With smartphones, PCs, and tablets ranking among consumers’ top shopping channels, businesses hoping to boost sales should consider listing their products on shopping apps and websites.

Shein is one such platform. It’s an online fast fashion retailer whose app currently ranks among the top shopping apps. Here’s a look at how many people use Shein to understand its potential for ecommerce businesses.

Start selling online now with Shopify

Start your free trial

How many people use Shein: 2017–2019

Founded in China in 2008, Shein’s user base surged in recent years and is now in the millions. This is a feat made even more impressive when considering that the company does not sell to consumers in its home country, the second-most populous nation in the world.

In 2017, the number of Shein users registered at 2.8 million. This increased by 71.4% the following year, to 4.8 million. The annual growth rate in 2019 slowed by nearly four times, to 16.7%, and brought the total number of Shein users to 5.6 million.

→ Click Here to Launch Your Online Business with Shopify

How many people use Shein: 2020–2022

The pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 saw an exponential rise in the number of Shein users. In 2020, there were 15.5 million people using Shein—an annual increase of 176.8%. This is followed by another strong year for the Chinese company, growing its user base by 181.9% in 2021, to 43.7 million. This was also the largest annual increase from 2017 to 2022.

According to a recent analysis, while many US fashion companies saw sales decline in 2020 and 2021, sales on Shein more than doubled. Industry experts attribute this to the enforced lockdown—as consumers spent more time indoors browsing, they discovered new brands, which led to Shein’s rise.

In 2022, Shein’s user growth experienced a deceleration. The number of Shein users increased by a relatively slower 48.7%, to 65 million.

How many people use Shein: website visits and traffic sources

Recent data on Shein’s website visits shows that there were 236.8 million visits to shein.com in March 2023, an 18.9% increase from the previous month.

Of these, more than one-third (38.3%) of its traffic came from the United States. This is followed by Brazil (12.7%), France (5.8%), and Spain (5%).

Start selling online now with Shopify

Start your free trial

Want to learn more?