Shein’s recent IPO prospectus is instructive in many ways. It confirms that cross border e-commerce is not such a great business. Other platforms such as Temu, AliExpress and Amazon can afford to either lose or make very little money from their international operations thanks to large profitable domestic and cloud computing businesses. Changes in the customs treatment of low value direct shipments from China are already leading to fundamental changes the way cross border fulfilment functions. Lastly, it shows how precarious the relationship is between the global air logistics industry and a segment that accounts for almost one fifth of intercontinental airfreight. Time to start thinking about the future.