There’s a buzz in the air as young people line up for Shein’s Montreal retail pop-up.
“It’s cheaper,” said Diana Quentero, who lined up to shop. “I can find everything … If I want something for a special occasion, I go Shein.”
Global fast-fashion giant Shein is expanding, launching an online marketplace similar to Amazon. (Illustration by Andrew Nguyen)
The line on Thursday was hundreds of people long and snaked around the corner of an outdoor mall. Online fast-fashion giant Shein, founded in 2008, doesn’t have any brick and mortar stores other than a few in Asia. So a pop-up is novel for shoppers.
Shein, a Chinese company based in Singapore, has seen its popularity explode on social media for its $3 tops, $5 dresses and nearly endless webpages of styles. According to Business Insider, Shein has more than 74.7 million active shoppers, and in 2022, the company was worth $100 billion US.
Now, the company is expanding from selling its own branded apparel to become a global online marketplace to compete with some of the biggest online e-commerce brands. Its online marketplace will see third-party vendors sell everything from housewares to appliances, directly to the consumer, similar to Amazon.
It’s one of many companies moving into the marketplace business. This week, The Wall Street Journal reported that TikTok is also building an Amazon-like marketplace. And Temu, a Chinese owned e-commerce platform, launched in the U.S. in 2022 and in Canada this February.
WATCH | Shoppers line up for a Shein pop-up:
Montrealers line up for Shein retail pop-up
1 day ago
Duration 0:55
People lined up Thursday for a retail pop-up hosted by Shein in Montreal. The company’s popularity has exploded among young shoppers on social media for its $3 tops and $5 dresses.
But some say Shein needs to clean up its act first. The company has faced tough scrutiny over its environmental impact and its human rights track record, and an expansion could make things worse, say experts.
“The fashion industry is already complex enough. There are already enough problems for Shein to solve to improve,” said Sheng Lu, an expert in the global textile and apparel industry at the University of Delaware.
In its May press release, Shein said it’s expanding to meet consumer demand. Shein did not respond to CBC News’ request for an interview.
“Shein is committed to delivering the best shopping experience for customers,” Sky Xu, Chief Executive Officer, said in the release.
Shein has more than 74.7 million active shoppers, and in 2022, the company was worth $100 billion. (Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP/Getty Images)
A rival to Amazon?
Shein became the largest fast-fashion retailer in the U.S. in 2021, according to Ernest Analytics. And now, with its sights set on expanding, some experts say that looks to be just the beginning.
“I don’t think there’s any reason why another company couldn’t rival what Amazon is doing … It seems like Shein is trying to do that,” said Elizabeth Cline, a New York-based author and journalist who covers fast fashion and sustainability.
It’s already launched its online marketplace in Mexico, Brazil and the U.S., and plans to roll out in Europe later this year. There is no word yet on when the marketplace could roll out in Canada.
Shein’s ability to deliver on dirt-cheap prices will make a stiff competitor in the e-commerce space, said Cline.
“Amazon is known for speed and low price, but you can always go lower,” she said.
Shein’s already-established popularity could help propel its new marketplace, said Dave Xie, expert at Oliver Wyman consultancy focusing on China’s retail sector. Shein already has brand recognition, he said, and can charge merchants commission.
“It’s kind of easy money for the platforms to make, but only under the condition that as a platform you have a very big traffic base,” said Xie. “So basically I think that’s the strategy of lots of platforms, for example, Amazon.com.”
And it can lean on its ability to detect trends in the retail sector, allowing it to understand what will sell well, and what won’t, he added. He says the company has the ability to scrape data from social media and other websites to detect new trends.
“New design, new colour, new theme, even new fabrics are available and then designers from Shein will combine those design elements …to produce the newest product.”
Shein’s online marketplace will see third-party vendors sell everything from homewares to appliances. (Richard A. Brooks/AFP/Getty Images )
Pressure on supply chain
Xie says Shein is able to keep up with demand by using a “small order, quick response” model, which allows it to have a tight command of its supply chain, only mass producing the highest-selling items on its site.
“They’re just ordering very small batches of clothing and then if there’s demand for the product, they’ll scale it up,” Cline said.
But Cline says Shein’s business model creates pressure on its supply chain to make clothes for cheap, which ultimately causes factories to cut corners on environmental and human rights standards.
In 2021, Shein emitted about 6.3 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents, according to The Business of Fashion. And a recent U.S. Congressional report raised concerns that the company had links to forced labour in its supply chain.
Last September, Shein committed to reducing its supply chain emissions by 25 per cent by 2030. In comparison, Zara recently announced its plans to cut emissions along its value chain by 50 per cent in 2030 and to achieve net zero by 2040.
WATCH | Shein PR campaign goes wrong:
Influencers on blast: how a Shein factory trip backfired | About That
1 month ago
Duration 6:18
A group of influencers has come under fire after attending a brand trip with Shein, one of the world’s largest fast-fashion makers, which has been accused of labour law violations and an outsized environmental footprint. Andrew Chang explains how this PR campaign went so wrong.
Cline questions how Shein’s newly announced sustainability plan will play into its new marketplace, and how far down the supply chain its sustainability initiatives will really go.
“There are concerns around how Shein creates this kind of culture which encourages consumers to keep purchasing cheap clothing and dump them,” Lu said.
Lu says amid all the scrutiny, Shein should take the opportunity to revisit its business model.
Ultimately, Cline says Shein presents a lot of different tensions.
“People are kind of grappling with that,” said Cline. “What does that mean that we live in this age of sustainable awareness and we’ve also somehow fed and created the world’s biggest, fastest, cheapest fast fashion company.”
Speaking from personal experience, a bad hire isn’t a good look. The last thing you want is to hear, “Who the hell hired Bob?” and have your hiring judgment questioned.
The job seeker who’s empathetic to the employer’s side of the hiring desk, which controls the hiring process, is rare.
One of the best things you can do to enhance your job search is to practice perspective-taking, which involves seeing things from a different perspective.
It’s natural for employers to find candidates who have empathy and an understanding of their challenges and pain points more attractive. Candidates like these are seen as potential allies rather than individuals only looking out for themselves. Since most job seekers approach employers with a ‘what’s in it for me’ mindset, practicing perspective-taking sets you apart.
“If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from that person’s angle as well as from your own.” – Henry Ford.
Perspective-taking makes you realize that from an employer’s POV hiring is fraught with risks employers want to avoid; thus, you consider what most job seekers don’t: How can I present myself as the least risky hiring option?
Here’s an exercise that’ll help you visualize the employer’s side of the hiring process.
Candidate A or B?
Imagine you’re the Director of Customer Service for a regional bank with 85 branches. You’re hiring a call centre manager who’ll work onsite at the bank’s head office, overseeing the bank’s 50-seat call centre. In addition to working with the call centre agents, the successful candidate will also interact with other departments, your boss, and members of the C-suite leadership team; in other words, they’ll be visible throughout the bank.
The job posting resulted in over 400 applications. The bank’s ATS and HR (phone interview vetting, skill assessment testing) selected five candidates, plus an employee referral, for you to interview. You aim to shortlist the six candidates to three, whom you’ll interview a second time, and then make a hiring decision. Before scheduling the interviews, which’ll take place between all your other ongoing responsibilities, you spend 5 – 10 minutes with each candidate’s resume and review their respective digital footprint and LinkedIn activity.
In your opinion, which candidate deserves a second interview?
Candidate A: Their resume provides quantitative numbers—evidence—of the results they’ve achieved. (Through enhanced agent training, reduced average handle time from 4:32 mins. to 2:43 minutes, which decreased the abandon rate from 4.6% to 2.2%.)
Candidate B: Their resume offers only opinions. (“I’m detail-oriented,” “I learn fast.”)
Candidate A: Looks you in the eye, has a firm handshake, smiles, and exudes confidence.
Candidate B: Doesn’t look you in the eye, has a weak handshake.
Candidate A: Referred by Ariya, who’s been with the bank for over 15 years and has a stellar record, having moved up from teller to credit analyst and is tracking to become a Managing Director.
Candidate B: Applied online. Based on your knowledge, they did nothing else to make their application more visible. (e.g., reached out to you or other bank employees)
Candidate A: Well educated, grew up as a digital native, eager and energetic. Currently manages a 35-seat call center for a mid-size credit union. They mention they called the bank’s call centre several times and suggest ways to improve the caller experience.
Candidate B: Has been working in banking for over 25 years, managing the call center at their last bank for 17 years before being laid off eight months ago. They definitely have the experience to run a call centre. However, you have a nagging gut feeling that they’re just looking for a place to park themselves until they can afford to retire.
Candidate A: Has a fully completed LinkedIn profile (picture, eye-catching banner) packed with quantifying numbers. It’s evident how they were of value to their employers. Recently, they engaged constructively with posts and comments and published a LinkedIn article on managing Generations Y and Z call centre agents. Their Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter/X accounts aren’t controversial, sharing between ‘Happy Birthday’ and ‘Congratulations’ messages, their love of fine dining, baseball, and gardening.
Candidate B: Their LinkedIn profile is incomplete. The last time they posted on LinkedIn was seven months ago, ranting about how the government’s latest interest rate hike will plunge the country into a deep recession. Conspiracy theories abound on their Facebook page.
Candidate A: Notices the golf calendar on your desk, the putter and golf balls in the corner, and a photograph of Phil Mickelson putting on the green jacket at the 2010 Masters hanging on your wall. While nodding towards the picture, they say, “Evidently, you golf. Not being a golfer myself, what made you take up golf, which I understand is a frustrating sport?”
Candidate B: Doesn’t proactively engage in small talk. Waits for you to start the interview.
Which of the above candidates presents the least hiring risk? Will likely succeed (read: achieve the results the employer needs)? Will show your boss, upper management, and employees you know how to hire for competence and fit?
Nick Kossovan, a well-seasoned veteran of the corporate landscape, offers “unsweetened” job search advice. You can send Nick your questions to artoffindingwork@gmail.com.
Though I have no empirical evidence to support my claim, I believe job search success can be achieved faster by using what I call “The Job Seekers’ Trinity” as your framework, the trinity being:
The power of focus
Managing your anger
Presenting evidence
Each component plays a critical role in sustaining motivation and strategically positioning yourself for job search success. Harnessing your focus, managing your anger, and presenting compelling evidence (read: quantitative numbers of achieved results) will transform your job search from a daunting endeavour into a structured, persuasive job search campaign that employers will notice.
The Power of Focus
Your job search success is mainly determined by what you’re focused on, namely:
What you focus on.
Your life is controlled by what you focus on; thus, focusing on the positives shapes your mindset for positive outcomes. Yes, layoffs, which the media loves to report to keep us addicted to the news, are a daily occurrence, but so is hiring. Don’t let all the doom and gloom talk overshadow this fact. Focus on where you want to go, not on what others and the media want you to fear.
Bonus of not focusing on negatives: You’ll be happier.
Focus on how you can provide measurable value to employers.
If you’re struggling with your job search, the likely reason is that you’re not showing, along with providing evidence, employers how you can add tangible value to an employer’s bottom line. Business is a numbers game, yet few job seekers speak about their numbers. If you don’t focus on and talk about your numbers, how do you expect employers to see the value in hiring you?
Managing Your Anger
Displaying anger in public is never a good look. Professionals are expected to control their emotions, so public displays of anger are viewed as unprofessional.
LinkedIn has become a platform heavily populated with job seekers posting angry rants—fueled mainly by a sense of entitlement—bashing and criticizing employers, recruiters, and the government, proving many job seekers think the public display of their anger won’t negatively affect their job search.
When you’re unemployed, it’s natural to be angry when your family, friends, and neighbours are employed. “Why me?” is a constant question in your head. Additionally, job searching is fraught with frustrations, such as not getting responses to your applications and being ghosted after interviews.
The key is acknowledging your anger and not letting it dictate your actions, such as adding to the angry rants on LinkedIn and other social media platforms, which employers will see.
Undoubtedly, rejection, which is inevitable when job hunting, causes the most anger. What works for me is to reframe rejections, be it through being ghosted, email, a call or text, as “Every ‘No’ brings me one step closer to a ‘Yes.'”
Additionally, I’ve significantly reduced triggering my anger by eliminating any sense of entitlement and keeping my expectations in check. Neither you nor I are owed anything, including a job, respect, empathy, understanding, agreement, or even love. A sense of entitlement and anger are intrinsically linked. The more rights you perceive you have, the more anger you need to defend them. Losing any sense of entitlement you may have will make you less angry, which has no place in a job search.
Presenting Evidence
As I stated earlier, business is a numbers game. Since all business decisions, including hiring, are based on numbers, presenting evidence in the form of quantitative numbers is crucial.
Which candidate would you contact to set up an interview if you were hiring a social media manager:
“Managed Fabian Publishing’s social media accounts, posting content daily.”
“Designed and executed Fabian Publishing’s global social media strategy across 8.7 million LinkedIn, X/Twitter, Instagram and Facebook followers. Through consistent engagement with customers, followers, and influencers, increased social media lead generation by 46% year-over-year, generating in 2023 $7.6 million in revenue.”
Numerical evidence, not generic statements or opinions, is how you prove your value to employers. Stating you’re a “team player” or “results-driven,” as opposed to “I’m part of an inside sales team that generated in 2023 $8.5 million in sales,” or “In 2023 I managed three company-wide software implementations, all of which came under budget,” is meaningless to an employer.
Despite all the job search advice offered, I still see resumes and LinkedIn profiles listing generic responsibilities rather than accomplishments backed by numbers. A statement such as “managed a team” doesn’t convey your management responsibilities or your team’s achievements under your leadership. “Led a team of five to increase sales by 20%, from $3.7 million to $4.44 million, within six months” shows the value of your management skills.
Throughout your job search, constantly think of all the numbers you can provide—revenue generated, number of new clients, cost savings, reduced workload, waste reduction—as evidence to employers why you’d be a great value-add to their business.
The Job Seekers’ Trinity—focusing on the positive, managing your anger and providing evidence—is a framework that’ll increase the effectiveness of your job search activities and make you stand out in today’s hyper-competitive job market, thus expediting your job search to a successful conclusion.
Nick Kossovan, a well-seasoned veteran of the corporate landscape, offers “unsweetened” job search advice. You can send Nick your questions to artoffindingwork@gmail.com.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
