Shein increased UK revenue to £2.58bn and overtook Asos — The Guardian

Fast-fashion online retailer Shein increased its revenue in the United Kingdom by 26% last year, to £2.58bn, and overtook British competitor Asos in sales volume. The company’s pre-tax profit rose by 18%, to £45.2m, The Guardian reports, citing accounts filed with the UK’s Companies House register.

Sales and staff

The number of Shein employees in the United Kingdom, who mainly work in sales and marketing, rose from 91 to 113. The company paid £11.2m in current taxes, compared with £9.6m a year earlier.

Shein attributed the growth in sales to marketing partnerships with the Wireless and Creamfields music festivals, a pop-up store on Oxford Street in London, and Christmas events in Edinburgh, Manchester, Liverpool and London.

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Relief for low-cost parcels

The company’s successful results could increase pressure on the UK government to revise the de minimis rule more quickly. It allows overseas sellers to send goods worth up to £135 to UK buyers without paying customs duty.

Shein’s business model is based on directly delivering low-cost clothing from Chinese factories to buyers, allowing individual orders to remain below the threshold at which customs duty becomes payable. The United States abolished a similar exemption for Chinese-made goods last year, while the EU in July replaced the relief for parcels worth up to €150 with a flat €3 duty.

Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said that the United Kingdom would abolish its rule by 2028. Last month, Shein’s global parent group listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with a valuation of just over $26bn. In its first results after the listing, the group also reported a 67% drop in quarterly profit, to £173m, attributing this to higher oil prices and freight rates linked to the war in Iran.