Reporter丨Yan Ziwei Qin Yi Editor丨Yan Ziwei.
At the end of November, it was reported that Shein (Shein) had secretly submitted IPO documents to seek to be listed in the United States, with a target valuation of 90 billion US dollars, about 640 billion yuan.
The key person who brought it to the capital market, pointedDonald Tang
After three years of consulting services for SHEIN founder Xu Yangtian, he joined the company in November 2022 as an executive director.
After only one year in office, Tang Wei helped Shein** and came forward to accomplish two major things, investing in the parent company of Forever21 and merging the fast fashion brand missguided.
Born in Shanghai, the 59-year-old previously served as chairman and CEO of Bear Stearns Asia, where he brokered several deals between Chinese and American companies, including Wanda Group's $2.6 billion acquisition of the cinema chain AMC.
Today, this capital tycoon, who is good at investment and mergers and acquisitions, frequently attacks and has a particularly busy schedule.
Attack the line
Xu Yangtian is low-key and almost never shows up in front of **.
Tang Wei has his trademark thick short hair, often with a signature smile, and is willing to accept ** interviews and talk eloquently.
With Don's efforts, SHEIN may come to the mall near most Americans.
On October 29, SHEIN and Forever21 reached a long-term cooperation agreement.
In the future, part of Forever21's clothing and accessories products,It will be designed, manufactured and sold by SHEIN。The two companies will also launch a joint brand.
We are excited to be able to bring the FOREVER21 brand to more SHEIN users through flexible chains and sales capabilities. We look forward to providing users with rich, diversified and cost-effective products. Tang Wei said at the press conference.
Cross-stakes between the two parties, August,SHEIN acquired about one-third of Forever21's parent company, SPARC GroupSPARC Group will also have a minority stake in SHEIN.
SPARC Group is looking for its "production system", which is an on-demand production model.
Relying on the perfect garment industry chain in Guangzhou and other places, any piece of clothing can be completed within 24 hours from design to board to sampling, garment making, and finally into commodity delivery.
Such a first-class chain efficiency is difficult for European and American companies to replicate.
The company's inventory quantities are very low, in the single digits. Other retailers often eat leftoversWe had very little leftovers。Donald Tang said proudly.
According to a document sent by Shein to reporters, the average unsold inventory of other brands is 30%.
What Tang Wei's team likes is the offline store and brand accumulation of forever21.
The Forever21 brand has a history of nearly 40 years, and sales will return to the peak in 2022Reached $4 billion and has 410 offline stores in the United States
After holding hands, in November, SHEIN held a flash mob event.
At ten o'clock in the morning, dozens of shoppers lined up outside the store. The event drew a diverse crowd, including teenagers with curly hair and gorgeous makeup, as well as mothers pushing strollers. Local ** reported.
Non-stop
On October 30, the day after signing the agreement with Forever21, Tang Wei rushed to another venue non-stop to unveil a major deal.
On the same day, SHEIN announcedAcquisition of the Missguided brand and all its intellectual property rights
Founded in 2009, the brand is a British fashion brand.
*:Internet. According to the cooperation agreement, after the completion of the acquisition, its production and manufacturing will be handed over to SHEIN, and the product design and operation will be handled by the joint venture company formed by the two parties. At the same time, the SHEIN platform is responsible for its online sales.
The company wanted to drive its growth through an on-demand production model combined with Missguided's unique personality. Tang Wei said at the press conference.
People close to SHEIN said that the company has a "cost-effective" label, and the investment and acquisition of the company is forApply force at both ends of the "U-shaped smile curve"., labeled "fast fashion".
He explained that China's garment manufacturing enterprises are often located at the bottom of the smile curve and can only engage in low-value activities such as processing and manufacturing.
The company's constant overseas mergers and acquisitions are aimed at increasing valuations。Zhu Qiucheng, an analyst at the Network Economic Society, analyzed.
This should be one of Tang Wei's core tasks.
In July, he came forward to respond to two major accusations of copyright infringement and environmental pollution, in the hope of gaining more recognition from international investors.
We use a scoring system to match factories and ordersIf a merchant gets a high score, he will get more orders。Tang Wei said that the company must agree to abide by the Code of Conduct, and the company has also brought in a third-party organization to audit it.
They (the third-party organization) have a scorecard, and we have a scorecard, and the two parties supervise the business together. Don added.
According to SHEIN, in 2022, 2,812 audits were conducted on 1,941**, accounting for about 84% of the brand's products in terms of purchase value.
Shein** Merchant Factory.
Another question is that SHEIN and its partners, all three of which are fast fashion brands, produce cheap goods in large quantities, and then quickly discard them by consumers, and the more they sell, the greater the pollution to the earth.
It's not an area where the company excels, but we do things like second-hand exchanges, fabric options for customers, etc. ”
Tang Wei explained that SHEIN has established a cooperative relationship with Queen of RAW to reproduce surplus fabrics in the industry.
Take on your rivals
Tang Wei, who is busy with global "procurement", also has challenges. The company is doing well, but the conversion rate is showing signs of declining.
Bloomberg expects that in 2023,SHEIN's net profit will reach $2.5 billion, which is 118 times $3.7 billion
At the same time that profitability thickens, operating costs**.
According to the research agency SimilarWeb, in October, the number of visits to SHEIN in the United States increased, but the actual number of orders placed by users decreased, and the conversion rate increased from 46% down to 41%。
To improve this important metric, the company has ramped up its ad spend.
In the first two weeks of November, its related spending increased by 60% compared to the same period last year, according to Sensor Tower.
Another challenge for him is to usher in a strong rival for Shein, which focuses on low prices.
* Chain advantage, can't let SHEIN once and for all. Other platforms are also imitating, intending to surpass. Zhu Qiucheng told the "21CBR" reporter.
For example,Temu, a subsidiary of Pinduoduo, is also good at providing low-cost goodsIt has only been one year since it entered the cross-border e-commerce track, and it has grown rapidly.
As of the end of the third quarter, it has entered more than 40 countries and regions such as North America, Australia, Europe, and Asia, with a daily export volume of more than 400,000 parcels.
This strong opponent has two killer features - full custody and flexible customization mode.
Temu's procurement and sales model is different from SHEIN's on-demand production.
The fully managed mode means that the manufacturer only needs to take orders for production and send the goods to Pinduoduo's warehouse in Guangdong, and there is no need to worry about all subsequent processes.
This attracted a large number of domestic sellers to settle in and snatched some orders.
The competition in the overseas market is becoming increasingly fierce, and SHEIN is destined to fight a protracted war. An entrepreneur commented.
Strong enemies are on the side, and SHEIN's valuation has also fluctuatedIt will reach as much as $100 billion in 2022, and $66 billion, or about 470 billion yuan, after the completion of financing in May
The company is expected to be valued at $90 billion in this IPO. There was ** asked about SHEIN, but the other party did not respond.
If he wants to successfully go public and obtain a good valuation, Xu Yangtian really needs Tang Wei's assistance.
In the first year of employment, this professional has repeatedly displayed his financial skills and bought assets everywhere, and the time for an official IPO is not far off.
shein, except for the annotations.