Global air cargo industry roiled by the rise of fast-fashion brands Shein and Temu

According to over ten industry sources, fast-fashion e-commerce companies like Shein and Temu are rapidly taking over the global air cargo market as they compete for scarce air cargo space by offering quick transit times to customers.

The bulk of products from Shein, PDD Group's Temu, and ByteDance's TikTok Shop — which just started offering online shopping in the United States — are shipped by air in personally addressed parcels to customers directly from Chinese factories.

Additionally, according to a June 2023 report by the U.S. Congress, Shein and Temu together send almost 600,000 packages to the United States every day. This growing popularity is driving up the cost of air freight from Asian hubs like Guangzhou and Hong Kong, making off-peak seasons virtually nonexistent and leading to capacity shortages, the sources said.

Chinese e-commerce businesses like Shein and Temu are the biggest trend affecting air freight at the moment, according to Basile Ricard, director of Greater China operations at freight forwarder Bollore Logistics.

Temu ships about 4,000 metric tons per day, Shein 5,000 metric tons, Alibaba.com 1,000 metric tons, and TikTok 800 metric tons, per data compiled by Cargo Facts Consulting. According to the firm, that works out to almost 108 Boeing 777 freighters every day.

Driven by strong demand for their inexpensive clothing, such as $10 tops and $5 biker shorts, Shein alone is responsible for one-fifth of the global fast-fashion market in terms of sales. The fast-fashion brand has also contributed to the expansion of China's e-commerce sector, according to Coresight Research.

Cross-border transportation media firm Baixiao.com reports that fast fashion now makes up half of China's total shipments of cross-border e-commerce and occupies around one-third of all long-distance cargo aircraft worldwide.

While international companies are rushing to find other logistics options due to the disruptions in the Red Sea, Shein and Temu's growth is making room on air freighters for other industries.