Last updated on June 30th, 2023
Develop An App Like Shein: Where would you go to buy a new sweater or a new game? If it was 20 years ago, you would probably go to the local market, but not today. Today, you will think of nowhere else except the online market. As it is convenient and saves a lot of hassle and money, online shops are the best place to go.
As per Statista, the number of people who shop online is over 2 billion. And since the disruption of the online market by Amazon and country-specific eCommerce giants, the number of startups has bolstered significantly. As per LinkedIn, there are two to three million eCommerce businesses in the world, excluding China.
Shein is one of those eCommerce websites that primarily focuses on women’s apparel and offers its products at affordable prices. Established in 2008, the company has grown like anything in the last 14 years. However, it was blocked in India in 2021. Blocking Shein served as a great opportunity for business-minded people, and a lot of businesses are working to develop an app like Shein.
If you are one of those enthusiasts trying to develop an app like Shein or better, this article is for you. We will uncover all the critical aspects of developing the app in this article!
What Led To The Growth of Shein?
Just so you know, Shein has become the largest fashion retailer in 2022. The recent fundraising round pushed its valuation to $100 billion, which is way above Zara and H&M. So, how did Shein become this big?Â
Shein is a big brand that has a plethora of USPs that has made it so popular!
1. Affordable prices
Shein has a reputation for offering affordable prices on a wide range of fashion items, including clothing, shoes, and accessories. This has made it popular with cost-conscious shoppers looking for stylish clothing at a low price.
2. Wide product selection
Shein offers a large selection of fashion items, including clothing, shoes, and accessories for men, women, and children. This means that customers can find something to suit their style and budget, whether they are looking for basics or something more fashionable.
3. Customer service
Shein has a reputation for offering good customer service, including helpful return policies and responsive customer support. This has helped to build trust with customers and encourage repeat business.
Steps to Develop An App Like Shein
- Information and market analysis
- Brainstorm app UI and UX
- The features
- Find the right app development partner
In 2019, the market share of the eCommerce sector was $9.09 trillion. Moreover, it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 14.7%. If you are planning to develop an app like Shein, you need to follow some crucial steps!
1. Information and market analysis
If you are planning to enter the competitive eCommerce market, there is a scope for whatever you have planned may already be in the market. Take the example of Hike, the messaging app. It had pretty awesome features, but it didn’t work as WhatsApp already had the market.
Hence, if you will not provide something new and unique, your attempt will go to waste. To ensure that your hard work pays off, go for comprehensive market research. Analyze the retail apps available in the market and list their flaws and upsides.
It may seem strange, but it needs to be done as there could be various aspects that the apps might be missing. Also, don’t forget the good parts.
- Keep the registration process simple.
- Pack your app with all types of shipping and payment methods.
- Increase the number of product filters.
- Make the user interface less messy.
- Keep the checkout process simple.
2. Brainstorm app UI and UX
The user interface of the app captures the user’s attention, and the functionality of the app keeps them. Hence, it is critical to make sure that you build the app appropriately. For example, if you are making an app like Shein, make sure that you keep all the relevant aspects on the home screen. Some of those aspects can be the recently viewed products, order summary, order details, search bar, offers section, etc.
Keep the interface clean to make it easy to comprehend. Fancy UIs may grab user attention but may not sustain that for long.
Other than that, keep a close check on user experience. User experience covers various aspects like usability, placement of content, ease of use, navigation, and more. For example, if you have added an item to the cart, a short phone vibration can be a sign of a great user experience.
3. The features
The very first thing that distinguishes an app from its competitors is its features. If you have noticed, on Google PlayStore and App Store, the USP of the app is written on the top to get more downloads. Similarly, if you want to develop an app like Shein, pack it with features that users need and make them easily accessible.
If you even offer one feature that is different from the other apps, you are surefire to get lumps of downloads. An excellent example of this is Instagram. As soon as Tik Tok got banned in India, Instagram and many other Indian video-sharing apps gained new users with the Reels feature.
The example is just to guide you on how to leverage the benefit of an opportunity. Hence, when you design the Shein app, try to integrate as many unique features as you can. Finding a dress by uploading its picture would be a great feature to add.
4. Find the right app development company
Once you have verified your idea against the market and finalized the features and design of the app, it is time to get in touch with a professional app development partner. Though you can hire any of them, you need to keep some crucial things in mind, like the number of developers, designers, availability, budget, and more.
iTechnolabs is a right mobile app development company that specializes in providing out-of-the-box eCommerce app development services.
Important Article: 10 Trending Programming Languages for Software Development
Necessary Features to Develop An App Like Shein
- Sign Up and Sign In
- Search Bar
- Notifications
- Filters
- Shopping Cart
- Payment Methods
- Customer Support
- Check Out Process
As we have teased that features are an essential part of an app; here are some of the features that your app should have if you want to level up with Shein.
1. Sign Up and Sign In
It is necessary to ensure that the sign-up and sign-in process is easy. Make the users enter as less information as possible, or you can do better by including the social sign-in option via Google or Facebook.
2. Search Bar
Keep the search bar on top of the page so that users can search for the items they want easily.
3. Notifications
Push notifications are an essential part of an eCommerce or retail app. Providing push notifications to the users will help them get their preferred products on time as the app sends them information about availability. They can also be communicated with new offers.
4. Filters
Let your users search for the products based on the filters. Add filters like brand, size, color, price range, etc., to ensure that they find the product quickly and effectively.
5. Shopping Cart
A shopping cart is an excellent feature that helps your buyers save the products they want to buy in the future. This feature in your app can help you level Shein.
6. Payment Methods
Now, not every customer of yours will have a credit or debit card. Hence, it is necessary for you to provide other payment options, like UPI or cash on delivery. Moreover, it is necessary to ensure that you accept multiple brand credit cards and debit cards.
7. Customer Support
Though all the brands have this service, only a few of them are successful at providing them in an optimal way. Ensure that your app has all types of customer services, like chat support, voice support, and email support, so that customers can reach you easily.
8. Check Out Process
Don’t bother the users by asking them for information like shipping and payment again and again. Keep the checkout process as simple as possible; it is best to have a single checkout page.
Other than these, you can also add some extra features to the app. Keep the motive the same, which is to improve the user experience. Some of those features can be
- Try-on feature with the help of Augmented Reality technology
- Real-time Order Tracking
- Schedule delivery
- User product profile that shows the products preferred by users
- Discount Coupons
Factors that affect the Overall Cost to Develop An App Like Shein
The cost is the factor that can make or break the process of developing an app like Shein. Being an e-commerce or retail app, it is required to have all the necessary features, just like the tech giants like Amazon have.
Therefore, if you are planning to develop an app like Shien, you need to invest a lot. However, it is wise to release a minimum viable product (MVP) for testing purposes so that your overall investment does not go down the drain.
Some of the factors that affect the overall cost are
- App complexity
- Number of features
- Type of development and the experience they have
- Updates and maintenance
- Marketing cost
If we have to arrive at a rough estimate, eCommerce apps like Shein can cost you anywhere between $25000 to over $100,000. Based on your preferences and budget, you can increase the app cost and make it better with time.
If you want to get a better estimate of the cost to develop an app like Shein, you can contact iTechnolabs.
Some Cool Tips to Develop An App like Shein!
One question that every business person ponders is how to keep the app attractive and wanted among the users. The answer to this is simple. However, the required planning to implement.
If you are developing an app like Shein, here are some cool tips for you to keep it in demand.
- Keep a close eye on user reviews and ratings to ensure that all the queries are resolved. Moreover, focus on improving the user experience based on their suggestions and problems faced by them.
- Keep your inventory updated with the latest styles at all times. It is the only way to keep your competitors behind you.
- Try partnering with content creators and influencers to cover the maximum market from time to time.
- You can introduce a reward system based on the amount spent by the users. The more a user spends, the better will be the benefits, like free shipping, gift hampers, coupons, etc.
All these aspects of your app will keep the users engaged for a long.
Related Article: Yelp Clone Mobile App: How We Can Help You Develop An App Like Yelp?
Do You Want to Develop An App like Shein?
Hence, if you want to develop an app like Shein, you need to keep all that’s described above in your mind. Moreover, you need to make sure that you begin as soon as possible, as the competition is tough, and your idea may not stay legit and unpolluted for long. Moreover, take extra care while hiring an app development company.
Go for a firm that has all types of required personnel, such as developers, designers, testers, and maintenance engineers. You can easily get a team like this in iTechnolabs. Get in touch for an awesome app like Shein!
Frequently Asked Questions?
1. What is the cost of developing an app like Shein?
Before you determine the cost of developing an app like Shein, you should keep a tab on the factors given below –
- Size and complexity of the application
- Skills required for the development of the application
- In-house team, hired developers or freelancers
- Factors and functionalities
- Design of the application
The average cost of building an app like Shein is $ 62500, which may vary according to change in the aforementioned factors.Â
If you hire a team of developers from iTechnolabs, you can get your app developed at a reasonable price.
2. What are the popular alternatives to Shein?
Shein is a very dynamic online fashion retail space. Its popular competitors are listed below –
- Urbanic
- Amazon
- Shoppers Stop
- Koovs
- Myntra
- ROMWE
Before you start building an app like Shein, you need to conduct a detailed research into Shein and its next best alternatives. Doing so helps you create an app that gives a tough competition to the aforementioned apps.Â
3. How profitable is it to develop an app like Shein?
The fashion online space Shein recorded a profit of $ 700 million in the year 2022. Shein has diverse sources of revenue. We have stated them below –Â
- Its main source of revenue generation is the sale of clothes. Shein makes a bulk purchase of clothes obviously at cheaper prices, thanks to the economies of scale. It then sells them at a higher margin on its app and earns a profit.
- Other than that, it makes the first copy of expensive clothing and sells them at relatively cheaper prices.
- Shein posts advertisements on its application and receives money from them.
