Weekend Briefing: Walmart chases Gen-Z customers while Shein hikes prices

Last week saw fashion’s race to the bottom, in terms of low prices, continue.

Walmart announced on Thursday the relaunch of its No Boundaries private label brand, which was first founded 30 years ago. The newly revamped brand will aggressively target young consumers and Gen Z with extremely low prices. Over 80% of products will be sold for $15 or less, with a few T-shirts selling for as low as $5. No Boundaries already represented an over-$2 billion business for Walmart, and the company is hoping its refresh can lure in even more young customers from other, similarly low-priced brands.

Elsewhere, other companies with extremely low prices are doing well. Results from a survey conducted by the British marketing firm Omnisend, released last week, found that Temu is luring in more repeat customers than other more established companies like eBay. However, it’s not yet beating out Amazon. Out of 1,000 people surveyed, over 34% buy something from Temu more than once a month.

The rise of ultra-fast fashion companies like Temu, Shein and No Boundaries has coincided with an economic downturn that has led many customers to tighten their budgets. On the flip side, there’s also been a retreat into higher prices for luxury brands like Chanel, putting a squeeze on brands like Express which exist in between those two extremes.

After going bankrupt in April, Express was bought out of bankruptcy on Friday by a newly formed joint venture, Phoenix, made up of WHP Global, Simon Property Group, Brookfield Properties and Centennial Real Estate. The group also bought Bonobos.

The massively successful Shein has certainly been a driver of the race toward the lowest prices among fast fashion brands. But just as companies are lowering their prices to compete, Shein is doing the opposite: Ahead of its potential IPO in London, which could be happening this month, Shein has raised its prices. According to data from Edited, Shein has raised prices on over a third of its products in recent months.

Shein was singled out in March in proposed French legislation that would target ultra-low-cost fashion brands and penalize them for their environmental impact. As the company tries to gain legitimacy outside of China, higher prices may be a way for it to shed its reputation for low-quality products.