Social Listening- Shein is a Behemoth in Fast Fashion, but What Are People Really Saying?

Social Listening- What are People Really Saying About Fast Fashion Behemoth, Shein?

Shein is a fast fashion company that is becoming increasingly prominent in the market for its affordable, trendy, high-street clothing and lifestyle products. The brand has become a major player in the fashion industry and is an online shopping favorite among GenZ audiences worth over 100 billion dollars in 2022. While the company carries hundreds of thousands of items from clothing, accessories, home decor, electronics, and more, for extremely affordable prices, it is being scrutinized for its questionable ethical practices. With its lack of transparency in supply chain and labor policies, as well as its massive contribution to environmental pollution from the sheer amount of products produced and sold under the company, it faces tough criticism as social and environmental sustainability become popular consumer expectations. 

Image from FourWeek MBA, 2023

According to the Shein company website, they are a “global fashion and lifestyle e-retailer committed to making the beauty of fashion accessible to all”. Shein has mastered the real-time retail model, utilizing digital channels to stay up to date with fashion trends and immediately turning them into collections that are ready to launch. By creating a strong digital presence and promoting their brand on all social media platforms using influencers to promote their clothes, Shein built a massive online following allowing them to connect with people all over the globe. Their marketing efforts set them apart from other brands. Shein has become the largest ecommerce fast fashion site, reaching millions of people through their app, website, social media presence, and influencer deals. The speed and frequency in which Shein launches products is unprecedented. They are now in touch with fashion trends and influencers in hundreds of countries, and able to tailor their market analyses to what their customers and other high-fashion brands are doing now. The pairing of this impressive online platform for research and customer connection with Shein’s mastery of shortened manufacturing and distribution allows them to sell increasingly inexpensive and enormous amounts of products to people everywhere. While there is no denying that Shein excels in fast-fashion ecommerce and has nailed their value add, their lack of accountability is becoming ever more apparent with consumers speaking up against the brand’s unethical practices. 

Many brands and individuals have begun sharing about the danger of shopping at fast fashion sites like Shein on Instagram. In 2022, @madeinamericastore, a brand that manufactures its products solely in the US that has tens of thousands of followers, posted about Shein’s “questionable ethics” calling them “shady and unethical” while advocating for their consumers to “say no to fast fashion”. A few commenters noted their support, commending the brand for its sustainability efforts, and others shamed Shein and other fast fashion brands. While advocating to stop fast fashion aligns with the Made in America Store’s mission to increase American manufacturing, their tactic of shaming other brands isn’t necessarily the best message. Consumers want accountability, and shame does not provide that. Especially when the brand doing the shaming is constantly plugging the American Dream and the US military as if either of those have never contributed to shady and unethical practices. 

More recently, Shein has been receiving major backlash for ripping off designs from other companies. @classroomofcompassion is a brand that works to honor and celebrate those whose lives are lost due to acts of violence by building healing spaces in impacted communities. Their mantra, “I hope you know how loved you are'', is a tribute to those impacted by gun violence, and a message of empowerment to the LGBTQIA+ community. Classroom of Compassion sells merchandise with the mantra on it to promote their cause and all proceeds go towards their community building programing. When Shein came out with merchandise with the meaningful mantra on it, Classroom of Compassion posted on their Instagram asking their community of supporters for help. They stated, “Being ripped off by a large fashion company like SHEIN during Pride Month is not only deeply unethical but also a stark betrayal of the values that this month represents”. With over a thousand likes and dozens of comments in support of forcing Shein to remove the ripped off clothing from their site, the Classroom of Compassion team succeeded. Shein removed their merchandise with the mantra, but never issued an apology or public statement explaining what had happened. Classroom of Compassion received a small win, but Shein took no accountability, leaving many people angry and refusing to support the brand. 

Additionally, Shein recently sent a group of influencers to one of their Innovation Centers in China. The goal of the all-expenses-paid trip was to show the influencers and their followers that allegations of forced labor, human rights violations, and use of potentially hazardous materials were false. While this appeared to have worked as the influencers raved about clean and safe working conditions on their social media platforms, critics are claiming that Shein is paying these influencers to promote their propaganda and mislead customers. Following the harsh criticism from the trip, at least one of the influencers, @danidmc, has ended all relationships with Shein. In an Instagram reel post, Dani
apologized for leading her followers down the wrong path. Many people were still outraged, leaving comments claiming that her apology was ingenuine, disgusting, and one verified IG user said, “Not only did you greenwash you also gaslit us!!!” While it is important for influencers to stick to their values and those of their followers, massive companies like Shein are more than capable of manipulating influencers and their contracts. Shein’s entire company is built on online exploitation of young customers utilizing targeted ads, massive social media trends, and brand ambassadors that don’t know any better than to support the company. It is no one person or influencer’s job to hold this massive corporation accountable. And funnily enough, Shein claims to do just that. 

Shein has a commitment to sustainability and social impact that is clearly outlined on their website homepage. The brand claims to create change by empowering entrepreneurs through an incubator program, donating to philanthropic groups, and protecting the environment by reducing waste in their supply chain. While these are all hugely important factors for business success today, Shein is still known for being one of the most negatively impactful fast fashion companies due to its size and lack of transparency. As shown in the examples above, Shein actually steals ideas from other small businesses and even large corporations, is scrutinized for a lack of compassion and compliance in regards to labor standards and human rights, and is a behemoth in the fast fashion industry which is the second largest contributor to environmental pollution. Even though the company recognizes that they have the power to “create transformational change”, it is clear from their actions and reputation that there is much work to be done. 

As someone who values sustainability in all three dimensions, I find it imperative for brands to take accountability for their social and environmental responsibility. While I commend Shein for their growth and expert marketing strategy, their reputation for pollution and mistreatment of employees is unacceptable. Even in an age where all publicity is good publicity, I still feel that owning the missteps that a company takes can make the brand more reputable. A public address of the recent scandals that Shein has faced would help clear the brand’s image, and implementing a strategy to become more environmentally and socially responsible would greatly improve the brands reputation. Doing so wouldn’t make them lose their current following. It would add to the amount of respect and good publicity that is now in demand. It is possible for companies to have high functioning, fast moving supply chains and marketing efforts that don’t undermine the planet or its people. If Shein were to adopt these practices, taking ownership of their actions, the brand would flourish, living up to its claims of social and environmental responsibility. 

Researching this brand and what the public is saying about it has shown me the true impact of marketing at the scale that Shein does. Though they seem to exploit the work of their employees and influencers, consumers still purchase their products and support their brand. I suppose that is the mark of a truly successful company in this climate of consumerism, but with people recognizing the impact of their actions and importance of social and environmental action, brands like Shein will not survive for long. Accountability and progress are essential for the longevity of companies, and it is up to the consumer to speak up and repost allegations and poor behavior for changes to occur. I encourage each and every blog reader, Instagram user, TikToker, and Twitter troll to use their voice to force brands like Shein to change for the better, upholding their value statement, and acting responsibly.