailer Trent Ltd., as well as Walmart Inc.-backed Flipkart India Pvt. that owns the shopping app, Myntra.

While Reliance Retail has been seeing tepid demand for its products, the success of affordable fashion format rolled out by Trent has made the Tata company the best performing stock on India’s benchmark NSE Nifty 50 index last year.

Reliance has “not been the best” in executing its retail business so far and this should boost their consumer-facing offerings, said Karan Taurani, analyst at Elara Securities India Pvt. “There is tremendous scope in fast fashion in the country.”

India’s fast fashion segment could be worth over $50 billion market by 2031, according to Redseer Strategy Consultants.

Banned in 2020

Shein was among the dozens of Chinese apps that India banned in 2020, including the viral short-video service TikTok, citing threats to its sovereignty and security as relations between the two nations had worsened after a border skirmish.

Before the ban, it was among the most popular platforms for India’s growing young population with rising disposable incomes.

The road back to India has come with a lot of riders.

The approval for Shein has been given with strict conditions where “ownership and control of the Platform will always remain with” Reliance Retail, India commerce minister Piyush Goyal told the Indian parliament in a written reply on Dec. 17.

“As per the agreement, at all the times, the Platform will be hosted on infrastructure in India and all platform data (personal and non-personal data generated from the operation of the Platform including all data collected from Indian customers) will remain in India with Shein having no access to, or rights over, such data,” Goyal said.