Mark360 - Research Project - Shein 1

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Shein
Prepared for: Professor Shipley
By: Group 3 - Abby Mortensen, Ainsley Drexler,
Caeden Rogers, Elizabeth Case, & Katherine Raines
July 11, 2023

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Table of Contents
Section Title Page
Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................4
Objectives:............................................................................................................................... 4
Methods:.................................................................................................................................. 4
Findings:.................................................................................................................................. 5
Recommendations:..................................................................................................................5
Introduction..................................................................................................................................6
Trends in Sales:....................................................................................................................... 6
Consumer Segments:.............................................................................................................. 9
Legal Threats:........................................................................................................................10
Economic Trends:.................................................................................................................. 14
Technological Trends:............................................................................................................ 16
Interview Summary:............................................................................................................... 18
Objectives:............................................................................................................................. 20
Methodology.............................................................................................................................. 21
Data Collection Method:........................................................................................................ 21
Questionnaire Design/Layout................................................................................................ 22
Sample Design and Size:...................................................................................................... 23
Profile of the Samples:..............................................................................................................23
Descriptive Analysis and Inferential Statistics:......................................................................24
Limitations:................................................................................................................................ 30
Conclusions and Recommendations:..................................................................................... 31
References:................................................................................................................................ 36
Appendix:................................................................................................................................... 38
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List of Illustrations
Figures Page
Figure 1: Have you purchased clothing from Shein?..................................................... 25
Figure 2: How aware are you of these legal actions against Shein’s corporate
responsibility?................................................................................................................ 27
Figure 3: What are your feelings on the following components of Shein in terms of your
decision to purchase?.................................................................................................... 29
Figure 4: Do you trust Shein’s site to hold your personal information?......................... 30
Tables Page
Table 1: How would you rate Shein’s quality of products?............................................. 26
Table 2: To what degree of the following legal actions affect your decision to shop
with a company?............................................................................................................ 27
Table 3: How would you rate Shein’s quality of products?............................................. 29

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Executive Summary
Objectives:
● To determine the knowledge of Shein prior to purchasing versus after
purchasing.
● To assess how consumers’ decision to purchase from Shein is influenced by
their knowledge of Shein’s legal issues
● To determine how aware Shein’s target market is of their legal issues.
● To determine to what extent consumers are influenced by price,
style/trendiness, and options/variety for items in their decision to purchase
from Shein
● To determine the consumers perspective of the quality of products.
● To determine if the consumers believe Shein is a trustworthy company.
Methods:
The survey that was conducted had 250 respondents. We formulated this survey using
Qualtrics, a survey generator to create specific questions to answer our objectives such
as our participants' perspective on the company’s products and values. Our sample for
the survey included young women who live in college towns. Our reasoning for
choosing this specific sample is because of the affordability and convenience of college
students.
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Findings:
● Roughly half of the respondents stated that they have shopped from Shien, and
half that have not
● The results from the survey were mostly scattered and did not have much of a
trend
● Majority of the respondents of the survey think that the quality of the clothing is
great
● Almost all of the legal issues stated moderately affected the customers decision
to shop with a company
● More than half of the respondents were aware that Shein is dealing with many
legal threats against their company, while many of the respondents did not
● Style/trendiness, price, and options/choices had scattered responses in regards
to importance for the respondents when shopping from Shein
● Most respondents responses were inconclusive on if they would trust Shein with
their personal information
Recommendations:
● Use the information about people’s opinions on trusting their website with
personal information, and use that information to better their security
● Take the results from the question pertaining the quality of Shein’s clothing, and
upgrade the fabric and/or techniques to make their clothes
● Look at the responses from the question asking about Shein’s legal actions, and
see how they can better their company from within those specific attributes
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● Look at the demographic of whom took the questionnaire, and determine how
Shein can analyze if this is the demographic they want to focus on or focus on a
different demographic
● Take the information collected from the questionnaire, and figure out a plan Shein
can use to better understand how their customers think and feel about the
company
Introduction
Trends in Sales:
Chris Xu, Shein’s founder and CEO, was originally working for an information
technology company before he left to establish an online retail store for cheap fashion
wear. Shein was then born in 2008 to target the idea Xu had nurtured. It originally
started as a cheap, online wedding dress retail site selling internationally. It wasn't until
the early 2010s that Shein started selling women's garments, cosmetics, jewelry, shoes,
purses, and other accessories. By 2013, Shein had around 100 employees, and moving
into 2016, they had around 800 employees. It wasn’t until recent years that Shein got to
its current number of around 10,000 employees (Banerjee & Dutta, 2022).
Shein saw its fastest growth in 2020 when the website became extremely
popular during the global pandemic. Because clothing stores were deemed not
essential and could not be open, people turned to online shopping. Many also found
themselves shopping on a much stricter budget due to loss of income. During this time,
Shein rose quickly in the fashion market with its sales and market share, overtaking
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other brands such as H&M, Forever 21, and Zara. During this time, Shein was hailed as
the largest online-only fashion firm in the world in 2020. Shein’s affordability and vast
clothing options made it one of the fastest-growing consumer internet platforms
worldwide in the past two years (Liao, 2022). During the pandemic, companies like
H&M, ASOS, and Fashion Nova saw declines in sales since the shelter-in-place orders
were created. This brought many of their customers to shop online, bringing the profits
to the websites for fast-fashion companies like Shein and Zara.
Shein saw exponential growth in the few years leading up to 2022. From March
2020 to March 2022, Shein's market share in the United States more than doubled
going from 18% to 40%. Shein’s valuation has skyrocketed over the last five years as it
started at a $5 billion valuation in 2019 to $100 billion valuation in early 2022, but it has
since declined to $64 billion in early 2023. Shein’s largest market is in the United States
where the company gains profit margin from each sale and delivery fees (Banerjee &
Dutta, 2022).
In 2021, the Shein shopping app ranked second in the country in downloads from
the app stores from both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store in the United
States. Shein’s app was downloaded 200 million times the following year in 2022,
making it the most downloaded shopping app that year. It was also the most
downloaded fashion app across Europe in 2022. Shein went from being valued as a $15
billion company to now being valued at $30 billion in November 2021.

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Major Competitors:
Shein operates in the fast fashion business industry, focusing on mass producing
clothing at a minimal cost with a quick turnaround to make a profit. Shein successfully
achieved mass production of clothing of all different sizes, styles, and colors at a very
small cost and then priced it inexpensively. This strategy employs selling high quantities
of product at low prices which offsets the cost of manufacturing. This business practice
encourages Shein’s customers to purchase large quantities of items per transaction. In
contrast, many of its competitors prioritize producing better quality clothing at a higher
price.
Because Amazon can not match Shein’s competition pricing, it is not considered
a direct competitor. The closest alternatives are Zara, H&M and Forever 21. The biggest
difference is that Shein does not offer a physical brick and mortar location and the other
three do. Shein is solely an online retailer.
Of these 3 main competitors – Zara, H&M, and Forever 21 – Shein is the biggest
fast fashion company in the world with an evaluation greater than that of Zara and H&M
combined. These companies cater to the same demographic, create cheap clothing and
sell it at a low cost point. They offer similar styles but also many unique branded custom
styles that are different from Shein’s to attract their own loyal customers.
Unlike the above-mentioned companies, Shein excels in their overall business
model, which is exclusively online only. New products are introduced in small quantities
and then, depending on performance, can be ranked higher and placed in front of more
customers quickly. If a product performs poorly, it can be removed from the catalog in a
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matter of seconds. Additionally, without having a physical storefront location, Shein
does not have to display inventory in a way that is attractive to consumers.
Consumer Segments:
Shein’s primary target consumer market is women in their teens and twenties.
Many use the site to shop for affordable clothing options. This market is valuable to
Shein because they are likely lower income individuals, like students or just entering the
workforce full-time. They want to be perceived as “on trend” with their clothing while
also maintaining a tight budget. Thus, Shein’s variety of options and low prices are a
draw for this market.
For the most part, the company’s marketing strategy is via social media. There
are popup ads on various other websites, but Shein focuses primarily on influencer
marketing by having social media personalities share videos of what they have ordered
from Shein with the hashtag “#SHEINHaul” in the caption (Perri 2023). This allows
potential buyers to be able to see what products are being sold on Shein, typically from
people that they already admire. In addition to influencer marketing, Shein has also
garnered celebrity support through their live-streamed event called Shein Together and
a clothing design competition Shein X, which help them target fans of the celebrities
involved. A part of Shein’s ability to maintain customer loyalty is their points reward
system, which was described as “similar to playing a mobile game,” by 20-year-old
Anushka Sachan (Toh 2021).

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Legal Threats:
Shein has been sued at least 50 times over the last two years for trademark and
copyright infringement alone, not including other claims such as labor abuse,
mishandling customer data, and high levels of toxic chemicals in clothing. Many of its
original customers no longer shop with Shein because of many of these issues, while
some customers are unfamiliar with many of these issues and still regularly shop on
Shein.
The online Chinese clothing company refreshes its wardrobe of up to 6,000 new
items a day (Strumpf, 2022). By creating and changing so many styles, it is bound to
have some overlapping ideas with other companies' designs but at a cheaper price. In
the last 3 years Shein has been a defendant in at least 50 federal lawsuits in the US
against other big-name companies from lower end brands like Romwe or Amazon, to
higher end brands like Ralph Lauren, claiming that Shein has stolen their designs and
have profited off the stolen clothing designs. Shein has even made the band Nirvana
their competitor as they have started producing band T-shirts with similar styles as
Nirvana’s merchandise. Most often in the legal battle, Shein has chosen to settle with
plaintiffs for an undisclosed amount rather than defending its practices.
Labor abuse is a well-known problem in the world, and many companies have
done whatever they can to treat their employees fairly and make them feel safe in the
workplace. Shein has around 6,000 clothing factories in China, with around 10,000
employees. In 2022, information about an investigation was released finding the
employees that work in the factories producing the clothing sold on Shein’s website
aren't being treated fairly. They have a monthly wage of $556 USD or receive $0.04
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USD per item made, are required to make 500 pieces of clothing per day, their first
months' pay is withheld from them, and work 18-hour days. If the employee makes a
mistake on a clothing item, they are penalized two-thirds of their daily wage
(Singh-Hurtz, 2018).
When you order something online, you put your credit card information in hopes
that it will not be stolen. Shein was fined $1.9 million for failing to notify 39 million users
of a data breach on their website which happened back in 2018. Since then, Shein has
publicly stated that they have taken further steps to strengthen their cybersecurity to
keep their customers' information from being stolen and that protecting their customers’
data and maintaining their trust is their top priority (Liao, 2022). However, in 2020, Shein
was banned alongside other Chinese apps over privacy and security concerns.
Shein has a careless attitude towards environmental and human health risks
associated with the use of hazardous chemicals, in pursuit of profit. It was found that
there were high levels of phthalates in shoes which is detrimental to reproductive,
neurological, and developmental systems in humans and formaldehyde in a baby girls
dress which can cause anywhere from eye, nose and throat irritation to skin rashes,
shortness of breath, and changes in lung function (Arbogast, 2022). It was also found
that lead was in many Shein clothing items. Shein removed some of the products of its
app that were found to have toxic chemicals in the clothing as well as stated that they
are committed to continuous improvement of their supply chain.
Many of Shein’s consumers are unaware of these issues and problems that have
arisen over time due to the lack of researching a company before you purchase. Many
consumers are or have been blinded by the cheap, trendy clothing that they don’t
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realize what they might be taking part in or are unknowingly supporting. Consumer
awareness needs to be brought to the masses but paid advertising platforms like
Facebook and Instagram, which Shein takes advantage of, aren’t going to be the first
ones to step up and demand they change their business practices in order to keep their
customers safe. That’s how these platforms make a profit.
Other options for consumer awareness of these practices could be enacted by
local and federal government agencies. Unfortunately, even these resources are
complacent in enabling such practices to continue. In the end, it’s up to the individual
consumer to do extensive research into a company or product before they purchase it.
Sociocultural Trends:
Shein has been influenced by various different sociocultural trends. One
significant trend is the rise of fast fashion itself, characterized by the demand for
affordable, on-trend clothing with quick shipping. Shein's extensive selection of
fashionable items at low prices caters to this trend, however, the brand has tapped into
the power of social media, particularly Instagram, where collaborations with influencers
have propelled the viral spread of Shein's fashion offerings. By leveraging social media
influence, Shein has successfully created a vast online community and established itself
as a go-to destination for trendy fashion.
Additionally, Shein's globalization efforts have contributed to its popularity
worldwide, as the brand showcases diverse fashion styles that blend cultural influences
from around the globe. Through inclusive marketing campaigns featuring models of
various body types and sizes, Shein has also embraced the growing movement of body
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positivity and inclusivity. However, it's crucial to consider the ongoing concerns
regarding sustainability and ethical practices within the fast-fashion industry, which may
shape the future sociocultural landscape surrounding Shein.
Shein has successfully tapped into social media channels to strategically engage
with its target market and build an extensive customer base. The brand's success can
be partly credited to its skill at utilizing the potential of social media marketing. Shein is
well-known on social media sites like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, where it
regularly posts content and interesting fashion-related stories. Shein is successfully
creating a feeling of community and relatability among its customers by using influencer
partnerships and user-generated content. The company invites its fans to share their
Shein purchases, outfit ideas, and product reviews, which builds talk about the company
and develops an atmosphere of authenticity. Additionally, Shein actively engages its
audience by using comments, direct messaging, and contests helps to build a strong
and interactive relationship. This social media strategy has allowed Shein to effectively
reach and resonate with its target audience, ultimately driving customer acquisition and
loyalty.
Shein has put a lot of work into growing its global footprint thanks to its efficient
globalization strategies. The company has taken advantage of the potential of online
shopping and built a secure international delivery network, making its items available to
customers throughout the world. Shein has made shopping simple and available for a
worldwide consumer base by providing customized websites and customer service in
many languages. Shein's success can be linked to its capacity to satisfy a variety of
style choices and cultural preferences. The company features a variety of fashion
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trends, taking inspiration from various places and adjusting to popular trends. Shein has
positioned itself as a worldwide fashion destination by utilizing diversity in culture and
customizing its products for its target markets.
Economic Trends:
With Shein’s target market being women in their teens and twenties, many of
their consumers are school-aged and, therefore, full-time or part-time students. Thus,
they are likely to be either unemployed or only employed part-time. This, however,
doesn’t necessarily impact their bottom line in terms of losing consumers. Much of the
draw of Shein as a company is their ability to produce and then sell trendy clothes at a
low price for those on a budget.
Shein focuses solely on international markets, shipping to 220 countries, and
does very little business-to-consumer sales in its home country of China (Toh 2021).
The company saw its early growth in India and Saudi Arabia, but now its strongest
presence is in Brazil, Mexico, and the United States. The United States makes up their
second largest market by total usage behind Brazil and is the largest by revenue.
Mainland China, which is not one of Shein’s markets, is not, however, a lost market.
Shein would struggle to compete with other Chinese companies that are able to
produce at similarly low costs.
Although India was initially a key market for Shein, the app was banned by the
Indian government in 2020, along with around a dozen other Chinese apps, as the two
countries dealt with border tensions. The ban was revoked in May 2023 through a
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partnership between Shein and Reliance Retail. However, throughout that time Shein
was, to an extent, still available in India, particularly via Amazon a year into the ban (Toh
2021). Shein has also recently faced scrutiny from the South African government,
regarding the potential that the fashion company has been taking advantage of tax
policies to skirt higher tariffs (Hickman, Binns 2023). This political backlash has and
could continue to lead to Shein being unavailable in more markets.
The United States, which is one of Shein’s top markets, has two recently
proposed bills that would potentially affect the company’s costs to ship into the United
States. The bill hopes to “level the playing field for American companies [against
“non-market economies” like China and Russia] that face the fees associated with
importing goods make for them in other countries” (Holman 2023). Currently, the United
States has a de minimis threshold of $800, which means that shipments that are valued
less than $800 are not subject to duties and taxes by U.S. Customs and Border
Protection. Most Shein orders to buyers in the United States fall within that threshold,
which allows the company to save by avoiding that taxation. However, Shein has also
recently opened more warehouses in the United States, which will likely lead to more
large quantity shipments and, therefore, more fees as shipments would exceed the
current $800 threshold. If Shein does have increased shipping costs due to customs
fees, it is likely that prices will, thus, increase for buyers.
Shein saw most of its growth in the last couple years during and following the
COVID-19 pandemic when many buyers were refraining or minimizing use of physical
stores. During this time, buyers were staying home, which also gave them time and the
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necessity to shop online. The company has been able to take advantage of the
opportunity that the chaotic COVID-19 pandemic brought.
Despite their numerous legal problems and public criticism, Shein still has a
large, global consumer market. These issues have the potential to be detrimental to the
company, but their unique business model allows them to maintain their so-far
successful practices. Many buyers are willing to overlook Shein’s issues for the low
price of the products.
Technological Trends:
Shein uses a multitude of technologies to do their consumer research and
predictions. One of those technologies is AI. By using these advanced technologies,
Shein can analyze their consumers, and their tendencies when browsing the website
and when checking out. AI can use information from consumers from their most recent
purchases from Shein and use that information to alter the consumers experience by
personalizing it.
AI, Artificial Intelligence, is a “brain” operated by a machine. Essentially, it is a
machine that can reason and think just like a human brain. Shein uses AI for two
reasons. The first one is that Shein uses AI to track what their target market does
throughout the day. AI tracks their social media habits and analyzes their likes, shares,
comments, etc. When AI collects all this information, they design articles of clothing and
accessories to catch on with trends and fads to attract their target market. By doing this,
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Shein has gotten into some trouble with the law by using very similar designs from other
designers.
On one hand AI is helping Shein keep up to date with trends and attracting their
target market to keep coming back to them to shop cheap fast fashion. On the other
hand, AI is causing major legal issues for the company by using very similar designs to
clothing that already exists by a designer or bigger corporation. However, AI is doing
what Shein has programmed it to do. Therefore, AI is creating these designs based on
their target market’s social media footprint, and these designs can come from other
brands and designers that are popular with their target market. So, for Shein AI is a
positive and a negative for the company. All depends on how the company goes about
it.
Since December of 2018, Shein has incorporated digital thermal transfer printing
into their factories. Digital thermal transfer printing is a different kind of technology to
replace the traditional screen-printing process. By developing this new technology, it
reduces the amount of waste that goes into the environment and helps preserve other
resources. The traditional screen-printing process uses a lot of water and puts out a lot
of waste into the environment. Sheingroup.com shares that traditional screen printing
usually uses about .49 tons of water which makes close to 100 meters of fabric. With
Shein implementing digital thermal transfer printing, the company has saved 590,000
tons of water since December of 2018. Shein is becoming a more sustainable company
by using this technology. This brings some positives to the company because even
though Shein is a fast-fashion with thousands of sales, the company is reducing their
carbon footprint and reducing waste.

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Interview Summary:
● What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Shein?
The majority of our participants in the interview process are young
women in their early 20’s. Shein is mostly known for their affordable and
poor quality products.
● What about Shein made you interested in purchasing clothes from them?
As social media has grown over the years, Shein has made its impact
on social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram to promote their
products via influencers. Shein has also become so popular for young
women that friend recommendations are also a big component to
expanding their online presence.
● How was your experience buying clothes from Shein? (positive/negative and
why)
The participants of our interviews have all had mixed reviews regarding
their experience with shopping at Shein. Shein has forgotten orders in
orders, stolen credit card information, and more.
● Can you describe the last time you ordered clothing from Shein? (Was it
easy/difficult?)
Majority say that it has been easy to use the Shein website/application
and that there was not any difficulties regarding choosing items and
checking out.
● What do you think about Shein?

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Our participants all believe that Shein is an affordable option for young
adults to purchase clothing, however the quality of the products needs
significant improvement.
● How would you describe your experience with Shein? (Get examples of their
experience)
The experience of shopping at Shein seems to be relatively positive. The
main issues with Shein is the package itself, including missing items and
arriving late.
● How did you find out about Shein?
All of our participants discovered Shein through social media or peer
recommendations.
● How do you think Shein could go about fixing the quality of their items?
The profit that Shein has generated over time, should be reinvested into
their clothing to provide better benefits to their employees, along with
better quality products.
● What process did you go through to make your decision to buy clothing items
from Shein?
Our participants all made their clothing decisions based off of TikTok
and Instagram recommendations along with our peers.
● Are you aware of Shein’s legal issues with copyright infringement or the poor
treatment of workers in affiliated factories? And has any of that impacted your
decision to shop with them?

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Shein’s legal issues with copyright infringement and poor treatment of
workers has become more known as the company grows wider over time.
● Do you trust the website to hold your credit card information?
Most of the participants do not save their credit card information to the
Shein website because they subconsciously do not trust it.
● Have you ever had your credit card info on Shein stolen?
No, none of our participants have had their credit card information stolen
via Shein.
Objectives:
● To determine the knowledge of Shein prior to purchasing versus after
purchasing.
● To assess how consumers’ decision to purchase from Shein is influenced by
their knowledge of legal issues
● To determine how aware Shein’s target market is of their legal issues.
● To determine to what extent consumers are influenced by price,
style/trendiness, and options/variety for items in their decision to purchase
from Shein
● To determine the consumers perspective of the quality of products.
● To determine if the consumers believe Sheins cybersecurity is trustworthy

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Methodology
Data Collection Method:
The data was collected using two methods. Participants were interviewed in
person and an anonymous, voluntary survey was sent out electronically using Qualtrics,
a survey building platform provided by the University of Tennessee. Conducting in
person interviews was orchestrated by creating 12 questions to ask. These questions
centered around personal knowledge of Shein and purchase experience. A total of 10
participants were approached and interviewed. This data was analyzed and used to
create more appropriate questions that were used in the second step of the data
collection process.
From the in person interviews, the questions were refined in order to narrow our
research objective. Qualtrics, a digital research program, was used to sample a wide
demographic of online clothing purchasers. These six objectives were used as the
bases of the research questions: knowledge of Shein, purchase influence, awareness of
legal actions, quality of product, and trustworthiness of the company itself. 15 questions
were then developed to narrow down the objectives to obtain quality data. The
demographic sampling was broad in scope. 3 demographic specific questions were
added to help narrow down the results further; age, gender and employment status.
After we sent out our interviews, we received 250 responses, of those 250 responses
those who have not purchased clothing from shein were removed from the results
leaving us with a data set of 128 qualified responses.

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Questionnaire Design/Layout
The survey began by asking respondents if they have shopped at Shein before.
This question gave a baseline as to how many of the survey takers were familiar with
Shein and the shopping process when ordering from their website. The survey
continued on by asking how often consumers visit Sheins website. Shein updates their
website with thousands of new products daily so it is common for shoppers to visit their
website often to browse new products. The respondents were then asked how many
products they each had purchased from Shein, none, less than 10, less than 25, less
than 50, and more than 50. Through the middle of the survey, the respondents were
asked what their feelings were when purchasing from Shein. The three options
presented were price, trendiness/style, and options/choices and the survey takers had
to choose how they felt about each between 1 and 5 with 1 being strongly negative and
5 being strongly positive. This led on to ask how the respondents who have shopped
from Shein believe the quality of their clothing is, survey takers were asked to choose a
number 1 through 5. They were asked to choose 1 if they believed the quality of their
products was poor and 5 if they believed the quality was great. Shein is well known in
the fast fashion industry and typically the quality of fast fashion products are not great
because they are produced in such a large batch at a quick pace. This then led into the
questions about Sheins labor practices. The respondents were asked if they would buy
from a company that they know is treating their employees unfairly, and if they would
purchase clothes that they knew were made with harmful chemicals. Shein has never
vocally admitted to allowing these things, but there have been articles and different
sources that have confirmed the suspicions of this. Question 11 had the survey takers
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rate the importance of certain legal actions when making the decision to buy from a
certain company. Trademark and copyright infringement, labor abuse, mishandling
customer data, and toxic chemicals in clothing for the legal actions were what the
respondents were each asked to rate by importance to them. The survey takers were
then asked questions such as age, gender, and employment status to get a basis as to
who responded to our survey.
Sample Design and Size:
The sample used was filtering by our first question to find out which respondents
were Shein customers. We filtered “Have you purchased clothing from Shein before?”
for responses of “Yes.” This generalization gave us insight into Shein customers’ views
throughout the survey. Initially, there were 250 responses to our survey, but the filter
gave us a sample of 128, which is just slightly above half.
Before receiving any responses, our hope was to sample based on Shein’s target
market of women in their teens and twenties. However, within our responses, that group
would have been too small to be a good representation. However, our ten interviews
were all conducted of women in their twenties, which is part of Shein’s target market.
Profile of the Samples:
250 people participated in our survey, and of that, 128 people had purchased
clothing from Shein and were our sample. We asked participants some questions
pertaining to their demographic. Those questions were how old they are, how they
would describe themselves, and their employment status over the last three months.
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Out of those 128 people, the age group with the majority of the participants was the
35-44 year old range with a percentage of 19.20%. The 25-34 year old and 65+ year old
age ranges tie second with a percentage of 15.20%. The lowest participant percentage
of the age groups are Under 18 years old with 9.20%. The second demographic
question we asked our participants was “how would you describe yourself?” We
concluded that 35 of the participants were males, 30 of the participants were female, 23
of the participants preferred to self-describe, 22 of the participants preferred not to say,
and 18 of the participants were non-binary / third gender. Finally, the last demographic
question we asked was “What best describes your employment status over the last
three months?” We found that 27 out of the 128 participants are unemployed and
looking for work, 26 out of the 128 participants are retired, 19 out of the 128 participants
are a homemaker or stay-at-home parent, another 19 out of the 128 participants are
other, 13 out of 128 participants are working full time, 12 out of the 128 participants are
working part time, and another 12 out of the 128 participants are students. Based on
these questions and our data, we can gauge the demographics of the participants and
determine a profile of our samples.
Descriptive Analysis and Inferential Statistics:
Objective 1:To determine the knowledge of Shein prior to purchasing versus after
purchasing
Shein is a major fast fashion chain, and the purpose of this question is to analyze
the history between the participant and Shein. The results show that 51% of our
participants have purchased from the Shein website. The other 48% have no
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experience with the company, this will alter the remaining questions of the survey
responses. The cumulative percentages compare the total of participants with the
percentage of “yes” and “no'' answers. After looking at the results, we were surprised by
the slight difference in the two percentages. The reasoning behind this is that our target
market was set to 18-23 year old females who live in college towns. Shein is known for
their affordable fast fashion, which is very convenient for young college students. So,
the results were surprising that the split between the two answers were so close.
(Figure 1: Have you purchased clothing from Shein?)
Objective 2: To assess how consumers’ decision to purchase from Shein is
influenced by their knowledge of legal issues
Shein as a whole, is known for low cost, quick turn over fashion which is very
appealing to consumers. The purpose of our survey was to see how consumers felt
about Shein when it came to product quality, trustworthiness, business integrity and
reliability. When examining the results of the survey, we found that 45% of our target
market thought that the quality of Shein’s clothes rated a 4 or higher on a scale of 5.
This was a surprising result considering Shein’s reputation for low quality materials.
25.8% of people would buy clothing from a company that is a dupe of a more expensive
piece of clothing on a different website. Consumers continue to be bargain savvy.
When it came to the trustworthiness of the site, 22.7% of people think that they
probably would not trust Shein’s website to hold their personal information. Another
surprising result that was expected to reflect higher was based on business integrity. On
26
average, our target market “might or might not” buy clothing from a company that they
know treats their employees unfairly. 23.4% of people are neither likely nor unlikely to
purchase clothing knowing that it was created using harmful chemicals. Both low results
consider both of these practices to be physically harmful to people. I looked at the
relationship between how many items a person has purchased from shein and to what
extent the consumer is aware of Shein’s legal issues. There is no statistically significant
relationship to show that consumers purchased less items based on their knowledge of
Shein’s legal issues. McFadden’s R-squared is 1.6%.
(Table 1: How would you rate Shein’s quality of products?)
Objective 3: To determine how aware Shein’s target market is of their legal issues
Our target market finds that almost all of the legal issues moderately affect their
decision to shop with a company. On average we found that 23.4% of the 128 people
answered that they thought the most important legal issue that a company can face
would be labor abuse, which would affect their decision to shop with said company.
While trademark and copyright infringement, mishandling customer data, and toxic
chemicals in clothing, are only moderately important when it comes to choosing to shop
with a company.
27
(Table 2: To what degree of the following legal actions affect your decision to shop with
a company?)
As discussed earlier, Shein’s fast growth and ability to adapt quickly during the
pandemic contributed to its massive revenue share growth of the clothing industry. Of
course, growing that fast, cutting corners, and not setting high standards for their
products is bound to create legal issues. But, how aware of these problems are its
consumers? Do they only see a good deal and not consider how that great dress came
to fruition? Based on the information we collected, 69% of their consumers were aware
of Shein’s legal issues with 35.2% of that group being “very aware” and yet they still
continued with completing a purchase. A large 30.5% of this group wasn’t even aware
of any of the issues discussed and these new revelations were unlikely to change their
purchase behavior with Shein. In the end, the bargain deal outweighs the moral and
unsightly practices of this company.
(Figure 2: How aware are you of these legal actions against Shein's corporate
responsibility?)
28
Objective 4: To determine to what extent consumers are influenced by price,
style/trendiness, and options/variety for items in their decision to purchase from
Shein
With a chi-squared test, there is no statistically significant relationship between
whether or not a person was a Shein customer and the following three components:
price, style, and choices. This was selected from questions one and five. Question one
was selected because it is the question used to filter the data, so using it here was also
relevant. Trendiness had the strongest significance (p-value = 0.0769), which shows
that trendiness had the most connection with whether or not a respondent was a
customer. Choices had the lowest significance (p-value = 0.598), so respondents’
feelings on choices on the Shein website did not closely relate to their status as a
customer or not. Price was in the middle (p-value = 0.466), so to some extent, price may
have a connection to whether or not a respondent was a Shein customer.
In the sample, all components had a minimum of 1.00 and a maximum of 5.00,
which means that the selections had a full range. With the options being 1.00 to 5.00,
3.00 is the overall mean. The option of price still fits closest to that with a mean of 2.98.
However, it is intriguing that with the price, the line graph below shows that the counts
for price is highest at 5.00, but the lowest point for price is 4.00. The mean for style was
3.11, which puts it above average and, thus, a slight positive overall for Shein
customers. The mean for choices was below average at 2.78. This made it a slight
negative for customers.

29
(Figure 3: What are your feelings on the following components of Shein in terms of your
decision to purchase?)
Objective 5: To determine the consumers perspective of the quality of products
Respondents were asked the question “How would you rate Shein’s quality of
products on a scale of 1-5?” They were given the options 1) Poor, 2) Less Poor, 3)
Average, 4) Okay, 5) Great. Option 5 (Great) was the highest chosen option with 22.4%
of respondents clicking this, and options 1 and 2 were tied at second with both 20.4% of
respondents voting this. It was surprising that “Great” was the most voted option
considering the quality of Sheins clothing is typically known for being subpar and very
cheap using thin materials, but the lowest two options following close behind confirms
that most shoppers know the quality is poor.
(Table 3: How would you rate Shein’s quality of products?)

30
Objective 6: To determine if the consumers believe Shein is a trustworthy
company
The respondents were asked in the survey “Do you trust Shein’s site to hold your
personal information?” They were given five options to choose from: definitely yes,
probably yes, might or might not, probably not, and definitely not. Option 4 (Probably
not) was the highest option chosen by the respondents with a percentage of 22.8%, and
option 1 (Definitely yes) was the second highest chosen answer with a percentage of
21.2% respondents. The least chosen answer was option 2 (Probably yes) with a
percentage of 18.0% and count of 45 of the respondents. It is interesting to see that
“Definitely yes” was the second highest answer chosen by the respondents. Normally
with these big fast fashion companies out of China, people do not trust these companies
with their personal information because some people have had their credit card
information stolen.
(Figure 4: Do you trust Shein's site to hold your personal information?)
Limitations:
When creating this survey, our target market was young women between the ages of
18-23 year olds, specifically in college-towns. Our survey was easy to understand due to the
popularity of Shein. The survey questions were created based on the objectives we created to
understand the prior knowledge of Shein to our target market, such as their experience,
31
knowledge of the company, and its products. After analyzing our results, we noticed that the
results show that a number of our participants have not purchased from Shein. Therefore, this
lack of experience will skew our data because of the lack of experience and the participants will
not have an answer for other questions such as “Has Shein ever stole your credit card
information before?” Another observation of our study is that 30.5% of our participants were
unaware of the legal and ethical issues within the Shein company, which will also alter the
participants' answers for on-going questions. After evaluating the participants survey answer,
the participants with little to no experience purchasing from Shein, we should have made a few
of the questions more broad instead of only targeting people who have experience shopping at
Shein. After our first question, it targets people who do have experience when 48% of our
participants do not. So, our questions should have reworded so that it would expand the target
market, and focus more on the Shein company versus the shopping aspect.
Conclusions and Recommendations:
This survey was conducted to answer the questions in the “Objectives” section of
the report. These questions were created in order to gain a better understanding of
Sheins place in the market. For this section, the objectives will be restated and will be
followed by a conclusion and a recommendation for Shein based on the findings for this
report.
1. To determine the knowledge of Shein prior to purchasing versus after
purchasing.
Survey question: Question 1 in the appendix
Conclusion: A little over half of the respondents concluded that they have
shopped from Shein before, and the other have declared that they have not purchased
32
anything from Shein. The goal was to filter the data, so that information is received from
people who have feelings towards Shein and know what it is like to purchase from this
company. This also ensures that the further questions' results make sense because of
the filtering.
Recommendation: It is evident that a lot of people are not familiar with Shein.
This could be because they typically target young adults through social media and
people who do not keep up with current trends on social platforms probably have not
heard of Shein before. This shows that Shein needs to work on their advertising and
find different ways to reach other markets since they have an immense amount of
different things that consumers can choose to buy on their website.
2. To assess how consumers decision to purchase from Shein is influenced by their
knowledge of legal issues
Survey question: Questions 6, 7, 8, and 9
Conclusion: After looking at the survey results, the respondents typically said
that they would not trust Shein to hold their personal information. The respondents also
said that they might or might not purchase from a company that treats their employees
poorly.
Recommendation: Shein should focus on creating better quality products, this
will increase the amount of customers they receive. Shein should also strive to provide
a better environment for their workers. Shein should provide employee training so that
their employees feel more comfortable when put to work. Shein should also create an
employee recognition program so that their employees feel appreciated and do not feel
like they are being treated unfairly.

33
3. To determine how aware Shein’s target market is of their legal issues
Survey question: Question 12
Conclusion: More than half of the respondents noted that they were aware of
the legal issues that Shein has to face due to their unfair business practices. There
were also a good amount of people who had no idea that Shein was being accused of
these unfair practices.
Recommendation: There is no recommendation to be given here due to the
findings being exploratory.
4. To determine to what extent consumers are influenced by price,
style/trendiness, and options/variety for items in their decision to purchase from
Shein
Conclusion: All of the three options provided; style/trendiness, price, and
options/choices had all pretty scattered responses in regards to importance for the
respondents when shopping from Shein. Shein is constantly posting new products to
stay up with the trends, their prices are low, and they have an immense selection for the
consumer to choose from.
Generally, women viewed Shein’s price and options more favorably than men
did. Men also had strong negative feelings toward trendiness, more than price and
options, where women were more evenly divided. Price was overall evenly distributed
based on employment, with each answer choice having roughly the same number of
responses. Respondents who reported part-time employment viewed Shein’s prices
favorably, while those who were unemployed and looking viewed it neutrally. For
34
choices, participants who were homemakers and retired had positive feelings about
choices, while those who work full-time viewed it negatively and neutrally.
Recommendation: Shein should continue to stay up with the current trends so
their customers can shop what is in style. Shein should minimize their options slightly;
they have over thousands of different things a consumer could buy online from clothing
to accessories to makeup, which can sometimes be overwhelming for a consumer when
browsing their website. Based on the demographic generalizations, the groups that had
negative feelings on any of the components, that would provide a start for changes that
Shein could make to improve the shopping experience for their customers.
5. To determine the consumers perspective of the quality of products
Conclusion: It has been concluded that the majority of customers who have
shopped at Shein believe that the quality of their clothing is average to great. Over 40%
believe the opposite and that the quality of their clothing is cheap.
Recommendation: Shein should continue to produce and create products the
way that they are done now if consumers are mostly satisfied with the quality of the
products that they are receiving.
6. To determine if the consumers believe Sheins cybersecurity is trustworthy
Conclusion: A majority of the respondents selected “Probably Not” as to if they
trusted Shein or not with holding their credit card information. “Definitely Yes” was the
next most chosen option. Results were scattered for this question.
35
Recommendation: Shein needs to create a more reliable system that allows
customers to feel that their card information is safe and secure when they purchase a
product. There have been countless recorded instances of credit card fraud when
consumers have shopped from Shein.

36
References:
Banerjee, Anik, and Purbalee Dutta. "Shein - How the Company Brings Trendsetting
Fashion That Stands Out?" Startup Talky, 19 Jul. 2022,
startuptalky.com/shein-success-story/#:~:text=Shein%20%2D%20Startup%20Sto
ry%20And%20History,-The%20background%20of&text=Xu%20was%20then%20
working%20with,store%20for%20cheap%20fashion%20wear.
Cowley, Jenny, et al. "Experts Warn of High Levels of Chemicals in Clothes by Some
Fast-fashion Retailers." CBC, 1 Oct. 2021,
www.cbc.ca/news/business/marketplace-fast-fashion-chemicals-1.6193385.
Hickman, Matt, and Jessica Binns. "Shein Faces Customs Probe and Battles Surging
Fast-Fashion Threat." Sourcing Journal, 15 Mar. 2023,
sourcingjournal.com/topics/business-news/shein-lawsuit-temu-fast-fashion-trade
mark-influencers-south-africa-customs-tariffs-423424/.
Liao, Rita. "Shein Owner Fined $1.9M for Failing to Notify 39M Users of Data Breach."
Tech Crunch, 14 Oct. 2022,
www.thecut.com/2022/10/shein-is-treating-workers-even-worse-than-you-thought
.html.
Manor Staff, The. "Buying Into the Billions." SCAD The Manor, 12 Apr. 2022,
scadmanor.com/buying-into-the-billions/#:~:text=SHEIN%20takes%20its%20con
sumer%2Dtracking,and%20predict%20new%20style%20trends.
Perri, Janine. "Shein Holds Largest U.S. Fast Fashion Market Share." Bloomberg
Second Measure, 4 Jan. 2023,

37
secondmeasure.com/datapoints/fast-fashion-market-share-us-consumer-spendin
g-data-shein-hm-zara/.
"SHEIN: What You Need to Know About the Brand’S Social and Environmental Impact."
Make Fashion Better, 11 Sept. 2022,
www.makefashionbetter.com/blog/shein-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-brand
s-social-and-environmental-impact.
Singh-Kurtz, Sangeerta. "Shein Is Even Worse Than You Thought." The Cut, 17 Oct.
2022,
www.thecut.com/2022/10/shein-is-treating-workers-even-worse-than-you-thought
.html.
Strumpf, Dan. "China’S Fast-Fashion Giant Shein Faces Dozens of Lawsuits Alleging
Design Theft." Wall Street Journal, 3 Apr. 2022,
www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-fast-fashion-giant-shein-faces-dozens-of-lawsuits-al
leging-design-theft-11656840601.
Toh, Michelle. "Amazon Is Helping a Chinese Upstart Make a Comeback in India After
Its App Was Banned." CNN Business, 14 Jul. 2021,
edition.cnn.com/2021/07/14/tech/shein-india-amazon-chinese-apps-intl-hnk/index
.html.
38
Appendix:
Interviewed: Mya Wood
Interviewed by: Katherine Raines
● What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of
Shein?
The first thing that comes to mind is affordable fashion with a great variety of
styles.
● What about Shein made you interested in purchasing clothes from
them?
For living in a college town, I wanted a few pieces that I could wear for different
occasions.
● How was your experience buying clothes from Shein?
(Positive/Negative & Why)
I have had a great experience, I have ordered things such as tote bags, hoodies,
and swimsuits. For the price, I have been happy with my decision.
Easy/difficult?)
The last time I ordered from Shein it was difficult due to late shipping, it took
longer than expected.
Overall, I think it is a positive outlet for fashion.
● How would you describe your experience with Shein? (Get examples of
their experience)
39
I have had a positive experience from past purchases via Shein.
● How did you find out about Shein
I found out about Shein through Instagram ads and influencers.
I believe that Shein could invest more in product quality because of their growth
over the years through social media.
● What process did you go through to make your decision to buy clothing
items from Shein?
I made my decisions based off of TikTok recommendations and
recommendations from my friends.
● Are you aware of Shein’s legal issues with copyright infringement or the
poor treatment of workers in affiliated factories? And has any of that
impacted your decision to shop with them?
I have been aware of these issues, but not the extent of it until recently. It has
impacted my decision to shop at Shein because ethically, the price is not worth the long-
term damage.
I do not save my credit card information on any of the websites that I have
shopped on.
No, I have never had my information stolen before through Shein.
Interviewed: Gracie Hitchcock

40
Interviewed by: Katherine Raines
Shein?
When I think of Shein, I think of affordable clothing that is made poorly.
them?
I have purchased from Shein based on convenience.
My experience has been negative because there were missing pieces from my
order, and it arrived a week later than expected.
easy/difficult?)
I found ordering from Shein to be difficult because of the late delivery date.
I think Shein is very accessible to many people.
their experience)
My experience has been mixed because I have enjoyed a few pieces from their
website such as my hoodies, but I was missing a few items from my order.
I found out about Shein on social media, I believe Instagram stories.
41
I think Shein should take the profit that they have created and re-invest that
money into creating better quality clothing.
items from Shein?
I chose my pieces through TikTok videos using the #shein tag.
I am aware of their legal issues, which is the main reason why I am not a big
supporter of Shein.
I do not trust Shein to hold my credit card information.
No, I have never had my information stolen from Shein, however, I have only had
two orders processed.
Interviewed: Rachael McKenna
Interviewed by: Abby Mortensen
Shein?
Cheap but decent quality clothes
them?
42
I really like the style and variety of things they have to offer along with
reasonable prices.
Positive - the clothes come within a reasonable time frame and are easy to return
if needed. Often offers free shipping or other discounts with Shein points. i order a size
up to ensure they fit right. Negative - not always material I expect it to be. some clothes
appear too thin and see-through. Other than that, nothing negative.
easy/difficult?)
The last time I ordered it was pretty easy. I knew exactly what I was looking for
and it came out exactly how I expected. I got a pair of heels and a dress. They came in
time and did not need to be returned, which is a plus.
I think Shein is growing in popularity and due to the efficiency of shipping and
reasonable pricing, it’s a great online shopping site.
their experience)
Experience - I ordered a two-piece set for an event and it fit great. It’s been two
years and I still wear it to this day. It’s red with flowers and is good for any occasion and
will suit me for a few years most likely.
I found Shein by searching for cheap clothes online.

43
Spend more money on better fabric, take more time making them, and make
them exactly true to size.
items from Shein?
I look closely at other people’s reviews of clothing items and what they look like
on real people. This gives me a good idea as to what they’ll look like on me. I also can
get a better idea on the quality of the items.
Yes - I feel guilty shopping there based on the legal issues. However cheap
clothes are cheap clothes in my eyes. I really wish the manufacturers were treated
better because of the nature of how things are produced.
No I don’t trust it with my credit card information, so I don’t save it and put it in
every time I buy something or use PayPal.
No, I have not.
Interviewed: Samantha Whitman
Interviewed by: Abby Mortensen

44
Shein?
Cheap clothing.
them?
Cheap and cute clothes.
Loved my experience, good quality products, fast reliable shipping.
easy/difficult?)
Last time I ordered something it came quicker than its projected arrival date and
was precisely what I wanted.
I have never had issues with Shein.
their experience)
My experience is Shein has been positive, with good sales, and good products. I
enjoy shopping with them.
I found out from my sister who shopped from Shein.
45
I think that for quality they could work on having all clothes consistently good
quality. While my clothes have been fine, I know some people run into issues.
items from Shein?
For my process, I simply saw my sister's good experience and decided to try it for
myself.
I had no idea about the copyright or poor treatment of workers. I'd have to look
more into it before shopping again.
I have trusted them with my information, but I don't have my cards saved on the
app so perhaps not fully trust them
•I've never had my info stolen
Interviewed: Olivia Zimmerman (22)
Interviewed by: Ainsley Drexler
Shein?
I think of cheap clothing.

46
them?
It’s affordable and college budget friendly.
● How was your experience buying clothes from Shein? (positive/negative
and why)
Positive because the shipping came pretty quickly, and it didn’t cost very
much. The quality of it was about what i expected. The return policy is was it
says it is and I’ve never had any issues.
easy/difficult?)
It was easy, it was a solid experience.
I think it is not a very ethically good company, but they are good at what they
do by having cheap clothes that are cheap and affordable
their experience)
The last time I ordered something everything came in and I got exactly what I
ordered. The reviews were honest and spot on.
Other college students when I got to college.
Make it more ethically better, make the clothing a little more expensive to
steer away from fast fashion to have higher quality items and working conditions.
47
items from Shein?
I went on their app and saw what was best selling at the time and ordered
accordingly.
Yes im trying to move away from shopping with them as I am a college
graduate and can spend more money on more expensive, ethically good clothing
Yeah, I haven't had any issues in the past.
No, I have not
Interviewed: Maggie Hall (20)
Interviewed by: Ainsley Drexler
Shein?
Cheap, fast fashion.
them?
It has affordable, cute clothes.

48
and why)
Good and bad, some things are great and I love them, but some are defiantly
very poorly made and break or fall apart easy. The sizing can be off too.
easy/difficult?)
The last time as a few weeks ago and it was fairly easy, I had no problems.
Its ok, I only really buy from there when I'm super broke.
their experience)
It’s fine, the customer service is fairly good. They lost my package and
refunded me and re-sent the package so it was free.
I think an ad on Instagram
By paying their staff better and not having really young people working for
them, using better materials, have adult workers, raise prices to afford this.
items from Shein?
They look cute and they are super cheap so I figured since theres not many
other places to buy clothes so cheap, its my only option while im broke.
49
Yes im aware, no it hasn’t affected my decision.
Yes, I haven't had an issue so far.
No I have not.
Interviewed: Gracie Fontaine
Interviewed by: Caeden Rogers
Shein?
A website where you can get a bunch of clothes for a cheap price.
them?
They are always adding new clothes, keeping up with the trends
It went well because I read reviews before deciding what I wanted to purchase.
easy/difficult?)
50
I recently ordered clothes from Shein and everything came exactly how I wanted
except one of the items.
I enjoy shopping from Shein due to their large amount of clothing options.
their experience)
I have always liked what I have ordered from Shein, The clothing comes exactly
how I have imagined and like the photos included online.
I found out through social media about Shein.
I think the quality of the clothes could be better it is a little cheap
items from Shein?
I read the reviews on the website before determining if I should buy from them or
not
I knew that they were associated with fast fashion, but I am not aware of what
that entails.

51
I don’t trust them to hold my info but I have used my card to purchase from there
before.
No I have not.
Interviewed: Sawyer Rogers
Interviewed by: Caeden Rogers
Shein?
Low quality clothing and accessories, cheap everything.
them?
Because it is cheap and they have a lot of options
You get what you pay for, it is cheap but that is expected.
easy/difficult?)
It was easy, I picked what I wanted put it all in a cart and then got all the clothes I
ordered in 2 weeks. Which is a little bit longer then a normal clothing website.
I do not like what goes on behind the scenes in the process of making the clothes
at Shein, I have heard that the working conditions are extremely poor there. i
52
their experience)
I have mostly liked every product I have received from Shein, but the quality is
not great and the products take a while to come in.
I think I found out about Shein through TikTok.
They could potentially not produce or market as many products on their websites
so that they could focus on fixing the quality of their items.
items from Shein?
I read the reviews of some of the clothing items I was interested in and then
decided if I actually wanted to purchase those items.
Yes, I have seen some things on social media that have mentioned the poor
working conditions and environments that the workers are faced with. It really is
concerning that there is not much done to fix these issues.
No I do not trust Shein to hold my credit card information
No I have not.
53
Interviewed: Zoe Greszler
Interviewed by: Elizabeth Case
Violating labor laws
They’re trendy so that’s why I would consider.
and why?)
I’ve never purchased clothes from Shein.
easy/difficult?)
I cannot
I think that it exacerbates the fast fashion industry and continually exploits and
underpays their workers while also doing nothing to counteract its impact on the
environment.
their experience)
I can't
People my age buy from there
Properly source their clothes in a sustainable manner.

54
items from Shein?
I’ve chosen not to buy from there.
I am
● I suppose I would
I have not
Interviewed: Charlsey Sullivan
Interviewed by: Elizabeth Case
Fast fashion
Cheapness
and why)
Took a very long time and some okay quality and most was horrible quality
easy/difficult?)
55
Easy to order, hard to get
The website works for people with more patience
their experience)
It was alright. Not for me though
Online/friends
Some were definitely better than others.
items from Shein?
I should have read the reviews
No I wasn’t, but that makes sense. I am not ordering from them in the future
No I do not trust their website to hold my card information.
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1

By: Group 3 - Abby Mortensen, Ainsley Drexler,

Caeden Rogers, Elizabeth Case, & Katherine Raines

July 11, 2023

Section Title Page

Figure 1: Have you purchased clothing from Shein?..................................................... 25

Figure 4: Do you trust Shein’s site to hold your personal information?......................... 30

Table 1: How would you rate Shein’s quality of products?............................................. 26

Table 3: How would you rate Shein’s quality of products?............................................. 29

● To determine the knowledge of Shein prior to purchasing versus after

● To assess how consumers’ decision to purchase from Shein is influenced by

their knowledge of Shein’s legal issues

● To determine how aware Shein’s target market is of their legal issues.

● To determine to what extent consumers are influenced by price,

style/trendiness, and options/variety for items in their decision to purchase

● To determine the consumers perspective of the quality of products.

● To determine if the consumers believe Shein is a trustworthy company.

half that have not

to shop with a company

● Style/trendiness, price, and options/choices had scattered responses in regards

to importance for the respondents when shopping from Shein

their personal information

personal information, and use that information to better their security

upgrade the fabric and/or techniques to make their clothes

clothing options made it one of the fastest-growing consumer internet platforms

to the websites for fast-fashion companies like Shein and Zara.

billion company to now being valued at $30 billion in November 2021.

encourages Shein’s customers to purchase large quantities of items per transaction. In

three do. Shein is solely an online retailer.

Unlike the above-mentioned companies, Shein excels in their overall business

matter of seconds. Additionally, without having a physical storefront location, Shein

does not have to display inventory in a way that is attractive to consumers.

draw for this market.

system, which was described as “similar to playing a mobile game,” by 20-year-old

Anushka Sachan (Toh 2021).

plaintiffs for an undisclosed amount rather than defending its practices.

employees. In 2022, information about an investigation was released finding the

there were high levels of phthalates in shoes which is detrimental to reproductive,

neurological, and developmental systems in humans and formaldehyde in a baby girls

are committed to continuous improvement of their supply chain.

customers safe. That’s how these platforms make a profit.

Other options for consumer awareness of these practices could be enacted by

Shein has been influenced by various different sociocultural trends. One

affordable, on-trend clothing with quick shipping. Shein's extensive selection of

as a go-to destination for trendy fashion.

Additionally, Shein's globalization efforts have contributed to its popularity

shape the future sociocultural landscape surrounding Shein.

regularly posts content and interesting fashion-related stories. Shein is successfully

and develops an atmosphere of authenticity. Additionally, Shein actively engages its

worldwide consumer base by providing customized websites and customer service in

positioned itself as a worldwide fashion destination by utilizing diversity in culture and

customizing its products for its target markets.

low price for those on a budget.

Shein focuses solely on international markets, shipping to 220 countries, and

produce at similarly low costs.

could continue to lead to Shein being unavailable in more markets.

fees, it is likely that prices will, thus, increase for buyers.

opportunity that the chaotic COVID-19 pandemic brought.

price of the products.