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📦 Once Banned, Now Back — But Can Shein Succeed?
When Mukesh Ambani brought Shein back to India after a 5-year ban, expectations were sky-high. Imagine India’s richest man teaming up with a global fast-fashion powerhouse—what could go wrong?
Turns out, quite a bit.
Despite the buzz, the new Shein India app—run by Ambani’s Reliance Retail—hasn’t exactly taken off. From an early high of 50,000 downloads a day, it crashed to just over 3,000 daily downloads by April, according to AppMagic. That’s a sharp drop, especially in a market where Amazon and Flipkart (owned by Walmart) dominate nearly 60% of the online retail space.
🛍️ What’s Different About This Version of Shein?
Let’s clear one thing up: this isn’t the Shein you remember.
- The original global Shein app sold affordable fashion, directly shipped from China.
- The new Shein India, however, is managed entirely by Reliance.
- Shein now acts only as a tech partner, helping with backend tools like AI-powered trend predictions.
- Products are sourced and sold within India, and consumer data stays local.
That means Reliance decides what’s sold, how it’s priced, and how fast it gets delivered.
📉 What’s Going Wrong?
While the app rating has improved (up to 4.4 in May from 2 in February), customers still complain about:
- Higher prices than expected
- Limited fashion choices (only 12,000 products vs. Shein Global’s 600,000+)
- Slow trend updates
Even though Shein’s strength is its AI and quick turnaround from trend to shelf, Reliance’s scale and structure may be slowing things down.
đź’Ľ Why Ambani Needs This to Work
Reliance Retail’s value has dropped significantly—from $125 billion in 2022 to $50 billion in 2025. Its dream of a blockbuster IPO remains distant. And while digital platforms like JioMart and Ajio exist, most of its revenue still comes from its 18,000 physical stores.
Fast fashion is Reliance’s big bet to win over India’s Gen Z, a group of 377 million young people with a future spending power of over $2 trillion by 2035 (Boston Consulting Group).
But youth is tricky. They’re fast-moving, trend-savvy, and price-conscious. So far, Reliance’s other youth-centric brands like Yousta and Foundry haven’t clicked.
🤖 Can Shein’s AI Magic Save the Day?
Here’s where things get interesting.
Shein’s tech uses data to figure out what’s trending, how much to make, and at what price. If Reliance can connect this AI to its huge consumer base—476 million Jio users, 300 million JioMart users—it could predict exactly what sells, and make it fast.
The challenge? Speed.
Smaller brands can go from idea to product in days. For a giant like Reliance, that might take months. And by then, the trend could be over.
🧵 India as a Global Supply Hub?
Reliance is also eyeing something bigger. It wants to turn India into a manufacturing base for Shein’s global needs—like Vietnam or Brazil. That means working with small Indian factories to produce clothes not just for Indian buyers, but for customers around the world.
But before that happens, Reliance needs to get its house in order here.
đź’ˇ Final Thoughts
The partnership between Reliance and Shein is bold. It brings together deep data, local manufacturing, and massive customer reach. But early signs show it’s far from a guaranteed win.
India’s online shoppers today want fast, trendy, affordable fashion, and they already have plenty of options. To really win them over, Reliance will need to move quicker, price smarter, and deliver better fashion than anyone else.
The question is:
Can the Reliance-Shein alliance truly crack the code of Indian fast fashion before the market moves on again?
