AliExpress is an online trading platform built by Alibaba for the global market, and is called the international version of “Taobao” by many sellers.
Just like Taobao, sellers need to edit their products into online information, publish them overseas through the AliExpress platform, and then transport them to buyers through international express delivery. They can easily reach transactions with buyers from more than 220 countries and regions and earn US dollars.
1. Development Status
As of August 2013, AliExpress’s buyers have covered more than 220 countries and regions, covering 30 first-level industry categories such as clothing and accessories, 3C, home furnishings, and accessories. The overseas buyer traffic exceeds 50 million per day, and the annual growth rate of transaction volume continues to exceed 400%. As of January 2014, AliExpress ranked 76th in Alexa and is rising rapidly. Its main markets are Russia, Brazil and other countries.
2. AliExpress Sellers
“AliExpress Sellers” is a mobile office software developed by Alibaba specifically for AliExpress sellers, which includes international version of Wangwang, internal messages, new order reminders and other functions.
The main functions of AliExpress Sellers are as follows.
(1) You can log in to AliExpress.com to view and reply to internal messages, and can reply to buyers’ messages more timely and conveniently.
(2) Send messages through TradeManager to communicate with buyers in real time anytime and anywhere to avoid missing orders.
(3) Real-time reminder of system messages, making it more convenient and timely to check messages.
3. Suitable products for sale
Global AliExpress sellers must have products that are suitable for online sales and suitable for air express transportation. These products should basically meet the following conditions.
(1) Small size. Mainly to facilitate express transportation and reduce international logistics costs.
(2) High added value. Items with a value lower than the shipping cost are not suitable for single-item sales. They can be sold in packages to reduce the proportion of logistics costs.
(3) Uniqueness. Items with good online trading performance need to be unique in order to continuously stimulate buyers to buy.
(4) Reasonable price. If the online transaction price is higher than the local market price of the product, it will not attract buyers to place orders online.
Based on the above conditions, the products suitable for sale on AliExpress mainly include clothing and accessories, beauty and health, jewelry and watches, lamps, consumer electronics, computer networks, mobile communications, home furnishings, automobile and motorcycle accessories, jewelry, handicrafts, sports and outdoor products, etc.