Shein’s typical customer is not an 18-year-old girl, says Joko

Criticized for its commercial methods and the opacity around the manufacture of its products, the Chinese fashion e-shop Shein continues its foray into French wardrobes. The tricolor shopping application Joko has carried out an analysis of the banking transactions of its users, which shows that the ultra fast-fashion site is now the third player with which 18-44 year olds spend the most in the clothing department, behind Vinted and Kiabi. A study which does not reflect the purchasing behavior of all French people, but which makes it possible to observe a strong trend in the upheaval of consumption habits.

Among this panel of users – representative of the French population according to the INSEE framework – Shein’s progress is dazzling. The site rose from 12th place in 2020 to 3rd place in the second quarter of 2023. Over the past three months, Shein has concentrated 12% of fashion spending among the twelve biggest fashion sellers in France, on this target of under 45s (compared to 5% in 2020).

The Covid-19 period gave a boost to the company born in 2008. “From the first confinement, between March and May 2020, the growth of the Chinese giant accelerated, with a multiplication of its sales by 2.8 and 3.5 in the months of April and May compared to January 2020. This growth is diametrically opposed to that of the fashion market, which fell back by 58% and 11% respectively over these same months. “, Joko advances.

Continuing this momentum, purchases at Shein are growing by 86% in 2021 (compared to 2020) among users of the Joko application. If the year 2022 marked a slight decline (-12%), with a parallel return to normal concerning the opening of physical stores, the first half of 2023 is fruitful, posting for example a record month of May for Shein, with expenses on the site which proved to be ten times higher than those of January 2020.

Joko points out that, according to his data analysis, Shein’s growth is eleven times greater than that of the giants Zara and H&M among its users. The continuous acquisition of new customers is the first factor explaining this rapid growth: “While Shein first conquered young women under 30, the brand has gradually diversified the profile of its new clientele”, indicates the study.

For example, in June 2023, 45% of the platform’s new customers are men, compared to 16% of new customers in 2020. In addition, those over 30 now represent 62% of new followers.

The typical Shein consumer profile in France, according to this analysis, is a woman over 30, who concentrates 43% of spending on the e-shop. It should be noted that Shein followers are also users of the second-hand site Vinted (first in the ranking), for 42% of them.

In addition, the indicators for the average basket and the frequency of purchases from the e-shop are within the average of the twelve most popular brands, with 53 euros per transaction and 2.8 purchases per year.

On the other hand, it appears that Shein customers are increasingly focusing on this site for their fashion spending. In the second quarter of 2023, Shein concentrated an average of 32% of its customers’ apparel budget (compared to an 18% share in 2020).

A rate of “fanaticization” which is therefore increasing, while Shein is in the crosshairs of the government, which intends to fight its economic model “with immense damage”. According to wall street journalthe Chinese giant’s revenues would have reached 23 billion dollars (20.8 billion euros) in 2022, and could climb by 40% in 2023.