Amazon Haul Targets Shein Market

Amazon copying Shein’s cross border discount model means Shein is no longer just fighting department stores and fashion apps, it is fighting the one marketplace with bigger traffic, payments, and consumer trust. The core move is simple, Amazon built a low price storefront for direct from China goods, first discussed in 2024 and launched as Amazon Haul in November 2024, using the same long shipping, ultra cheap item playbook that helped Shein win in the U.S.1 2 3 4

• Shein’s edge came from turning Chinese factory speed into a shopping habit. It built a fashion focused app around thousands of new SKUs, low prices, and trend discovery, reaching an estimated $32.2B revenue in 2023 and $39.6B in 2024 before growth slowed as competition widened beyond apparel.5 6
• Amazon’s advantage is not better curation, it is better infrastructure. Haul sits inside Amazon’s shopping system with Amazon payments, buyer protection, and built in traffic, then layers in Shein like pricing with many items under $10 and delivery windows closer to one to two weeks than Prime speed.2 3
• This pressure matters most because Shein has been expanding from dresses and tops into an everything store. Its marketplace model reached 35% of GMV in 2023, pulling in third party sellers from categories like electronics, toys, and home, which puts it more directly into Amazon’s strongest territory.6 7

The next phase is a direct fight over low income, impulse ecommerce, where whoever combines the cheapest catalog with the least friction will take share. Shein will keep improving local fulfillment and app engagement, but Amazon can squeeze the category by making factory direct shopping feel safer and easier for mainstream U.S. buyers.2 3 8