Last updated on December 28th, 2023
The buzz of online selling is at an all-time high right now. Beginning after the pandemic era of 2020, there have been many eCommerce companies that have grown like anything since then. As per statistics, there are over two million eCommerce companies across the globe, and each one of them has a dedicated app.
Shein is one of those many apps that have sprouted significantly in the past eight years. The Chinese apparel app has taken the world by storm. As of today, Shein has over 40 million active shoppers across the globe. On top of that, the application generated a revenue of over 15 billion in 2021.
Inspired by the groundbreaking success of Shein, many businesses are inclined towards developing an app similar to that. However, the factor that stands in the way is Shein like app development cost. As Shein is packed with world-class features, the cost of the app is surefire to be high.
If you are planning to develop an app like Shein, this article will explore the cost aspect to the core.
What Factors Affect The Cost of Shein Like App Development?
No matter if it is Shein or any other app, there are some factors that affect the overall cost of app development. Based on the level of complexity and the team that you have hired to develop the app, the cost varies.
However, these are not the only variables that affect the overall cost of the app; there are many others.
1. The App Development Team
The cost of an app like Shein depends on the development team that you have hired. You can either go for an in-house development team, or you can hire a development agency overseas.
An in-house team would cost you way more than hiring a development agency to develop the app. An overseas agency in a country like India, Ukraine, etc., will be the best choice.
2. UI/UX Design
The UI/UX design of the app also plays a significant role in its cost. As you design the app, it is necessary to check each and every feature and its usability. This timely checking and testing come with a price tag that could be higher based on the level of expertise of the app developer.
3. Features of the App
Features are the most critical aspects of the app. It is pretty obvious that more advanced features will enhance the app’s cost. Some of the prime features that make your app costly would be.
- Mobile payment features like PayPal and Google wallet.
- Geolocation data handling in the app requires time for incorporation, which elevates the cost.
- Third-party integrations like social media platforms, analytics API, and website chat can increase the cost as they require API integration.
4. The App Platform
Your audience will have users with both iOS and Android devices. On a worldwide basis, Android devices are used by more users as compared to iOS. However, in the US, users of iOS devices are more.
It is on you which audience you are targeting, although if you develop an app for one of them, it will cost you almost the same. However, it is best to develop an app for both platforms to cover the maximum market. A cross-platform app can be an ideal pick as it is more affordable than native apps.
5. App Maintenance
The final factor that affects Shein like app development cost, is maintenance. Irrespective of the type of app, maintenance is a critical factor in long-term survival. App maintenance includes a lot of factors, such as updation to the latest operating system, code optimization, bug fixing, updating third-party integrations, etc.
All of them are crucial, and all of them are required to be done periodically. There are two types of maintenance services, namely, on-demand services and ongoing support. Ongoing support is preferable over on-demand, but it is a bit pricey.
Important Article: A Complete Guide to Mobile App Development for Businesses
What Are The Necessary Features of Shein Like App Development?
As teased above, the features of an app like Shein significantly affect its cost. But sacrificing features to save costs is not going to be any good. So, here are some features that are required in your app.
1. Easy Sign-up Sign-in
Keeping a long sign-in process can frustrate the users. Therefore, keep the sign-up process as simple as possible. It is best to include the social sign-up feature via Google, Facebook, or any other social media platform.
2. Custom filters
The apparel app Shein has become widely popular because of the custom filters. The custom filters provided within the app, such as color, brand, size, price, fabric, ratings, and others, make it highly demanding.
If you can provide more than these filters, you can surely provide cutthroat competition to Shein and other retail apps.
3. Orders and Shopping Cart
Just like other eCommerce and retail shopping apps, it is supercritical to provide orders, and shopping cart features to the users.
These features allow users to recheck their orders, reorder their products, and even track their orders in real-time. Adding the shopping cart feature while developing an eCommerce app can allow users to save the products they want to purchase in the future.
4. Push Notifications
Push notifications feature allows the brand to send personalized and non-personalized notifications to the users regarding their latest offers and the products lying in their shopping cart.
With push notifications, you can nudge your users to shop for the products from time to time.
5. The Search Bar
The search bar features enable the users to search for the exact product that they need from the online store. This feature helps in saving a lot of time the users spend looking for the product manually across multiple pages.
These are the features that are surefire to have in an app like Shein. However, some features that will significantly affect the cost of the app are as follows.
6. Payments
Online payments are the best way to ensure that you get paid up first. Though cash on delivery is also a great option, payments via UPI or credit and debit cards make the process faster. Implementing online payments via credit cards, debit cards, PayPal, or any other wallet requires more time and more money.
7. Social Media Integration
Letting your users log in via Facebook requires API integration in the app. The process becomes costly as you have to take care of data security, too, in this case.
8. Real-time Tracking
Order tracking is a great feature that allows the users to know where their order has reached. As it requires geolocation and maps, the integration can take more time and also cost more. To make it better, developers will also add iBeacon and geofencing technology.
9. Augmented Reality
If you are undertaking Shein like app development, integrating the augmented reality features into it will surely be a market booster for you. Apps like Lenskart already have this feature.
If you implement this feature in your app, they will surely be a cost surge at your end.
What is the Cost of an App Like Shein?
As we have discussed above Shein like app development, depends on a lot of aspects, and all of them are crucial to consider. However, if you are not sure about your investment, it is necessary to plan the development process from beginning to end.
Most importantly, it will be better to release a minimum viable product (MVP) before releasing the entire app to the public. Releasing an MVP will help you understand if the features in the app are required by the audience or not.
Moreover, feedback on your MVP will also help you enhance the app as per audience requirements. This may not help you save money, but it will surely optimize your overall app development cost.
Anyway, if we had to arrive at a figure for building an app like Shein, it would be anywhere between $25,000 to $100,000. Keeping the app at a basic level will cost you less; however, if you want to add new and advanced features to the app, the overall cost may even go over $100,000.
Related Article: How To Develop An App Like Shein? Tips, Features, and Cost
Do You Want to Know the Cost for Shein Like App Development?
Out of all the other factors, one critical thing that affects the cost of Shein like app development, the most is the development team. No matter if you want simple features or advanced features, the experience, professionalism, and reliability of the team will decide if your app will succeed or not.
Therefore, it is necessary for you to make an informed choice while choosing the team for Shein like app development. Opting for freelancers may seem like a great option as they charge less, but the quality of work, in that case, is not guaranteed.
On the other hand, if you hire an overseas agency like iTechnolabs, you will not only get quality work but also within the required time frame. The development agency uses state-of-the-art software and has an adept staff of developers, designers, and testers. The collaborative effort of all of them produces an optimized solution for your business.
