E-commerce is a potentially lucrative career path — but what if you don’t have the upfront funding for bulk orders, or storage space for wholesale stock? That’s where dropshipping comes in. We’ll explore the benefits of dropshipping in this article, and then we’ll teach you how to dropship from AliExpress.

• What is dropshipping?
• What is AliExpress?
• Why is AliExpress a good dropshipping solution?
• How to dropship from AliExpress
• AliExpress dropshipping tips

What is dropshipping?

In simple terms, dropshipping is a type of retail business in which you take orders, but where you outsource fulfilment and shipping to a third party. You don’t have to keep any goods in stock at all. Instead, you accept payment, create product orders on a third party site and enter your customer’s details into the name and shipping fields at checkout.

The advantages of dropshipping include:

• Low startup expenses: It doesn’t cost a lot to establish a dropshipping business.
• Fast setup: Dropshipping businesses are quick and simple to set up.
• Multiple platform options: You can dropship via your own site, or via a marketplace like Amazon.

You can dropship manually or use an app to make the process simpler. Some marketplace sellers partially or fully automate their dropshipping businesses. We’ll segue back to app-based automation solutions a little later on.

What is AliExpress?

AliExpress is an online retail and wholesale hub based in China. AliExpress’s parent company, Alibaba Group, also owns Alibaba.com, Taobao, Tmall and a number of other subsidiaries. Small businesses, most of which are located in China, use AliExpress to sell products to customers all over the world.

Marketplace sellers in the UK often use AliExpress as a source for dropshipping products. Next, we’ll explore why.

Why is AliExpress a good dropshipping solution?

Successful dropshippers run their businesses like well-oiled machines. Dropshippers take the funds they receive when customer orders come in and use them to place third party orders; items get dispatched quickly, and customers stay happy. 

AliExpress is an excellent dropshipping product source for several key reasons: 

• Convenience: Sellers on AliExpress are familiar with dropshipping, and they’ll generally work hard to meet your needs.
• Low prices: AliExpress prices are very low, so your profit potential is high.
• Simple integration options: Apps make AliExpress dropshipping integration much easier. 

How to dropship from AliExpress

Ready to dropship your way to success with AliExpress? You can start a dropshipping business with a little logistics knowledge and a moderate budget. Let’s break the process down, step by step.

Step 1: Set up your store

First, you’ll need to decide what type of storefront you want to create. You can use your own website: platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce and Wix, and plugins like Woocommerce offer dropshipping integration options. You can establish a dropshipping presence on Amazon — but only if you fulfill certain criteria (we’ll talk about those in the tips section, below). 

For an in-depth look at founding an online venture, beyond advice on how to set up AliExpress dropshipping, check out our comprehensive guide to starting an e-commerce business. If you decide to build a website on a platform like Shopify, you’ll need to:

• Pick a clean, easy-to-navigate template
• Create key top-level pages for your site: a homepage, product category pages, a product page template, shopping cart and checkout pages, and ‘thank you’ pages
• Create informational pages: an ‘about’ page, a shipping options page and a FAQ page, for example
• Consider adding a blog to drive organic traffic
• Choose and link payment options

Step 2: Find and add products

Site built and tested? In that case, it’s time to add products. You can add products manually and keep track of them via a spreadsheet, or you can use an app, like Oberlo (which we’ll explore a little later) to make the process easier. 

Many sellers on AliExpress provide product photos and descriptions, but you’ll gain a competitive advantage if you create your own custom descriptions and pictures. Some marketplace sellers order sample products and use studio light boxes to take high-quality photos.

Step 3: Go live and market your venture

When you have a healthy number of products in your store and you’re pleased with the way your website looks, go ahead and press the ‘publish’ button. Many marketplace sellers drive traffic with a combination of paid and organic marketing tactics. Paid channels include:

• Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising like Google AdWords
• Paid social media adverts
• Affiliate marketing 
• Influencer marketing

Organic marketing strategies include:

• SEO website optimisation
• SEO-enhanced articles
• SEO-enhanced blog posts
• Word of mouth

Step 4: Convert site sales into AliExpress orders

If you don’t use a connected app for dropshipping, you’ll need to monitor orders as they come in and create AliExpress orders manually. In principle, this is a simple process:

1. A customer orders and pays for a product on your website
2. You visit AliExpress and order the product at wholesale price
3. At checkout, you enter the customer’s details in the shipping fields
4. The AliExpress merchant sends the product directly to your customer

If your site is popular and you receive a lot of orders, you may become overwhelmed quickly. That’s where apps like Oberlo come in. Oberlo has a free starter plan, and it integrates seamlessly with Shopify: all you need to do is create an account, add products and keep your payment method up to date. 

When orders come in on your Shopify site, they flow into Oberlo. At that point, you simply click ‘order product’ next to each pending item in the Oberlo interface, and the app places AliExpress orders for you. Customer details, including address information, get transferred to AliExpress automatically.

Step 5: Monitor site and sales performance

Most e-commerce platforms let you track site visits, sales and other stats via your dashboard. You can also use tools like SEMrush and Google Analytics to keep tabs on key performance indicators (KPIs). Track your sales over time and adjust the AliExpress-sourced products you offer to take advantage of seasonal and consumer trends.

AliExpress dropshipping tips

Dropshipping via AliExpress can be a great way to make money without maintaining inventory or investing a lot of cash upfront. How can you ensure that products you’ve never seen meet customer expectations, though? What about dropshipping rules for Amazon? Read on to learn the answers to both those questions — and more.

Tip 1: How to select high-performing products

New dropshippers don’t always know what to sell. If you find the vast array of products on AliExpress confusing, don’t fret. Here are some of the most reliable high performers for 2023: 

• Business products, including office supplies
• Hobby supplies — paints, modeling clay, beads or fabric, for instance
• Toothbrushes, including sustainable electric toothbrushes and bamboo toothbrushes
• Healthcare products, including yoga mats, jade rollers and serums
• Activewear — leggings and tracksuits, for example
• Homeware products, including air fryers and blenders
• Pet products, including pet beds and toys

Tip 2: How to find products that meet customer expectations

It can be hard to choose products on AliExpress — especially if there are multiple items that look the same, or similar. Here are a few things to look out for as you browse options:

• Avoid branded items: Very few branded items on AliExpress are genuine, so it’s best to skip supposedly branded products in favour of high-quality white label products.
• Choose popular products: Pick products with more than 250 sales: repeat sales indicate both quality and supplier reliability.
• Product ratings matter: Look for items with star ratings over 4.5 and good supplier feedback.
• Go for free ePacket shipping: The less you have to spend on fast shipping, the better.
• High profit potential: Perform market research and select items with at least 50% profit potential.

Tip 3: How to fulfill Amazon dropshipping requirements

If you plan to dropship via Amazon, you have to adhere to a couple of strict rules. Here, in a nutshell, is Amazon’s dropshipping policy:

• You have to ensure that your dropshipping partner identifies you as the shipper and the seller on all included paperwork: packing slips, invoices and external packaging.
• You must be willing to handle and process customer returns and refunds.

Thankfully, many AliExpress sellers are familiar with Amazon’s conditions and will work with UK-based marketplace sellers to ensure that they stick to the rules.

Pay AliExpress suppliers with WorldFirst

AliExpress represents a great dropshipping opportunity for marketplace sellers in the UK. Some entrepreneurs use dropshipping to gauge product demand before expanding their businesses. 

If you decide to grow beyond dropshipping, you can place money-saving bulk orders on Alibaba and use a World Account to transfer funds to suppliers.