Shein-Like Fashion Ecommerce App Development Cost In Dubai

Mohit Mittal
Apr 09, 2025

Fashion and technology are changing quickly, and mobile apps have changed consumers’ buying behaviour for current trends. Almost all fashionistas have a close relationship with their style, which increases demand for creative digital solutions. People are now looking towards fashion app development to improve their real-time online buying experience.
Shein-like app development is an excellent concept for creating income for companies, including designers, fashion stores, and e-commerce startups. The scale of the internet fashion business is incomprehensible.
The world fashion eCommerce market is predicted to reach $1.2 trillion by 2030. Thanks to high expenditures and sophisticated digital purchasing experiences, North America dominates the market with a noteworthy share. Nowadays, many investors are looking for a top fashion app development company in the UAE to get started.
Using the newest technologies is the best choice, whether you operate in the fashion industry or want to create an app like Shein. Still, you might wonder—how to get going?
We have developed a comprehensive guide for you that will enable you to approach fashion app development methodically like Shein.
Let us explore this style-packed guide!
Why Should You Invest in an App Like Shein?
The explosive growth of fashion e-commerce presents several commercial prospects for brands. Therefore, let's first explore before you realise the value of app investment.
Like other mobile applications, fashion app development like Shien aims to create an application that offers fashion lovers a flawless experience and facilitates online buying. These programs help control product discovery, digital lookbooks, user preferences, and checkout. The best are virtual try-on, real-time tracking, in-app chat help, wishlist storing, and product recommendations.
From a commercial standpoint, a Shein-like eCommerce mobile app development can generate a significant income stream, cultivate consumer loyalty, enhance user experience, and increase brand recognition for a fashion brand or retailer.
The figures show that the UAE fashion eCommerce market is predicted to rise at a robust CAGR of 12.6% to US$248.07 Bn by 2030. Fast fashion, luxury items, eco-friendly design, and individual styling are important markets. The main development driver here is the desire for mobile-first shopping and influencer-driven trends.
Regarding advantages, here is what you get:
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Market expansion
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Revenue generation
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Business growth
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Customer retention
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Personalized shopping experience
Investing in custom fashion app development like Shein is wise for current fashion companies.
Cost to Develop an App Like Shein
While reading this fashion app development guide, you’ve reviewed everything you need to build a fashion eCommerce app like Shein for your business. So, are you ready?
But wait a second!
Do you know how much it costs to develop a fashion app like Shein?
No?
That’s okay. Here we have all the details.
Multiple factors, such as complexity, platform, development team’s location, design, quality assurance, and third-party integrations, are associated with the fashion app development cost.
The app’s complexity plays a crucial role in estimating the cost. It works like:
The next substantial factor in the cost is the platform you decide to create your fashion shopping app on, such as Android or iOS.
Depending on the features, native app development might cost between $20,000 and $40,000 or more. Usually, cross-platform app development ($25,000–$35,000) is the best choice since it is affordable and lets you reach a larger audience using a single codebase.
Developing a Shein-like app also varies in cost depending on the location; for instance, building a fashion eCommerce app in Dubai may have different pricing compared to other regions.
These are ballpark estimates, and the cost will vary based on your project scope.
Therefore, it’s advisable to consult with a reputable mobile app development company in UAE, such as IMG Global Infotech, for a detailed cost estimate. First, we’ll analyze your requirements thoroughly and then provide a custom quote in simple terms.
That is all about the cost!
But wait for a second!
Do you know how factors affect the cost of developing an app like Shien?
No Worries. Let’s move to the next section of this blog!
What Factors Influence Fashion App Development Cost?
When planning to build a fashion app like Shien, most entrepreneurs ask a common question: Why does the cost to develop an eCommerce app vary so much?
The truth is that several factors influence the cost, and what are these?
Let’s break them down in simple terms:
1. App Complexity
The cost of building a fashion app depends a lot on its complexity. If your app has more features or needs special designs, it will cost more. A simple app costs less. A full-featured app like Shein will need more time and money. Consider this: integrating AI-powered personalisation features into your app might cost you approximately $50,000 or more. In contrast, a straightforward app with essential features might start at around $25,000 or more.
2. Design Customization
Another significant cost-influencing factor is the app’s design and customization. Unique and quality designs are more expensive than a simple template-based app. The level of customization also increases the complexity. So, the design cost varies from $5000 to $50000.
3. Platform
Whatever platform you choose, it will cost you accordingly. For example, the cost of developing an Android e-commerce app ($20000-$40,000) differs from that of developing an iOS or cross-platform app. If you want to develop an app like Shien to target a larger audience, you must have all the features, and your budget must be optimal. Nothing is better than developing a cross-platform e-commerce app ($30,000-$50,000).
4. Tech Stack
No matter what platform you choose, a specific tech stack is required. Some app development tools are open-source, but some tools have higher license costs. Overall, this influences the cost of e-commerce app development.
5. Third-Party Integrations
If you want to integrate payment gateways, shipping APIs, or AI recommendation engines, the development cost increases based on licensing and development effort.
6. App Development Company
One crucial cost-affecting factor is the app development company and its experience. Although more experienced companies charge a little bit more, there is a surety of value for your money, safety, and security. An e-commerce app development company in the USA like IMG Global Infotech, offers more cost-effective development services than a random company from Europe or the UK.
How to Develop an App Like Shien?
Shein, like ecommerce mobile app development, is not a piece of cake as it requires expertise and patience. For creating the apps similar to Shien, you don’t need to learn coding as you can hire ecommerce app developers from a reputed company like IMG Global Infotech. But, it would be better to know the steps for knowledge.
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Competitor and Market Research
Knowing from whom you will compete and what the market trends are is essential. This will help you prepare a perfect app development strategy for your business. Multiple fashion ecommerce apps exist, and competition is fierce, so here you need to find something unique for your app, and research will help a lot.
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Define the USP of Your App
Your USP can be anything related to your app, from AI-driven features to design or your app idea, but it must be something exceptional that sets it apart from others, even the original ones. It will not only connect you with the target audience but also help with retention.
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Wireframing and Designing
When you’ve done your research and decided on the USP, the next move is to create wireframes depicting the sketches of the app screen you’ll have in reality. This will help you apply corrections before the actual design. When everything is perfect, design your app with the help of e-commerce app developers. Focus on creating an intuitive user interface to help users navigate the app seamlessly.
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Fashion Ecommerce App Development
The most crucial phase where actual coding will take place. The ecommerce app developers will code here to bring features to life, implement functionalities, integrate payments, APIs, database setup, server, and hosting setup. Once all is done, the app is ready for testing.
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Quality Assurance
Exhaustive functional, usability, performance, and security testing is essential to guaranteeing a flawless, bug-free experience. Testing professionals examine the app's operations from pre-launch to post-launch to ensure smooth operation.
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Post-Release Maintenance
Maintaining the app after its release is the best way to offer a seamless user experience and customer satisfaction. It keeps the app functional uninterruptedly and ensures long-term success. With post-maintenance services, fixing the bugs, improving performance, security enhancements, and more is effortless.
Key Features to Consider for Shein-Like App Development
Features decide the fate of the app, and the majority of fashion customers look for features in an e-commerce app that are as stylish as they are. So, here are the features you must consider for Shien-like app development.
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Extensive Product Catalog
Keep your users engaged with an extensive and exclusive online catalog designed by experts. Let your customers explore it to effortlessly find the product range, and tell them others about your app.
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Advanced Search
It’s a game of seconds, when user switch to another platform if they do not find the product they are looking for, their style statement. So, turn visitors into customers by offering advanced search functionality with blizzard speed and sell your products fast.
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AI-Powered Recommendations
In this bustling world, everyone wants personalization and to see what they want while shopping. Using AI, you can offer your customers personalization and make them feel special at your fashion e-commerce store.
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Virtual-try On
People try before buying a product, but online shopping creates challenges. First, they must purchase the item, then try it on; if it doesn’t fit, they return it, and so on. Nobody has time for this, so save your customers’ time by offering AR-powered visual try-on features to help them shop for what they need.
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Loyalty & Rewards
One of the best ways to maintain a customer relationship is to offer them a loyalty program and rewards. This increases engagement and creates a good relationship between customers and a brand.
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Voice Shopping
It is one of the most advanced features to consider for your next e-commerce app. Using a simple voice command, consumers can search for and order products using voice-enabled and NLP-powered devices such as Alexa.
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Multi-language Support
Even for big brands, language can be a barrier, so localization can help eliminate it. Offer multi-language features to your targeted audience so they can feel comfortable shopping at your fashion e-commerce platform, like Shein.
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Blockchain-Powered Security Features
Ecommerce apps contain sensitive data and must be protected at all times. Blockchain is a top technology offering high-grade security. Its decentralized nature makes it immutable. It will keep your business and customer data safe from any threat.
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Social Shopping
People spend more time on social media, so take it as an opportunity to boost business and revenue. The social shopping feature allows you to create shoppable social media posts, which you can share on multiple platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and others.
Why Choose IMG Global Infotech to Develop an App like Shien?
IMG Global Infotech is the name if you are looking for a trusted ecommerce app development company for your new venture. We’ve been building eCommerce apps for over 10+ years. Our team has worked on different types of apps—from grocery delivery app to multi-vendor marketplaces. So, if you want to build a fashion app like Shein, we are ready to help you.
We’ll help you from the start and stay with you till the launch. Even after that, if you need help, we’re here 24/7, offering post-release support and maintenance services. Our specialty in developing cost-effective solutions has made us the first choice partner for multiple global brands. With delivering 1200+ projects successfully to our global clients, we would be pleased to create an app like Shein for you.
So, what’s next on your mind? Share your needs and get your fashion ecommerce app today!