AllyLikes is new fast-fashion platform from Alibaba, aims to take on Shein

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Oct 20, 2021

E-tail giant Alibaba is seeking to dethrone Chinese rival Shein from its powerful position in fast-fashion online retail with the launch of its own value-focused, trend-responsive fashion platform AllyLikes.

Targeting the North American and European markets, it’s offering budget on-trend pieces with fast delivery, something that Shein does very well and that has seen it rivalling the big names of Western physical retail and e-tail as a top shopping destination for younger consumers.

Using influencers as a key way to market the AllyLikes brand, the company is dropping around 500 new items weekly and if the rise of Shein’s business model is anything to go by, this could be another launch that proves reports of fast-fashion’s imminent demise in the face of more eco-conscious consumers is definitely premature.

The fashion offer is diverse from floral dresses at around £15 to dressy jumpsuits at less than £20, jeans from £13 to £30, plus knitwear, lingerie, activewear, leisure pieces, a huge selection of accessories and much more.

However, despite the fact that this latest launch is big news, Alibaba isn’t shouting too loudly about it for now. The launch was originally reported by Chinese tech blog Tech Planet this week, with Alibaba having unveiled the site without much fanfare. 

Its biggest rival, Shein, has seen its fortunes rising fast as consumers become increasingly used to shopping for affordable fashion across borders and as they expect a massive selection of items in a wide range of sizes. 

But AllyLikes has a long way to go to catch up to Shein that has cemented its place as the shopping destination of choice for Gen Z fashion fans on a budget. Dropping many more items than AllyLikes on a daily basis, it’s been one of the most popular shopping apps on Apple’s App Store this year.

The 13-year-old business doubled its sales last year to around US$10 billion.

So AllyLikess has a big gap to close and analysts have questioned how easy it might find that task, even with the deep pockets and tech resources of Alibaba behind it. We’ll have to wait and see.