AliExpress (Chinese: 全球速卖通) is an online retail service based in China and owned by the Alibaba Group.[1] Launched in 2010,[2][3] it is made up of small businesses in China and other locations, such as Singapore, that offer products to international online buyers. It is the most visited e-commerce website in Russia[4] and was the 10th most popular website in Brazil.[5] It facilitates small businesses to sell to customers all over the world. AliExpress has drawn comparison to eBay, as sellers are independent and use the platform to offer products to buyers.[6][7]
 | |
Type of site | Online shopping |
|---|---|
| Owner | Alibaba Group |
| URL | aliexpress.com |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Launched | 2010 |
| Current status | Active |
Business model
editAliExpress started as a business-to-business buying and selling portal. It has since expanded to include business-to-consumer, consumer-to-consumer, cloud computing and payment services. As of 2016 AliExpress ran websites in English[8], Spanish, Korean, Dutch, French, Italian, German, Polish, Turkish, Portuguese, Indonesian, Russian, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Japanese, Thai and other languages - English being the default offered to those countries with languages outside the preceding list.[9] AliExpress is often used by e-commerce stores that use a dropship business model.[10]
Sellers on AliExpress can be either companies or individuals. AliExpress is different from Amazon because it acts only as an e-commerce platform and does not itself sell products directly to consumers.[11] It directly connects Chinese businesses with buyers.
Although most of the retailers are Chinese, AliExpress is aimed at international import buyers and does not sell to customers in mainland China.[5]
Government responses
editIn November 2020, India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology banned the AliExpress mobile phone app along with 42 other Chinese apps.[12]
In 2022, the Office of the United States Trade Representative added AliExpress to its list of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy.[13][14]
In November 2023, the European Commission opened a probe into AliExpress regarding "potential dissemination of illegal products such as fake medicines, non-compliant food, and ineffective dietary supplements."[15]
References
edit- ^ "Can you tell me the diffrence [sic] between Alibaba and Aliexpress?". Help Center. Alibaba.com. Archived from the original on 9 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
- ^ Dowsett, Sonya (3 March 2020). "Alibaba's AliExpress warns of possible coronavirus delays". U.S. Archived from the original on 2 March 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
- ^ "How a pandemic led the world to start shopping on Alibaba". Financial Times. 28 April 2020. Archived from the original on 13 April 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
- ^ Tsydenova, Nadezhda (10 July 2020). "AliExpress Russia eyes $10 billion turnover by 2022-2023, up an estimated 66%". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2 March 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
- ^ a b Slater, Matt (18 December 2014). "What is Aliexpress?". China Checkup. Archived from the original on 14 August 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
- ^ "Ebay vs Aliexpress - Which is better?". Top Reviews for You. 12 August 2017. Archived from the original on 2 August 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- ^ Hsiao, Aron. "ebay Versus AliExpress? Where You Should Be Shopping". The Balance Small Business. Archived from the original on 2 August 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- ^ "Aliexpress vs Temu: Which is Better?". Top Reviews for You. Archived from the original on 1 July 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
- ^ "A Brief History of Jack Ma, Alibaba and AliExpress". Alixblog. 23 March 2016. Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
- ^ "The Definitive Guide to Dropshipping with AliExpress". Shopify. Archived from the original on 4 February 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
- ^ "AliExpress Is Cheap, But Is It Safe to Shop There?". 4 December 2019. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
- ^ "AliExpress among 43 new Chinese apps banned in India: Check full list". The Indian Express. 25 November 2020. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
- ^ Singh, Kanishka (18 February 2022). "U.S. adds e-commerce sites operated by Tencent, Alibaba to 'notorious markets' list". Reuters. Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- ^ "USTR Releases 2021 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy". United States Trade Representative. Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- ^ "EU probes AliExpress over possibly illegal online products". Reuters. 14 March 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024.