VALUE CONSCIOUS: Shein has revealed its own version of Lyst’s hottest brands and items ranking.
On Monday, the Singapore-based, China-focused fashion retailer, which inched one step closer to a London IPO last Friday after getting a green light from the U.K.’s financial watchdog Financial Conduct Authority, lifted the lid on customer spending habits for the first time, unveiling its top-selling items in the U.K. from the first quarter of 2025, and said it will publish trends data on a quarterly basis from now on.
Top sellers from Janurary to March included an 118-pound faux fur coat by Anewsta, black trousers, black knee-high boots, and leopard print jeans.
Black, white and beige were the most purchased colors, while the bestselling brands were loungewear and sleepwear brands and its in-house labels, including Shein Underwear & Sleepwear, Shein EZwear, and Shein Lune.
Shihong Liu, director of Europe Markets at Shein, said consumers in the U.K. are grappling with a tough economic environment, which isn’t stopping them from shopping but is driving their fashion choices toward more timeless options.
“We are seeing our customers gravitate towards a mix of cozy and classic pieces, choosing muted colors that are easy to style on a day-to-day basis,” said Liu, who joined Shein from Uber last year.
Shein’s quarterly findings dovetail with a recent online survey by The Harris Poll, commissioned by Shein, that 61 percent of the surveyed Britons said inflation is the issue that will affect them the most in 2025.
Some 80 percent of them said product quality is the most important consideration when selecting a retailer, and 92 percent believe clothes don’t have to be expensive to offer them long-lasting value.
As spring blossoms in the U.K., Liu said demand for more colorful choices is on the rise, with apricot and pink emerging as the next top colors.
“Although the squeeze on people’s wallets is showing no sign of abating, it’s clear that sunny getaways are still on people’s minds — online searches for holiday outfits and bikinis both picked up in March. The overall most popular clothing item in the quarter was a pair of white crochet shorts, and sandals have been the bestselling shoe of the year so far,” he added.
According to data compiled by email marketing firm Omnisend, Shein has been successful at winning over British consumers, who are placing greater emphasis on value.
Some 60 percent of U.K. consumers surveyed by Omnisend said they have shopped on Chinese marketplaces like Shein and Temu in the past year.
