Shein, the fast-fashion giant that has taken the world by storm, has raised a sizable down round as the startup world braces for a cash crunch. The e-commerce platform, known for its astounding costume prices and clever TikTok marketing, has gone from his $100 billion price tag in April to a valuation of $64 billion, according to the Financial Times. I am looking for
Shein denies the accuracy of some information, a company spokesperson told TechCrunch when asked to confirm details of the report.
I have to wonder what part of the report was wrong. To be fair, Shein’s plummeting valuation is nothing out of the ordinary in today’s e-commerce world. Pinduoduo, a market that could have threatened China’s Alibaba’s Taobao dominance by offering attractive deals, has seen its market capitalization drop from its $240 billion peak in February 2021 to around $100 billion. plummeted.
Pinduoduo now rests its hopes on its sister platform Temu for international shoppers. Temu has some standing in the US
Sea, which operates Southeast Asia-focused e-commerce giant Shopee, has lost more than 80% of its market capitalization since November 2021. Shopee cut about 7,000 jobs in just six months to offset losses, Bloomberg reported in November.
Compared to other e-commerce merchants, Shein’s drawdowns aren’t that bad.
The FT reports that Shein is still planning to move forward with its IPO, which could start as early as this year. Coming out of China’s reckless and cutthroat world of export e-commerce, his Shein has a lot to settle before going public. The company has prepared. For one thing, at a time when China is tightening regulations on overseas listings and cross-border data transfers, and U.S. regulators are stepping up scrutiny of China-linked tech companies, the company has effectively vacated its Singapore office. became a holding company.
Shein has also significantly increased its commitment to ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance). But it’s unclear how they can reinvent themselves to be “socially responsible” without destroying the fast fashion business model, which is fundamentally environmentally destructive. Several investors TechCrunch spoke to earlier also pointed to potential “accounting compliance” issues.
