Competing with Ultra-Fast Fashion Platforms -International Strategy Adaptation in the Swedish Apparel Industry

Sammanfattning

Ultra-fast fashion platforms such as Shein and Temu have reshaped competition in the global apparel industry, yet research has concentrated on the platforms themselves while largely overlooking how established exporters respond. This thesis examines how export-oriented Swedish apparel firms adapt their international strategies under this competitive pressure. Drawing on five semi-structured interviews with senior decision-makers, annual reports from five incumbents and SCB trade data validated against UN Comtrade. The study applies a two-tier framework combining Global Value Chain and PMNC theory with the OLI paradigm and Dynamic Capabilities theory.Three recommendations follow. First, firms should treat price competition as a closed option and redirect investment toward higher value activities such as brand, sustainability and customer relationships. Second, firms should assess which advantages remain transferable under platform pressure and defend location-bound advantages within familiar regions. Third, firms should prioritise organisational speed and financial flexibility, since the analysis shows that the gap between recognising change and acting on it is the decisive constraint.These recommendations carry limitations. They rest on a smaller sample, assume consumers reward differentiation at the point of purchase, which the material questions, and demand resources that the most exposed firms may lack.