Shein, a fast-fashion seller, is now coming after Gen Z with budget-priced books 📚
Shein already knows that Gen Z is thrifty with its clothing, beauty, jewelry, home accessories and toys purchases. Now, it’s tempting younger shoppers with budget-priced books.
The global online marketplace for low-priced merchandise on Thursday announced it has become a bookseller through a partnership with Alibris, an online marketplace for independent sellers of new, used, rare and collectible books.
Why books?
Shein said it has noted how Gen Z is showing a preference for physical books versus digital ones, a trend that’s being lauded by booksellers and hyper popular TikTok book-loving communities such as #BookTok.
Bookseller Barnes & Noble, for example, said bookstores are “enjoying a renaissance,” which has fueled “a period of tremendous growth” for its business.
In 2024, Barnes & Noble said it opened more new bookstores in a single year than it had in the decade from 2009 to 2019. It expects to open more than 60 new bookstores this year.
“The average Shein customer reads one to three books a month—this isn’t a trend, it’s a lifestyle,” George Chang, general manager and head of Shein US marketplace, said in a statement. “We’re excited to support our customers’ love of reading and learning by teaming up with Alibris to offer a wide variety of books to our shoppers for the very first time.”
Shein said its shoppers can access more than 100,000 titles across Gen Z popular genres, including romance, fantasy, mystery, non-fiction and young adult, and textbooks through the Alibris storefront on its marketplace.