Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Shein Group Ltd. lowered US retail prices this week after the Trump administration temporarily cut duties on Chinese imports, as the online fashion retailer moves to win back consumers scared away by recent tariff-induced price hikes.
The average cost of 98 products consistently tracked by Bloomberg News on Shein’s website was $5.56 on Wednesday, down about 13 percent from a May 7 peak of $6.38.
Shein also sent a price drop alert to US consumers Wednesday touting lowered prices across a range of styles, and promising that shoppers wouldn’t be asked to pay any tariff-induced fees or additional costs at checkout. PDD Holdings Inc.-owned rival Temu adopted import surcharges for goods shipped directly from China in late April.
The alert came as the US‘s 145 percent duty on most Chinese imports was temporarily cut to 30 percent after weeks of chaos for cross-border e-commerce retailers. The “de minimis” tax on small parcels from China and Hong Kong was also lowered to 54 percent from 120 percent, a relief for e-commerce platforms like Shein and Temu that rely on direct shipments from China to keep prices low.
ADVERTISEMENT
Shein’s observed US sales have been falling since the platform started raising prices April 25. Sales were 15 percent lower for the seven days ended May 4 compared to the same period a year ago, according to Bloomberg Second Measure, which analyses credit and debit card transactions. Temu‘s sales fell about 10 percent in the May 4 week from 2024. Transaction volumes in the US saw a similar drop.
Consumer traffic showed the same downward trend on the two platforms after they raised prices last month. Average daily customer traffic for the 15 days after the price hike — through May 9 — was down more than 20 percent from the 15 days before the adjustments, according to Similarweb.
Uncertainties remain around trade negotiations — and e-commerce retailers like Shein. Tariffs have only been lowered for 90 days, and are still higher than before Trump retook office. And China-originated online budget platforms remain some of the hardest hit retailers, with US giants Amazon.com Inc.’s observed sales up 8.1 percent and Walmart Inc.’s rising 4.6 percent the May 4 week, according to Bloomberg Second Measure.
By Bloomberg News
Learn more:
US Tax Bill to End Duty-Free Imports of Cheap Foreign Goods
The provision would put into law and expand an executive order that came into force earlier this month, halting the ‘de minimis’ exemption for Chinese imports worth less than $800.
