How to Build a Website Like AliExpress?

When the AliExpress platform started, it offered to sell and buy online for business entities. Later, it expanded its services. Now, it’s a large online commerce portal connecting China and the world. So, AliExpress’ experience serves as an inspiring story for companies looking for similar success.

Why is this platform so popular? The answer is quite simple: people like to shop fast and in an easy way. That’s why online shopping is a profitable way to make money. At the same time, the market is saturated so much that today, it’s not enough to build a marketplace. Therefore, your website, like AliExpress, should be a game-changer in order to prosper in the world of e-commerce.

This article reveals vital aspects of how AliExpress succeeded and how to create a website like AliExpress.

Overview of AliExpress

In general, AliExpress is a B2C marketplace founded in 2010 and owned by Alibaba Group. Alibaba is based in Hangzhou, China, focusing on major wholesale market players and transactions. Meanwhile, AliExpress was created to support small Chinese businesses. The founders aimed to expand Chinese retailers’ businesses worldwide. This is the key difference between Alibaba and AliExpress.

Below, you can see the comparison of the two companies and how they differ.

How does AliExpress work?

As we already mentioned, the platform is a multi-vendor B2C marketplace that connects buyers and sellers.

Therefore, the custom enterprise software solution helps deliver products from Chinese retail sellers to shoppers in many countries. It uses a trading system that handles complex operations to provide customers high-level service.

Let’s see how the portal works and its pros and cons.

Pros of the platform

The website facilitates user experience (UX), both for buyers and sellers. Consumers benefit from an opportunity to get cheap products fast. Vendors enjoy going through the simple process of selling items.

For example, the website helps novice dropshippers to start an online business easily. Usually, entrepreneurs need to submit many documents to start a business. This process is time-consuming and challenging. So, AliExpress simplified registration for new sellers. They only need to sign up on the retail platform.

In addition to dropshipping, the enterprise suggests an affiliate program aimed at boosting the platform’s sales. Vendors can join the affiliate program directly on the website, and then the marketplace provides sellers with a unique link to particular products on AliExpress. Thus, the affiliate seller earns an extra commission of up to $50 at each sale.

Other pros of the AliExpress platform are as follows:

• Access in different languages;
• Reviews with photos;
• Linking sellers and shoppers from many countries;
• Moderate commissions and fees;
• Various options for online payments;
• Direct delivery of goods.

Cons of the platform

On the other hand, the enterprise has its disadvantages:

• There is no option to combine products in one order when buying from different vendors;
• You can check the quality of a parcel only after delivery;
• Sometimes, it isn’t easy to return products.

Despite these drawbacks, the retail service platform is supportive of consumers. In case of a misunderstanding, a seller would ship another product. Thus, the sellers do their best to avoid disputes with buyers.

How does AliExpress make money?

As you plan to run a website like Alibaba or AliExpress, you must decide how your portal will make money. The monetization strategy is essential as it helps keep users loyal to your business.

Though AliExpress suggests free registration and dropshipping services, they take other fees.

• The company charges from 5% to 8% for each seller’s transaction.
• Also, it raises $1500 for registration or changing a shop on the website.
• Moreover, the business makes around $7 million a year from advertisements.

There is one more idea for sellers looking to promote their online store. AliExpress offers discounts of up to 50% yearly if a vendor reaches a certain sales level. When you build a website like Alibaba or AliExpress, such an approach helps merchants grow sales on your platform, thus expanding your business.

Success factors of the Chinese B2C marketplace

The enterprise has found a way where giants failed to reach. The critical aspect that brought success to AliExpress was Jack Ma’s (co-founder of Alibaba Group) knowledge of China’s market peculiarities. He understood the potential of the idea of delivering cheap products fast around this vast country.

Local merchants’ and buyers’ needs

Companies like eBay and Amazon failed to enter the Chinese market because of missing crucial points. For example, many people in China are retailers and manufacturers, and they need their operations to move fast.

Alibaba Group understood that and included relevant services in their business. Now, 80% of the market in China is controlled by the Alibaba Group and JD.com, Alibaba’s main competitor.

Local payment system

E-commerce companies have tried to enter China’s market by offering PayPal payments. This tool was not convenient in the Chinese market due to China’s currency conversion and governmental restrictions. There is also a demand in China for paying with online wallets.

So, Alibaba Group presented a unique payment method. The holding created Alipay, which is safe and straightforward to use in China. The system uses the escrow method, meaning a seller receives money only after a shopper confirms the product's quality.

AliExpress mobile apps

Smartphone usage statistics show that people look up the products with these devices 4.2x more compared to using the websites. The company created smartphone apps for iOS and Android, allowing users to buy and manage their accounts directly from the apps. The apps offer to select products and make orders just like on the AliExpress website.

Logistics

A crucial aspect of a successful e-commerce website is smooth logistics with the delivery of products in the shortest time. So, AliExpress partnered with the Cainiao network that offers logistics services. Currently, it takes 10-12 days to deliver products to Spain, France, and Brazil, and 5 days to South Korea.

In addition, the enterprise partnered with many logistics companies. So, this B2C portal saved on investing in partners' expensive fleets for shipping.

Workflow automation

AliExpress uses 800 robots in the warehouse, which doubles human work efficiency. The enterprise also operates automated sorting centers and 20,000 self-pickup centers, shortening the cross-border delivery time.

Further reading: 10 Things to Know Before Building a B2C Marketplace Platform

The benefits of creating a store similar to AliExpress

Alibaba Group's quarterly revenue increased 5% year over year. This profit came mainly from retail commerce platforms, including AliExpress. Let’s see what helps this business thrive and what benefits a similar website could bring.

• No costs for keeping stock. The enterprise acts as an intermediary between buyers and sellers, providing safe and quick goods turnover. You don’t need an inventory of goods. So, a website similar to AliExpress saves you costs that could be needed for keeping warehouses.
• Market expansion. The e-commerce market grows by 20% annually, with wide target audience coverage. It is expected to be worth 1.4 trillion by 2025. So, making a website like AliExpress is quite a profitable venture.
• Possibility for quick growth. If you create favorable conditions for buyers and sellers on your portal, they will attract more adopters. AliExpress provided an environment where all sides win.
• Wide audience coverage. AliExpress embraces many merchants and consumers, so a platform similar to AliExpress gives you extensive coverage of the target audience. The wider audience brings higher turnover on your website, thus growing your revenue.
• Easy-to-analyze data. You get ongoing access to the information on users’ behavior. Analyzing it allows you to improve the experience for sellers and consumers. This leads to more significant traffic on your website and better visibility of your business on the web.

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Core features for an e-commerce platform like AliExpress

B2B and B2C marketplaces have similar functionality. They include registration forms, payment methods, ratings, reviews, and recommendations on the goods. This helps shoppers be confident about their purchase, makes them happy with sales, and helps your portal grow.

Let’s see what features you need to create a website like AliExpress.

1. Account creation and login

This feature enables new adopters to register on your AliExpress clone. The registration process must be simple and fast. It encourages people to walk through your e-commerce website and make purchases.

Any user can be a shopper and vendor. The retail platform offers separate environments for both roles. At the same time, it allows easy switching between them without changing an account.

If you are a buyer, you can register your email and start purchases on the portal. If you are a vendor, you need to fill in the legal details when creating an account. These include the company’s tax country, registration number, ID number, and legal representative data.

The required details may vary depending on the country of the seller’s residence. Also, the portal requires creating an account on Alipay. The verification process lasts up to two days.

Further reading: Top 16 Main Online Marketplace Features to Make Buyers Happy

2. Product listings

Product prices at AliExpress must include VAT. A vendor indicates the description, categories, and photos when posting a product listing. It takes the platform 72 hours to approve a new listing. This time may be expanded if there are holidays or weekends.

Also, there is a verification process for a merchant. It is applied on the Alibaba website. Before starting with the portal, a seller should provide ‘qualified contacts’ with whom a seller was in touch regularly. Such contacts include verified sellers or suppliers with over two years of membership on Alibaba. Only after that can sellers post listings. You can consider introducing a similar method to your online marketplace.

The listings should comply with AliExpress’ requirements. Typically, product listings on an AliExpress clone may include the description, categories, photos, packaging details, shipment conditions, and delivery time.

3. Search

Online marketplaces usually offer search by products. The AliExpress platform also suggests using keywords and photos for search. So, shoppers can upload images to find the desired product. This is helpful when a user does not know the name of a product or is not sure how to explain it, or wants to find the product quickly.

Adding filters and sorting features facilitates the search for a user if there are many options or products in the same category. Such solutions enhance customers’ journey on your website, like AliExpress.

For example, Codica created search filters for an online auto marketplace to help users find a car by price, make, city, and condition. Check the platform flow in the video below.

4. Checkout and payments

The convenient and quick checkout attracts users. Your store, similar to AliExpress, might suggest that your users checkout without registration. At the same time, it is helpful that your portal shows how customers will benefit from becoming portal members.

AliExpress supports many payment methods, including the support of Visa, MasterCard, Western Union, Alipay Balance, and other online payment systems. These solutions allow you to create and make payments by processing many invoices quickly. Quick, easy, and secure payment methods on your multi-vendor marketplace are vital on a website like AliExpress.

Also, the AliExpress clone should clarify the shipment options and costs during the checkout process. This will help users be confident about the payment amount, improving their experience.

Most suppliers offer free shipping for their products. But this means that a shopper might wait for a month or more for the order to arrive. So, AliExpress suggests shoppers tracking numbers and faster shipping for an extra fee.

AliExpress asks consumers to add their shipping address and payment method during the first checkout. The buyer can use these details when making future orders.

5. Order management

This option is important both for buyers and sellers. The features include tracking the order status and sending refund requests. If AliExpress has not processed an order, a shopper can cancel the order. On the other hand, if AliExpress has processed the order, a buyer can send a cancellation request to the vendor.

The seller should also note the status ‘awaiting payment.’ It may appear that the shopper has problems with payment processing. In this case, a consumer and a merchant may negotiate the price or contact each other about cancellation.

6. Messaging

Websites like AliExpress use messaging systems to facilitate communication between merchants and consumers. Messaging helps both sides clarify the details of each transaction and allows for quick questions and replies.

Sites like AliExpress typically use built-in chats. In case of disputes, buyers and sellers can use message threads as proof.

7. Ratings and reviews

A website like AliExpress should include the option for getting feedback from customers. These points help shoppers check if the vendor from whom they purchase is reliable. The more reliable you present your site, the more eagerly users will sell and buy on it. There are several ways to check if a merchant is trustworthy on AliExpress:

• Vendor’s membership. The longer the membership, the more reliable the vendor. A shop with a portal membership of over three years may appear in the buyer’s filter list.
• Sales. The more sales, the more trustworthy the seller is.
• Credits. AliExpress processes customers’ ratings and reviews in real time. Each positive review credits the seller.

8. Support and disputes

When creating a website like Alibaba or AliExpress, it is vital to provide technical support and other help for your customers. It is helpful to create a chat system or email form through which clients can contact the support team.

Also, a buyer should be able to raise a dispute if a product does not comply with the description on the retail portal. Create a convenient form for consumers, which they will send to a contact team responsible for resolving disputes. This way, your AliExpress clone website will improve user experience.

9. Monetization

Show your adopters the processes of writing off fees clearly in your B2C marketplace. For example, if you use a commission-based model, vendors should see the percentage added or deducted from the product price. If you create premium features for an additional cost, explain to the users what benefits they gain with such services.

You may also like: Top Multi-Vendor Marketplace Features for Sellers

How to create a website like AliExpress?

There are certain aspects that are crucial when employing thriving online marketplace development services:

1. Your e-commerce website should bring new value. A mere AliExpress copy is unlikely to bring you profit. There should be something special about your project. Find a niche or approach to connecting buyers and sellers. You can also provide them with unique services or features.

2. Check if your B2C marketplace idea is viable. When you discover your future platform's unique value, check if its services are in demand. So your business will prosper.

3. Learn about your potential users. Discover what products your suppliers and buyers will need. Describe how they will use your site.

4. Consider legal aspects. When you create a website like AliExpress, you might need to submit particular documents and obtain approvals. Also, consider the legal backgrounds of your vendors and shoppers.

5. Choose a monetization strategy. Select the pricing model that brings profit to your marketplace, like AliExpress. You can choose a freemium or commission-based model for your services or win from ads and sponsorships.

6. Attract sellers and buyers. Both sides are important for your B2C marketplace. So, show the value of such platforms to the hardest of them. Use social networks or partner with prominent people to promote your retail platform. When the hardest side’s activity is on the rise, the other party will be eager to join your AliExpress clone website, too.

Technical implementation of an online multi-vendor marketplace

How will you start your retail platform? We recommend that you begin with a minimum viable product (MVP). It is a workable version of your product that you can roll out on the market.

An MVP development service includes core features your customers need to use. So, the development process takes less time and resources. Early adopters of your MVP will give you feedback, and you’ll know what improvements your project needs.

When you build your e-commerce website like AliExpress, you need to choose the right development approach. The two main options include making it yourself or hiring a dedicated development team. Let’s take a closer look at these methods.

Off-the-shelf-development

Pros:

• Using a pre-built template makes it cheaper and faster to create a website unless you don’t need more features;
• Most providers take care of the infrastructure for an off-the-shelf website. So, you don’t need programming skills for website development.

Cons:

• Some aspects require programming skills (server, plugins);
• Possible data leaks, as there were many similar cases;
• It may be challenging to scale your website in the future;
• The provider may change their rules, which affects your website.

Custom development

Pros:

• Portal’s flexibility for developing, redesigning, and integrating with third-party services;
• An option of creating unique solutions;
• Code ownership;
• Using the most robust tech stack for creating custom features;
• Ability to include features and make upgrades when expanding services on your portal;
• Top security.

Cons:

• More costly development process in the beginning that pays itself in the long run;
• Requires a reliable programming partner for the development of your project.

Further reading: How to Choose the Right Marketplace Development Company

Tech stack to build a custom B2C marketplace

AliExpress’ tech stack includes robust tools that proved efficient over time. They are as follows:

• Programming language: Java
• HTTP server technologies: Nginx, Squid, HAProxy
• Server library: Spring
• Databases: Redis, LevelDB, Hadoop, MySQL, Oracle Database, Apache HBase
• Server software: Apache Zookeeper
• Operating systems: Linux, Red Hat Linux

When you create your AliExpress clone website, you might adjust the technologies for development. They should suit the objectives and architecture of your project.

At Codica, we created many marketplaces of different complexity. The tech stack that Codica uses to build B2C marketplaces includes the following:

• Front-end: JavaScript, React, Vue.js, Gatsby;
• Back-end: Ruby, Ruby on Rails, Strapi;
• DevOps: Linux, Ansible, Docker;
• Databases: PostgreSQL, My SQL, MongoDB, Redis;
• Infrastructure: AWS, Heroku, Digital Ocean;
• Integrations: Stripe, Google Analytics, PayPal, Mollie, MailChimp, HubSpot.

For example, we used such technologies to develop an online marketplace for boats Trade A Boat. We created a progressive web application for the platform to increase performance on mobile devices. Thanks to third-party integrations, the Trade A Boat website receives ads from all over Australia. This upgrade improved website conversions and business indicators.

The cost of a website similar to AliExpress

We have prepared an approximate calculation for developing an ecommerce marketplace software solution like AliExpress. To ensure that you are prepared to launch it, you should keep in mind that the development price depends on the following aspects:

• The complexity of your marketplace;
• The development approach you choose, be it a pre-built or a custom solution;
• The location of your development partner and their rates for marketplace development service.

Below is a table outlining the cost factors for a website similar to AliExpress.

You may also like: How Much Does It Cost to Build a Marketplace Website

Why turn to Codica to build a multi-vendor marketplace?

At Codica, we know that you need more than an affordable marketplace. It would help if you had a solution that your users enjoy. So, you need to ensure its efficient work and intuitive design. Also, your platform should be optimized for the standards of search engines to be visible on the web.

Our team has vast experience in building custom marketplaces. So, we know how to deliver a solution that will help your business grow. We analyze your users’ expectations and demand for your website during the product discovery phase. Also, our team thinks over the UX (user experience) and UI (user interface) and chooses reliable technologies to ensure the proper work of your portal.

Here’s how we built an online auto marketplace. It embraces 90+ local vehicle marketplaces in Africa. The platform supports 15 languages and performs operations with 72 local currencies.

We understand the need for smooth portal use with a slow Internet connection. So, we created the portal as a progressive web app (PWA). Moreover, the platform works efficiently with high traffic loads.

Check our portfolio for more examples of marketplaces and other solutions that we have built at Codica.

Conclusion

AliExpress entered the Chinese market and expanded worldwide. Many people value the platform because it’s fast and cheap. Also, their team cares about consumers. The enterprise is willing to support buyers and sellers in payments, shipping, and returning products.

If you want to build a website like AliExpress, find out what else people need. Thanks to unique features or services, your website will grow.

If you have an idea for a multi-vendor marketplace development solution and want to check its viability, contact us. Our team of experts is eager to help you create your stunning, efficient, and profitable marketplace.