A shopper carries a bag with promotional merchandise while visiting fashion retailer Shein’s Christmas bus tour, in Manchester, Britain, December 13, 2024.
Temilade Adelaja | Reuters
Shein is ramping up its charm offensive again as the fast-fashion giant eyes a public listing in London as soon as this year.
The retailer issued a press release on Friday detailing the steps it’s taking to keep the items it sells safe. The announcement came about a week after its first product safety recall in the U.S. since 2021.
Shein said it conducted more than 2 million product safety tests last year using industry-leading labs such as Bureau Veritas and Intertek, adding that its vendors are required to submit documentation for items like toys, baby products, medical devices and electronics.
Shein made the announcement, which included details on its sustainability initiatives and a new nonprofit foundation it set up, as the company looks to win over lawmakers in the U.K. and ease concerns that it’s selling unsafe products that are made with forced labor.
Last week, Shein recalled more than 300 hair dryer brushes because they posed an electrocution or shock hazard to consumers. The Teckwe Hair Dryer Brush appeared to be a so-called dupe of a similar product sold by Dyson. No injuries were reported and Shein is offering a refund to impacted customers.
A spokesperson for Shein told CNBC the company conducted safety tests on products it sells itself and did “risk-based, randomized testing” on items sold by third-party vendors on its marketplace before their listing.
Product safety testing is common for items that a retailer sells, even if they’re online only, because they could be held liable for defects under consumer protection laws in the U.S. On the other hand, a retailer’s liability is less clear for third-party sellers on an online marketplace, which makes product testing prior to an item’s listing unusual.
Shein’s decision to conduct product safety tests on items sold by third-party sellers makes it stand out in an industry that has been rife with safety concerns. Typically, online marketplaces just require sellers to conduct their own testing and provide documentation to support it.
Shein added in its press release that it terminated more than 260 sellers on its marketplace over the last year for not meeting compliance requirements.
Shein faces U.K. scrutiny
Shein’s campaign to show it takes product safety and sustainability seriously comes as it prepares to go public in the U.K. — and follows a similar charm offensive in the U.S. before its doomed initial public offering bid there.
Earlier this month, U.K. lawmakers criticized attorneys for Shein when they appeared before a British parliamentary hearing and evaded questions about the company’s supply chain and whether it sells products made with cotton from China, The Associated Press reported.
Shein’s general counsel in Europe, Yinan Zhu, repeatedly declined to say whether the company’s products contain cotton from Xinjiang and whether the company prohibits suppliers from sourcing raw materials in the region, which has become notorious for its Uyghur detention camps.
When asked whether the company believes there is forced labor in Xinjiang, Zhu said it wasn’t the company’s place to have a “geopolitical debate” and repeated a line Shein often uses when grilled on its supply chain, “We comply with the laws and regulations in the countries that we operate in.”
Committee Chairman Liam Byrne said Zhu’s refusal to answer questions left lawmakers “horrified” and gave them “zero confidence” in the integrity of Shein’s supply chain.
“The reluctance to answer basic questions has frankly bordered on contempt,” Byrne said.
Throughout 2023, when Shein was still hoping for a U.S. IPO, it commonly spoke publicly about its cotton supply chain and the tests it had conducted to ensure it wasn’t sourcing from banned regions. It even told CNBC it had stopped sourcing cotton from China altogether.
Shein did not make similar statements in the parliamentary hearing.
