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Shein: Gen Z has a new favorite shopping app

Shein: Gen Z has a new favorite shopping app

Faster fashion

Gen Z has a new favorite shopping app — Shein.

The company, founded in 2008 in China, has exploded into the world of fast fashion, with Google data showing it's surpassed other brands like H&M, Zara and ASOS in terms of search interest. It's also held the second spot in the iOS App Store Shopping category for much of this year, even overtaking Amazon briefly.

Shein x TikTok

Shein makes the world of fast fashion, pioneered in the late 90s by Zara, H&M and others, look glacial. "Fast fashion" meant that designs from fashion shows and runways could make it into stores in just a few weeks. Shein takes this a step further. If a top or garment design goes viral on TikTok, Shein can ramp up production almost instantly thanks to its tight control of production, and relatively small initial batches of items. That supply chain, coupled with super-low prices and endless virality on TikTok, is a powerful feedback loop.

The sheer scale and speed of Shein's operations are quite hard to get your ahead around. Its website has a feature that lets you filter which products arrived on the site by which day (there are no physical Shein stores). 8,895 products were added yesterday. 9,634 were added the day before.

Secrets and sustainability

Shein reportedly racked up more than $10bn of sales last year, but otherwise relatively little is known about the company, its operations, its owners or how sustainable its production is. Its supply chain is impressive, but not very transparent.

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Starbucks issues apology after viral “Bearista” cup meltdown

Holiday cheer turned into chaos this week for Starbucks after the coffee giant’s new “Bearista” holiday cup sent fans into a frenzy. 

Dropped alongside its 2025 holiday menu, the $30 beanie-wearing glass bear tumbler sparked long lines, sellouts, and even in-store scuffles before Starbucks stepped in with an apology.

“The excitement for our merchandise exceeded even our biggest expectations,” the company said in a statement to People. “Despite shipping more Bearista cups to our coffeehouses than almost any other item this holiday season, the Bearista cup and some other items sold out fast.”

Within hours of launch, frustrated fans flooded Starbucks’ social media pages and even store hotlines. Some customers waited in line before dawn and others said their stores received only a handful of cups. In one Houston location, the craze even turned physical, with police reportedly called to break up a brawl. Meanwhile, the cup is already reselling on sites like eBay, with listings topping $600.

“We understand many customers were excited about the Bearista cup and apologize for the disappointment this may have caused,” Starbucks said. While in-store customers may be upset, investors seem happy about the viral hit, as the stock has risen over 3% on Friday.

If you’re still hoping for a Bearista at market price, that may not be on order: the chain didn’t disclose how many cups were made or whether a restock is planned.

business

Target tells workers to smile, wave, and greet shoppers if they come within 10 feet of them

Target just rolled out a new rule for store employees: smile, make eye contact, and greet or wave when a shopper comes within 10 feet — and if they get closer, within four feet, ask whether they need help or how their day is going, according to a new Bloomberg report.

Dubbed the 10-4 program internally, the rule mirrors rival Walmarts own 10-foot policy, formalizing behavior Target had previously only encouraged.

business

Monster surges on energy drink buzz, while Celsius sinks on distribution concerns

Shares of Monster Beverage climbed 5% after the bell on Thursday, and held most of those gains into early trading on Friday, following strong Q3 results.

The energy drink giant topped market expectations, with quarterly sales up 17% year over year to $2.2 billion and adjusted net profits growing 41% to $524.5 million — 11% ahead of Wall Street’s estimates. In the report, Monster highlighted its zero-sugar line and new product launches, with a stack of novel flavors already released this year, as bright spots.

During a call with analysts, Chief Executive Hilton Schlosberg said that the global energy drink category “remains healthy with robust growth,” The Wall Street Journal reported, adding that demand for more affordable caffeinated drinks is rising as coffee has become “really expensive.”

Meanwhile, rival beverage business Celsius saw shares fall as much as 23% on its Q3 results yesterday — despite beating expectations, with revenue jumping 173% — largely due to concerns about a change in the company’s distribution channel, as its newly acquired Alani Nu brand joins the PepsiCo distribution network.

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