Offshore e-commerce ultra-fast fashion giants are shaking up South Africa’s retail and manufacturing sectors. Platforms like Shein and Temu are disrupting the market. What does that mean for jobs and local businesses?
Quick South Africa facts
- Shein imports began in 2020
- Temu imports began in 2023
- Combined sales of Shein and Temu in 2024 are worth R7.3 billion in South Africa
- This is 3.6% of the total South African market and 37% of e-commerce sales in South Africa
- Shein is estimated to account for approximately 28% of all online women’s wear sales in South Africa
Reasons for the Shein and Temu growth
- Mastery of speed, flexibility, and cost management
- High degree of digitalisation and integration across their supply chain
- Shein’s design team designs and launches between 2,000 – 10,000 new styles daily
- Shein achieves a 98% sell-through rate on its styles
- Temu collects extensive user data and detailed in-app activity logs, which are sold to its suppliers, enabling them to refine their product offerings
“About 1 million Shein packages are shipped daily, primarily from Guangdong, China, taking advantage of China’s 2018 export tax waiver for direct-to-consumer companies. Along with this and other measures, Shein can undercut competitors by ~24%” – Localisation Support Fund
Job losses and lost value
- Estimated losses (2020–2024) in South Africa:
- R960 million in local manufacturing sales
- 2,818 manufacturing jobs
- 5,282 retail jobs
Projections by 2030
- Up to 34,000 combined retail and manufacturing jobs in South Africa are at risk of not materialising due to cheap imports affecting localisation
- Cumulative losses of R6.2 billion in manufacturing sales in South Africa
What other countries are doing
- France and India use aggressive regulations such as advertising bans, platform restrictions and joint ventures tied to local sourcing
- Türkiye has introduced advertising caps and e-commerce licensing fees
- Brazil enforces tax policies to ensure foreign businesses contribute fairly
- Indonesia has blocked Temu from app stores in the country
How we are levelling the sales field
South Africa closed loopholes that gave offshore platforms an unfair advantage:
- Removal of VAT exemption on low-value parcels (under R500) in 2024
- Customs duty was raised from 20% to 45%
Signs of slowdown
Local retailers say these shifts are starting to slow offshore imports of small packages. But some Shein users have expressed dissatisfaction with rising prices and slower delivery.
You can read the full report here:
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