The impending Shein IPO has got the City excited. Some have gone as far as to proclaim that the flotation will revivify the London Stock Exchange. But will you invest?
The fast-fashion company is hardly a shining (not a pun) example of a firm that ticks all the ESG boxes. And it has been embroiled in multiple legal battles with its biggest Chinese rival, Temu. Which invites the question, what does Shein have that Temu doesn’t? What is its USP?
This week Spy had a peruse through some women’s clothing on the site, and conducted a reverse image search to find if the dresses, tops and shirts were unique to Shein or available elsewhere.
Out of a random sample of 10 items, an identical or near-identical product could be found on the Temu website for all but one of them – and in most cases it was cheaper on Temu, too.
The one that wasn’t? It used to be on Temu, but was recently ‘discontinued’. Apparently, the two firms share rather a large number of factories. So Spy’s still on the lookout for that USP. Temu declined to comment, by the way, and an exasperated Shein spokesperson called to say she was fielding quite a long list of journalist questions this week – that’s the last Spy heard.
Sign up to the weekly City Spy newsletter for your unmissable round-up of all the gossip, rumours, and covert goings-on inside the Square Mile: standard.co.uk/newsletters
Got a tip? Write to us at cityspy@standard.co.uk
