Shein, the Chinese e-commerce giant, launches a second-hand clothing resale platform

Le groupe chinois Shein va tester en France une plateforme de revente de vêtements d'occasion. Mais seuls les produits achetés sur Shein seront autorisés. dpa – Monika Skolimowska

La France est le premier pays d’Europe dans lequel le groupe chinois propose ce nouveau service. Cependant, seuls les produits achetés sur Shein seront acceptés.

In an interview published Sunday in Les Échos, Donald Tang, executive president of Shein, the Chinese online fast fashion giant, announced the upcoming creation of a second-hand clothing resale platform. Called "Shein Exchange", it will allow only second-hand clothing to be resold, with one constraint: they are not accepted than those purchased on Shein.

The executive president of the group founded in 2012, now based in Singapore, clarified: France will be the "first country of origin  rsquo;Europe" to offer this new service. A service (in reality a test), which however already exists in the United States and which, according to the economic daily, has won over more than 4 million users.

Only products purchased on Shein can be resold

In a decade, Shein has built a business model that has allowed it to grow at a phenomenal rate. The success of the Chinese group is based on a very rapid renewal of collections with unbeatable prices, with products sold exclusively on the Internet. After fast fashion, Shein is launching the circular economy with its new platform.

"The transaction is very simple, explains Donald Tang to the Échos. Your purchase history is recorded, so it only takes one click to resell a product", believing that the concept of the new platform "fpromotes a circular economy". According to many observers, this initiative aims above all to allow Shein to improve its image in France.

Fast fashion group faces strong criticism

Indeed, the online clothing purchasing giant faces numerous criticisms. The latest: the revelation of the presence of toxic chemicals in the clothing sold. He is also in the sights of the French judicial authorities, who criticize him for the environmental impact of his business model, a consequence of an extremely rapid renewal of his collections.

To counter this negative impact, the National Assembly adopted, last March, a bill intended to limit the attractiveness of its products, by making them more expensive, and thus limit the ;impact on the environment of production deemed "excessive". The text must now come before the senators.

A possible IPO

Responding to these criticisms, Donald Tang recalled that his group had production "more and more local". "We already use manufacturers in Turkey and we will increase the share of this production to serve the European market and reduce the use of air freight", he told the Échos.

Finally, the latter confirmed the thoughts surrounding an IPO of his group on the stock market. The Wall Street Journal revealed last fall that Shein had filed, in complete confidentiality, a application for IPO in the United States. But on Sunday, Reuters announced that Shein was preparing to file a prospectus with the ;British financial markets authority with a view to a possible listing on the London Stock Exchange". With a valuation of around 50 billion pounds, or 58.7 billion euros.