History of AliExpress

AliExpress is an online retail service based in China owned by the Alibaba Group. Launched in 2010, it is made up of small businesses in China and other locations, such as Singapore, Russia, Turkey, that offer products to international online buyers.

AliExpress History

Alibaba launched the beta version of AliExpress in 2009 and the official version on April 26, 2010.
AliExpress is one of the largest cross-border B2C export platforms in China and the number one e-commerce site in Brazil, Spain and Russia.
AliExpress is one of the e-commerce enterprises within the Alibaba Group. It aims to serve small and medium-sized businesses around the world, allowing them to conduct international business by quickly connecting consumers in more than 200 countries and regions around the world.

How AliExpress Started?

Alibaba Group, which AliExpress belongs to, was founded in 1999. The group’s first website was an English-language site serving global wholesale, which is now the international site of Alibaba.

Also in 1999, Alibaba launched the Chinese website 1688.com to serve domestic wholesale transactions, in 2003 it founded Taobao to serve domestic retail transactions, and in 2004 it launched the third-party payment platform Alipay.

In 2008, many foreigners know about Taobao in China. Some foreigners shopping in China have also used Taobao to check prices to prevent Chinese street vendors from deliberately inflating prices. Shop assistants thought foreigners didn’t know the price, and when they reported the price, the foreigners were indignant, saying, “It’s more expensive than Taobao.”
Especially the popularity of Taobao increased among foreigners during the Olympics in China.

Launch of “International Taobao”

Why Was AliExpress Created?
The creation of Taobao provided Alibaba with the template to build an international retail platform. Thus, she only needed to change the Chinese version of Taobao to the foreign version of Taobao, and change the local Alipay to the international payment system. Taobao website in foreign language and international
the Alipay system was to be merged into the “international version of Taobao.”
In order to meet the development needs of the market, Alibaba launched AliExpress on September 9, 2009, but at that time it was only a trial operation, during which it was limited to helping Chinese small and medium enterprises in contact with wholesale retailers, that is, business-to-business and business-to-business. consumer Hybrid model (ie B2B, B2C). AliExpress required an established supplier to pay an annual fee of 19,800 yuan, and the platform was not open to sellers other than suppliers. During the trial run, Alibaba also invited some foreign buyers to test AliExpress’s operation. During the trial period, AliExpress was only a subchannel of the international Alibaba website (Alibaba.com) and was not completely separated from the Alibaba website. The buyer’s login URL was wholesale.alibaba.com

AliExpress.com domain name

How Did This Website Get Its Name?
Alibaba’s goal is to create an “international version of Taobao”. After a short trial run, Alibaba has heavily invested in the official version of AliExpress. In order to launch AliExpress on the Taobao model, it was necessary to separate from the international site of Alibaba, so in late 2009, the Alibaba Group opened an independent domain name for “AliExpress”, an online wholesale platform for small orders.
AliExpress.com. This domain name takes into account the habits of buyers. Express in English means express delivery. This is in line with the desire of foreigners for quick purchases.
express.com is a famous shopping website. Alibaba added its own name Ali before Express to form AliExpress.
This naming method matches the characteristics of the mainstream international culture and at the same time ensures localization and internationalization into the international market.

The world will know about AliExpress

In order to attract more sellers, Alibaba canceled the 19,800 yuan membership threshold, introduced free registration, and began recruiting seller activities from January 1, 2010.

Launching AliExpress is not only setting up the platform and displaying it, but also promoting the platform.
Alibaba wanted local Chinese sellers and foreign buyers to come to AliExpress, so it needed advertising. Prior to the official launch of AliExpress, Alibaba launched overseas advertising.
In 2010, Alibaba spent more than US$30 million on overseas promotion, and the promotion target was mainly US consumers. In order to ensure the promotion effect, Alibaba has used a comprehensive and multi-channel
promotion model by advertising on television, newspapers and magazines in the United States. Alibaba has achieved relevant cooperation with some well-known shopping sites in Europe and the United States, advertised on the Google Ads search engine, and used well-known social networks.

What were the prerequisites for the emergence of AliExpress?

There were several prerequisites for the emergence of AliExpress as an international e-commerce platform. Here are a few:

1. The growth of e-commerce in China: The rapid growth of e-commerce in China in the early 2000s created a large market for online marketplaces like Taobao and JD.com. This growth was fueled by the increase in internet penetration, the rise of the middle class, and the development of logistics and payment systems.
2. A need for international e-commerce platforms: As e-commerce in China grew, many small businesses began to look for opportunities to sell their products to customers outside of China. However, there were few international e-commerce platforms that catered to these businesses, and the ones that did exist were often difficult to use and navigate.
3. Alibaba’s experience in e-commerce: The Alibaba Group, the parent company of Aliexpress, had already established itself as a leader in e-commerce in China with the success of Taobao and other platforms. This experience allowed Alibaba to leverage its knowledge of e-commerce to create a platform that was easy to use for both buyers and sellers.
4. Advances in logistics and payment systems: The emergence of reliable logistics and payment systems in China made it easier for businesses to sell products internationally. This enabled AliExpress to offer a seamless experience for international buyers, with fast and reliable shipping and secure payment options.

Overall, the emergence of AliExpress was a result of a combination of factors, including the growth of e-commerce in China, the need for international e-commerce platforms, Alibaba’s experience in e-commerce, and advances in logistics and payment systems.

Who founded AliExpress?

Who Created AliExpress?
AliExpress and Alibaba were both founded by Jack Ma, a Chinese businessman and philanthropist. Ma founded Alibaba Group in 1999 as a B2B (business-to-business) online marketplace connecting Chinese manufacturers with overseas buyers. In 2010, Alibaba Group launched AliExpress as a global B2C (business-to-consumer) online retail marketplace, where consumers can purchase products directly from Chinese manufacturers and distributors.

Related >> Is AliExpress Legit And Safe To Buy?

Who is Jack Ma?

Jack Ma, also known as Ma Yun, is a Chinese businessman and philanthropist who is best known as the founder of Alibaba Group, one of the world’s largest e-commerce companies. Ma was born on September 10, 1964, in Hangzhou, China, and he grew up during the Cultural Revolution.

Ma first became interested in English as a young boy and eventually went on to study English at Hangzhou Teacher’s Institute (now Hangzhou Normal University). After graduation, he became an English teacher and later started his own translation company. In 1995, Ma traveled to the United States and was introduced to the internet for the first time. He realized the potential of the internet for business and started his own e-commerce company, Alibaba, in 1999.

Under Ma’s leadership, Alibaba Group has grown to become one of the largest and most successful e-commerce companies in the world, with a wide range of businesses including online marketplaces, cloud computing, digital media, and entertainment. In addition to his work at Alibaba, Ma is also a noted philanthropist, and has donated millions of dollars to various causes and organizations.

Ma is considered one of the most influential businessmen in China and is often referred to as the “father of Chinese e-commerce.” He has received numerous awards and honors throughout his career, including being named to Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world multiple times. In September 2019, Ma stepped down as the executive chairman of Alibaba Group to focus on his philanthropic work.

Is AliExpress a public company?

Yes, AliExpress’ parent company, Alibaba Group, has had an initial public offering (IPO). Alibaba Group went public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in September 2014, in what was then the largest IPO in history. The company raised $25 billion in the IPO, which valued the company at around $231 billion at the time.

The IPO made many of Alibaba’s early investors, including founder Jack Ma, billionaires overnight. The success of the IPO also helped to cement Alibaba’s position as one of the world’s most valuable technology companies, and its stock has performed strongly since going public.

It’s worth noting that while AliExpress is one of the major businesses under the Alibaba Group umbrella, it is not a separate company and does not have its own stock. Instead, investors who want to invest in AliExpress or Alibaba’s other businesses can purchase shares of Alibaba Group on the NYSE or another stock exchange

History and timeline of AliExpress .

AliExpress 2009

“We are born! Our test site launches! Our first product is sold!” The first version of the site appeared in 2009.
A trial version of AliExpress was launched in 2009, which was limited to helping Chinese small and medium-sized businesses connect with small wholesale buyers.

AliExpress 2010

“We are growing!”

AliExpress was launched by Alibaba Group in 2010. AliExpress Birthday is celebrated every year on March 28th. There are big discounts on AliExpress Anniversary Sale.
In 2009, the number of products on AliExpress reaches 5 million.

AliExpress 2011

“We are expanding.”
AliExpress Gets Bigger/ The number of products on AliExpress reaches 10 million.

AliExpress 2012

“We are raising.”
The number of products on AliExpress reaches 20 million.
The number of registered buyers on AliExpress reaches 2 million.

AliExpress in 2010–2014

From its launch from 2010 to 2014, AliExpress has maintained an annual growth rate of 300% to 500%. The number of online goods has reached 100 million. Orders are successfully received from more than 220 countries and regions of the world. There are already more than 200,000 sellers on the platform. In 2014, about 2 million trading accounts were registered on the platform, including closed stores. In the first sale on Aliexpress “Double 11” in 2014, 6840 thousand transactions were made in 24 hours, which were made from 211 countries and regions. The traffic was about 600 million visits per month.

AliExpress 2015

In April 2015, for the fifth anniversary of AliExpress, a new logo was launched, and it was completely upgraded from “shopping cart” to “smart shopping, better life” and continued to provide richer and more cost-effective products to consumers around the world. in more than 220 countries and regions. , A quality one-stop shopping platform. In 2015, the number of worldwide buyers on AliExpress reached 34 million, and in 2016 this number doubled to 100 million active buyers.

AliExpress 2016

In 2016, AliExpress changed its policy again, starting with the transformation from C2C to B2C, and began to charge sellers for certain categories of goods, as well as making it difficult for sellers to register, requiring licenses and high qualifications. Some SMEs and unqualified sellers have also been removed by AliExpress.

In 2016, in order to better serve customers in different countries, AliExpress made adjustments to the AliExpress platform policy based on the feedback and opinions of many buyers, strengthened dispute management, and successfully reduced the cost of purchasing goods by 40%. b. In the second half of 2016, in order to satisfy customers and allow customers to receive goods faster, AliExpress focused on logistics, strengthened and streamlined a number of logistics systems, and put forward higher storage time requirements for sellers.

AliExpress 2017

In April 2017, the total number of AliExpress overseas buyers exceeded 100 million. This day is also the seventh anniversary since AliExpress was founded in April 2010.

AliExpress Today

Fast-forward to today and a lot has changed.
The online platform is localized for buyers from all over the world in 18 languages.
The site has 38 local payment channels
You can pay for your order in local currency in 51 countries.
AliExpress is available in 220 different countries and regions.
Online shoppers from 220 countries.
TOP 5 orders by country: Russia, USA, Brazil, Spain, France, South Korea, Ukraine.
Monthly visits 433.7M

AliExpress 2023

AliExpress launched a fully managed business, that is, the platform is responsible for store operations, warehousing, distribution, after-sales service and other links. Sellers only need to prepare and store the goods.
In 2023, the number of Ali Express overseas warehouses around the world has increased. Delivery time became very fast.

Today, AliExpress has become one of the world’s largest online marketplaces, with millions of registered users and a vast array of products available for purchase from sellers all over the world. The platform has revolutionized the way that consumers shop online and has made it possible for people all over the world to access high-quality products at affordable prices.

A quick video history of AliExpress along with key facts and figures about its growth, sales numbers and products sold.

Aliexpress English