Selling Jewelry on SHEIN: A Small-Town Enterprise Earns Tens of Millions Annually via Cross-Border E-commerce | The Frontline

Author: Ou Xue

Editor: Peng Xiaoqiu

Drive southeast from the center of Guangzhou for 25 minutes, and a giant diamond-shaped neon door frame spanning four lanes will come into view. This is the Daluotang Jewelry Town. One out of every three pieces of jewelry in the world comes from its influence area.

The slogan "World jewelry, made in Panyu" on the giant billboard is no empty boast. This area is home to 13,000 market entities and 100,000 practitioners, controlling 70% of the re - export trade share in Hong Kong and Macau.

A prominent "diamond ring" sign stands at the entrance of the Daluo Jewelry City in Panyu, Guangzhou / Photo source: Enterprise

The latest data from the General Administration of Customs reveals an intriguing phenomenon: In 2024, China's jewelry export value increased by 14.7% against the trend, reaching $35.83 billion. Against the backdrop of pressure on traditional foreign trade, the jewelry industry belt in the Pearl River Delta has opened up new opportunities through the "cross - border e - commerce + industrial belt" model.

From Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Dongguan in the Pearl River Delta to Shanwei and Shantou in northern Guangdong, the jewelry industries scattered in the cities and towns of Lingnan have connected points into chains and chains into a network. They are reconstructing the global value chain in the form of "an army of ants." Empowered by cross - border e - commerce, the jewelry industry, including the Shawan Jewelry Manufacturing Base in Panyu and the Yuexiu Jewelry Wholesale Market, has achieved great development leaps, and a new generation of jewelry entrepreneurs has emerged.

"I only heard about cross - border e - commerce for the first time two or three years ago." Shang Fushun's jewelry workshop started as a husband - and - wife business. In just a few years, its annual sales through the SHEIN platform have exceeded 10 million yuan. His experience is quite representative. In Panyu, bosses like him who have transformed through cross - border e - commerce are selling hundreds of self - designed new products to more than 100 countries and regions simultaneously.

Behind the transformation lies intense pain. Recalling a few years ago, the reduction in traditional orders shrank Shang Fushun's factory from dozens of employees to just three. He and his wife had to open their minds and seize every business opportunity. Since opening a cross - border store on SHEIN, Shang Fushun's factory has not only restored its original scale but is also increasing recruitment and expanding cooperation with more surrounding manufacturers.

Jewelry products from the Guangzhou jewelry industry belt are selling well overseas / Photo source: Enterprise

This transformation is far from a simple channel shift. Empowered by cross - border e - commerce, the "trend empowerment + digital feedback" model is leading Chinese manufacturing from the "order era" to high - quality development.

Mr. Jiang, a seller of stainless - steel jewelry, revealed that his company started to engage in cross - border e - commerce by joining the SHEIN platform in 2023. By only selling stainless - steel jewelry, a niche product, the company's monthly sales on SHEIN have reached more than 2 million yuan.

Mr. Jiang said that cross - border e - commerce platforms have a fast and stable payment cycle and strong capabilities in integrating industrial chain resources. Through the platform, the company has further enhanced its competitiveness with its excellent product development ability and a well - established industrial chain closed - loop. At the same time, the company can attract more resources, reduce costs by developing an "on - demand supply chain," and even outperform small processing factories in terms of unit price, thus gaining an advantage in market competition.

Shang Fushun also said that cross - border e - commerce has completely changed his perception of the jewelry business. He mentioned several times, "In the past, we ran the factory based on our existing knowledge and had no sales thinking at all." He further pointed out that the real ability to face the market is reflected in two key aspects.

One is "knowing what the consumer market wants," that is, the ability of product selection and design. The factory's thinking focuses on receiving orders and delivering them on time, without much concern for fashion trends and market directions. "In the past, when we saw a product, our first thought was not what trendy elements it contained, but how to create a 3D drawing for modeling."

The other is "knowing where the market is and what it's doing." For example, during Ramadan in the Middle East in the first half of the year, not only do products need to incorporate Middle - Eastern - style crochet, moon, and veil designs, but marketing activities and new product launches also need to be planned in advance.

Yingke learned that currently, SHEIN covers the entire chain from "product selection - production - marketing," including the platform buyers' prompt responses to inquiries, timely capture and empowerment of trendy trends, sharing of festivals and consumption nodes in overseas country - specific markets, digital tools for on - demand supply, and differentiated labeling and recommendation for high - quality merchants and products.

Looking at the global jewelry industry, there are three major trends worth noting. First, according to Grand View Research data, the global jewelry market size has exceeded $300 billion, with the Asia - Pacific region accounting for a relatively high share. Second, offline retail still dominates, accounting for 80%, but online retail has broad growth potential. Finally, women's jewelry remains the market's mainstay, while men's and children's jewelry is growing rapidly and has great potential.