Shein’s Price Gap Over Brazilian Retail Widens to 44 Percent
BRAZIL · RETAIL
Key Facts
- —The gap BTG Pactual’s price index puts Shein 44 percent below the average local price.
- —The basket R$756 at Shein against R$1,344 across Brazilian retailers.
- —The move The gap was 34 percent in June 2026.
- —Who is exposed Renner, C&A and Riachuelo.
- —The date The reading was published on 9 September 2026.
- —The caveat An older BTG-adjacent figure of 35 percent circulates. The current reading is 44 percent.
Shein was a third cheaper than Brazilian fashion retail in June. It is now nearly half cheaper, and the gap widened while the tax on small parcels was being removed.
BTG Pactual’s price index puts Shein 44 percent below the average price of comparable goods at Brazilian retailers, up from a 34 percent gap in June.
The Reading
The comparison basket comes to R$756 at Shein against R$1,344 across local retailers, a gap of 44 percent.
That is a substantial widening from June 2026, when BTG measured the gap at 34 percent. Ten percentage points in a quarter is not a normal drift.
A separate figure of 35 percent has circulated from an earlier BTG-adjacent piece. The current reading, cited across Brazilian financial press on 9 September, is 44 percent.
Who Feels It
Lojas Renner, C&A and Riachuelo are the named pressure points, all of them mid-market Brazilian fashion retailers selling into the same customer at the same price tier Shein is undercutting.
The structural problem for those chains is that their cost base includes physical stores, Brazilian payroll and Brazilian tax, and Shein’s does not include the first two at all.
Zara has been resuming local expansion at the same time, which is a different competitive shape: a premium positioning that Shein does not directly attack.
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The Policy Backdrop
Brazil zeroed the 20 percent import tax on international purchases under US$50 with effect from May 2026, and the measure was converted into law and sanctioned on 4 September. State ICMS still applies.
The taxa das blusinhas was introduced in the first place because of exactly this competitive dynamic, and removing it while the price gap was widening is a policy choice with a visible consequence.
BTG’s index does not attribute the widening to the tax change and neither does The Rio Times. What can be said is that the two moved in the same direction over the same months.
More: Brazil news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
How big is the price gap?
BTG Pactual puts Shein 44 percent below the average local price, on a basket of R$756 against R$1,344.
Has it changed?
Yes. The gap was 34 percent in June 2026.
Which retailers are affected?
Lojas Renner, C&A and Riachuelo are the names cited.
What about the import tax?
Brazil zeroed the 20 percent tax on purchases under US$50 from May 2026, converted into law and sanctioned on 4 September. State ICMS still applies.
Is the 35 percent figure wrong?
It is an earlier reading. The current BTG figure is 44 percent.
Sources: Money Times, Exame, Seu Dinheiro, SpaceMoney.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
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