Shein is slow off the blocks in its second India innings

In the five years of its absence, local players caught up and altered the competitive landscape

- Sakshi Sadashiv & Vaeshnavi Kasthuril

There's a lot happening at online fast-fashion retailer Shein. The China-founded, Singapore-headquartered company is readying for multi-billion-dollar public listing in Hong Kong. It is in the middle of an aggressive revenue expansion that has market analysts downgrading shares of rivals such as H&M and Inditex, which owns the Zara brand.

But, here in India, more than six months after it relaunched partnering Reliance Retail Ventures, Shein is finding the going slower than from its earlier stint, when the firm and 58 apps from China were banned by the government in 2020.

Homegrown rivals and fashion industry executives tell Mint that in Shein's absence, India's fast-fashion and 'Gen Z'-focused apparel business has accelerated with local players catching up. The break from India may have compromised the very core of Shein's success-speed and variety.