How to Future-Proof the Apparel Supply Chain Using the SHEIN Business Model

(BPT) - Consumer expectations are shifting — and many companies aren’t prepared to meet rapidly changing customer needs. With rising inflation and costs, apparel brands struggle more than ever to satisfy customers — and their bottom line — with the traditional retail model. Since its founding just over a decade ago, SHEIN has operated a unique, on-demand business model that solves for many of the issues now facing the retail industry: instead of telling customers what to wear, SHEIN responds to what they want to wear.

SHEIN is a global leader in fashion, beauty and lifestyle products that serves millions of customers in more than 150 countries — but while its peers create thousands of products in each style, SHEIN initially produces as few as 100 pieces for each SKU. How is it possible to serve a global customer base with so few items at a time? The company has built a fully digital supply chain with proprietary software that tracks customer interest and communicates market feedback with its supplier factories in real-time. This digital supply chain is the core of SHEIN’s business model, empowering the company to offer a wide range of current styles without creating excessive inventory waste.