AliExpress Basic Guide

Until very recently, when AliExpress was mentioned, imitation handbags Made in China appeared in the mind of any good shopper. However, this Marketplace giant has landed in Spain with the idea of debunking myths. In addition to the opening of its first two physical shops, it has added a series of training sessions for Sellers and Agencies to deepen the use of its platform and convince us that there is life beyond Amazon. And of course, the Dendary team has attended one of these Workshops in order not to miss any details of the possibilities offered by the Asian leader in e-commerce.

Among all the assumed information, we would like to highlight a number of points to guide anyone wishing to expand their business to other markets through a Seller account.

How to get started on AliExpress

• Aliexpress Business. In its efforts to help newcomers to the platform, the online retailer has developed Aliexpress Business, an internal platform with a seller support programme and Aliexpress ecosystem development to help sellers internationalise sales.
• AliExpress Plaza. The Spanish team wants to clean up its image and offer credibility to consumers while giving a boost to sellers. To this end, it has created its AliExpress Plaza section, a section that brings together Spanish brands that meet three requirements: 3-day delivery, a 15-day return period and a two-year guarantee. Amazon Plaza is in the prominent part and positions the local seller, highlighting it in front of foreign sellers.
• AliExpress University: with the aim of supporting companies, the Alibaba subsidiary is working hard on the implementation of AliExpress University, a section dedicated to training, with tutorials on YouTube to help with technical issues. The information includes instructions on how to upload and integrate products, manage the shop and improve SEO.

Technical aspects

• The catalogue upload. It is allowed both manually and with Excel or through the integration of an API. It is also possible to import the Amazon catalogue to AliExpress, so all those who have already tried their luck on Amazon now have more reason to do so with the Chinese company.
• There are five levels of vendors. As you move up the quality ladder, visibility increases. Initially, in addition to generating sales, it is interesting to create relevance and raise awareness of the shop through promotions in order to move up through the categories.
• Content: the platform allows you to upload up to six visual contents, which can be images or videos. In the case of adding video, this will appear first.

Advantages:

• Among the benefits of AliExpress are the reach to the € zone and Russia, the absolute control of prices by the Seller (Aliexpress does not have the Vendor option), the possibility of automatically translating into 18 languages, supposedly with quite good quality as long as short phrases are created and the ability to create fully customisable shops, although there are also templates to facilitate this work.
• Commissions: Invoiced on the basis of the sales price. This commission is 5 or 8% and depends on the categories. Shipping is not taken into account.
• Freedom of action: each customer has its own logistics, direct chat with customers and only pays for what is sold.
• Partners: The Chinese giant is striving to simplify the lives of its sellers and has secured an agreement with the Post Office. They are also working on a mentoring programme to partner with agencies specialised in Marketplaces.
• Centralisation: All information (orders, invoices, etc.) is concentrated in one account, even if there are different markets.
• On Aliexpress, Sellers can rate buyers. This is a way to increase engagement with customers and encourage a response in the form of a brand rating. With this method, the ratio of opinions about a product or company can increase by around 50%. This is a great opportunity to capture reviews.
• Direct vendor-buyer contact: AliExpress allows you to add a telephone number in the product file to facilitate direct communication. On the other hand, there is a "Disputes" section where possible problems that may arise during or after the transaction are managed. AliExpress remains on the sidelines in these cases but can act as a mediator if one of the two parties requests it.

Disadvantages:

• Positioning depends on the title. AliExpress does not allow positioning by keywords that are added internally. Its SEO is based on the title, which allows up to 200 characters, and to a lesser extent, on the attributes. In other words, forget the fancy marketing and drop everything that defines your product in the first line.
• Limited opening hours. AliExpress seller support is by chat from Monday to Friday, from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. However, they want to improve communication, although they have not specified how.
• Their advertising is in BETA process but they have not been able or willing to tell us when it will be officially launched. They do have an affiliate network and the possibility of negotiating with AliExpress to publish certain products on their social networks. In any case, they recommend creating promotions such as "Lightning Deals", to appear in their featured sections.

After all this information, you may find it a world of fun to enter AliExpress. In case you still haven't made up your mind, here are three pieces of information:

• The majority of AliExpress users are Generation Millennials and Generation Z, users under the age of 35 who are used to the digital environment and are increasingly distanced from physical shops.
• Despite its reluctance, AliExpress was in 2018 the second Marketplace with the highest turnover in Spain, behind Amazon and followed by El Corte Inglés.
• AliExpress registers 30 million visits per day worldwide and 40 million per month in Spain alone.