After speculations over its return in the Winter session of the parliament in December, the Chinese fast fashion brand Shein has marked a return in India. This came to pass courtesy of the retail arm of one of the most consequential conglomerates in the country, Reliance Group’s Reliance Retail.
Shein Is Back In India
The company (Reliance Retail) is currently headed by Mukesh Ambani’s daughter Isha Ambani.
The Chinese company, which is also the biggest name in the fast fashion brand segment, was banned in 2020 by the Indian government.
Return From Ban
This 2020 ban was part of a sweeping ban imposed by the Indian government on over three dozen Chinese applications, which were banned in the country over national security and user data security/privacy concerns.
As part of a licensing agreement, Reliance Retail has introduced an application in India that facilitates the sale of fashion apparel from Shein.
The application was launched on Saturday, February 3.
In December, the government said that strict regulations, including total local control over operations and data under its Indian partner, Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd., are necessary for the Chinese fashion brand Shein to return to the Indian market.
Piyush Goyal, the minister of commerce expressed ‘no objection’ to a proposal that would allow Reliance Retail to sell Shein products on an e-commerce platform that was developed in India.
Some of the previous acquisitions in the lifestyle sector include V-Retail, Clovia, Zivame, Amante, and most famously Hamleys, the largest toy maker in the world.
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How Does This Benefit Reliance?
The company has tried to consolidate the lifestyle/e-tailing fashion sector with its acquisition of AJIO, an online fashion brand. The company already has Reliance Trends, Reliance Brands and Azorte under its belt.
Some of the previous acquisitions in the lifestyle sector include V-Retail, Clovia, Zivame, Amante, and most famously Hamleys, the largest toy maker in the world.
In addition, it also stakes in major Indian luxury fashion labels. The company has a major 40 per cent in Manish Malhotra, a 72 per cent stake in Satya Paul, and 52 per cent in Ritu Kumar.
The recent deal with Shein will further reinforce the company’s posturing against the likes of Myntra, owned by Flipkart, which in turn is owned by Walmart. It will also take on smaller fashion brands, along with Shein’s own major rivals like Forever21, H&M and Zara, who have seen their presence increase in India’s urban pockets recently.
