When you are initially learning about Oberlo vs. AliExpress, it might be a little perplexing. Together, the two services strengthen one another, with Oberlo facilitating use of AliExpress. To assist you prevent any problems that can adversely affect your dropshipping business, we'll cover both services.
WHAT IS OBERLO?
Oberlo is a dropshipping tool for Shopify that links your online business to AliExpress. This facilitates actions such as:
Find vendors
Bring in dropshipping merchandise
controlling Oberlo supply quantities
Deal with orders
Your Shopify dropshipping store may be managed more easily thanks to the app. The time you would typically spend working on your dropshipping website might be greatly reduced.
It should be noted that this Shopify app is a premium one. Even though it says they have a free plan, you must pay to utilize the tools, such shop management. You only get access to materials and guides with the free option.
WHAT IS ALIEXPRESS?
In 2010, AliExpress was established as the Alibaba Group's retail division. Similar to Amazon, the website is primarily concerned with selling to customers. In terms of the number of users and the items it offers, it ranks among the top eCommerce sites worldwide.
AliExpress sellers are frequently Chinese wholesalers who function as a middleman between the consumer and the producer. Over 100 million goods are available on the eCommerce site, which has dozens of different categories.
Ordinarily, orders are delivered using AliExpress regular delivery. As a result of the platform's widespread use by dropshippers, AliExpress now provides a variety of tools and guidelines through the AliExpress Dropshipping Center.
ARE ALIBABA AND ALIEXPRESS THE SAME?
The Alibaba Group, a Chinese multinational corporation with specialties in technology and retail, among other industries, is the parent firm of both Alibaba and AliExpress.
As was already said, AliExpress focuses on business to consumer, with merchants on the app offering specific items. However, Alibaba's main focus is on business-to-business transactions with dropshipping platform vendors that supply wholesale goods.
For dropshippers, AliExpress and Alibaba both have products to offer. However, because AliExpress is a B2C marketplace, dropshipping is where it excels. For a competitive edge, dropshippers may uncover more product selections and suppliers for each product through AliExpress.
WHAT IS EPACKET SHIPPING, AND IS ALIEXPRESS-BASED DROPSHIPPING DEAD?
ePacket shipping used to be one of AliExpress's main benefits for dropshippers. This service was developed to promote commerce between exporting countries and mostly importing ones.
The main problem with ePacket shipment is that it disadvantages the US Postal Service financially. Shipping from China was frequently less expensive than sending a package within the United States. As a result, the postal service was forced to make a loss.
The US government and the Universal Postal Union agreed to pricing increases beginning in 2021. This basically put a stop to the advantages of using ePacket shipping, along with problems with the supply chain caused by COVID-19.
AliExpress Standard Shipping is a choice to make up the difference. This is a logistical service provided by AliExpress (find out if AliExpress is legitimate here). Prices are still pretty competitive even though they aren't as low as ePacket. Additionally, shipping times are often reasonable. Dropshipping from AliExpress is still a viable option for e-commerce businesses, although it has grown less competitive overall.
CONSIDERATIONS FOR USING AIEXPRESS FOR DROPSHIPPING
Although the ePacket shipping service, which was one of the key advantages of using AliExpress, has terminated, this doesn't take away from the platform's other advantages for your e-commerce business.
With dozens of product categories, AliExpress is one of the biggest and most lucrative eCommerce marketplaces in the world. The platform also has the following advantages:
LOTS OF OPTIONS FOR PRODUCTS
The AliExpress marketplace features more than 100 million goods. It's important to keep in mind that many of these are the same thing. A large portion of the platform's providers are Chinese wholesalers.
Even with duplicate products, there are many millions of alternative options available.
This implies that dropshippers can locate a wide variety of goods in their preferred specialty. This raises the potential profitability of your online store and makes it simpler to provide visitors to your site with a comprehensive eCommerce experience.
NUMEROUS SUPPLIERS TO WORK WITH
Numerous merchants on AliExpress are wholesalers who make big purchases from nearby Chinese producers, as was already noted. The items that many of these merchants buy from the same producers are the same ones that they post on AliExpress.
For a number of reasons, dropshippers greatly profit from this. Your e-commerce company will likely benefit most from having more suppliers to choose from for your items. If a dropshipping vendor runs out of stock, you may easily get the same item from a different vendor.
Additionally, your chances of discovering a trustworthy source for the precise goods you wish to offer have improved. More vendors result in more redundancy, which lowers the possibility of problems with your supply chain.
NO ENGAGEMENTS WITH SUPPLIERS
The fact that you are not restricted by contracts or other formal or informal agreements to any one supplier in your e-commerce business is the final significant advantage of utilizing AliExpress.
You may be required to sign non-competition agreements with some important suppliers, which forbid you from marketing goods made by their rivals. With AliExpress, switching suppliers is simple and without repercussions.
You can change suppliers if they start to cause you problems, deliver orders slowly, or frequently run out of stock. Additionally, you don't need to stress about minimum order requirements or other obligations that typically burden retail firms.
YOU CAN EASILY CUSTOMIZE YOUR STORE
It allows you complete freedom to design your store anyway you want it since you may add and delete items for new ones with more ease.
Even if you run your Shopify store manually, you can still change goods. However, it takes much less time because it's so simple to switch out items.
You may more quickly create unique pages, niches, or even sub-niches inside your business thanks to this ease of use. Fishing is one instance of this. You could have hundreds of goods, and manually loading them all might take days.
By setting up each component of your business using Oberlo, you can quickly and easily import any number of items, saving you countless hours of effort.
PRODUCT INVENTORY IS UPDATED AUTOMATICALLY
Managing inventory has been a major problem for dropshippers from the start. You never truly know how much inventory a supplier on AliExpress has when you don't keep inventory.
Oberlo makes it simpler to sync and manage inventory with AliExpress suppliers, while it doesn't entirely fix this issue. Total product numbers will update in your shop when the supplier's figures change on AliExpress.
Because you are still depending on the AliExpress vendor to have precise data, the issue is not entirely resolved. Working with reputable dropshipping vendors might be advantageous since they are more likely to be well-organized and knowledgeable about stock.
OBERLO IS EASIER THAN ALIEXPRESS TO CUSTOMIZE PRODUCTS MANUALLY
Oberlo makes it simple to modify specific goods, just as it is to design your business. Think about all the details related to listing a product online for a second. Among the most typical pieces of information are:
Title Tag, type, and collection
Variables Weight Inventory Cost of the Product
Information about shipping, shipping costs, and possible profits
Compare prices, descriptions, and pictures.
This is not necessarily a full list, but it does include some of the most frequent details that may be found on product listings. To create a more appealing product listing, these bits of information must be filled out and modified.
Oberlo makes it simple for you to acquire all of this information without having to manually fill everything out with one click importing. Each product may then be readily modified to meet your unique needs.
AUTOMATED PRICING
How to price your products is a perennial issue that many novice dropshippers grapple with. With entire college classes devoted to the subject, product pricing can be difficult and confounding.
Although there are many publications on the subject, Oberlo's automated pricing makes it simpler. You may create automated pricing rules using the app that are based on either a fixed price increase or a price multiplier.
You may specify each product to be marked up by a specific amount, such as $5.00, using a fixed price increase. On the other side, you may configure a price multiplier, like 3x, in which case $2 would increase to $6.
To make it appear as though clients are receiving a better price, comparative pricing can also be put up. As an illustration, consider stating the original price together with a 50% discount.
TRACKING AND AUTOMATIC ORDER FULFILLMENT
Automatic and one-click order fulfillment is another automation feature that will save you a lot of time. Oberlo will handle every step of the procedure on your behalf rather than you having to go through and fill out each order individually.
This may save a new online business owner a lot of time and money that would otherwise be spent working on the back end or paying a virtual assistant. Additionally, the software will monitor orders automatically, making delivery management simpler.
EASY TO TRACK SALES
The ability to track sales and generate data while selling items from AliExpress is a last advantage of utilizing Oberlo. Accounting and sales monitoring are crucial, even though it's one of the parts of running a business that many owners dislike the least.
Additionally, tracking isn't simply for conventional accounting uses. Your sales statistics will provide you with a thorough view of your store's design, the effectiveness of your conversion efforts, the popularity of your items with customers, and much more.
The ability to have everything handled automatically without having to set up challenging analytics software or hire an accountant is a big advantage.
WHAT ARE THE CONTRAINS OF USING OBERLO IN RELATION TO AILEXPRESS?
Using Oberlo to manage your AliExpress items on Shopify has a lot of advantages, but there are some cons as well.
The app occasionally has bugs, just like any other software, forcing you to manage things manually. Other difficulties you could encounter when using Oberlo include:
OBERLO MONTHLY RECURRING FEES VS. ALIEXPRESS MANUAL FEES
If you wish to use the app's various tools, you must purchase the premium version. They advertise the app as having a free alternative, as was already said, but I think that's a little misleading.
When you look at what the free option offers, you will only find articles, instructions, and practical tips for running your online business.
You must pay for the monthly premium membership in order to use the app's full capabilities. For dropshippers who have a steady income, this won't be a problem. Simply compare the time saved by utilizing the app to the monthly fee for running your own online shop.
AVAILABLE ONLY WITH SHOPIFY
The fact that Oberlo is a Shopify-only app is another drawback. This implies that if you choose to transfer platforms to something like WooCommerce, you won't be able to do so.
Other programs that interact with Shopify and other platforms like WooCommerce, Squarespace, Wix, and others include Spocket and Modalyst, which are alternatives to Oberlo.
One of these applications could be a better choice if you aren't completely sold on utilizing Shopify because you can switch to other platforms more simply.
WHAT ARE SOME COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT OBERLO VS ALIEXPRESS
I hope the information above has given you a better understanding of the Oberlo vs. AliExpress debate. Here are responses to the most often asked questions on the subject to aid you even more.
CAN I USE OBERLO TO OFFER FREE SHIPPING?
With Oberlo, you may provide free delivery to clients of your dropshipping company. In order to view the final product cost upfront, the profit markup and transportation costs are combined. Even while this doesn't officially give free delivery, you may still promote the perk.
HOW DOES OBERLO'S SUPPORT COMPARE?
Users have given Oberlo's assistance a positive review on websites like G2 and on Shopify's App Store. For your dropshipping business, the firm provides several support channels, including email and in-app customer assistance through Shopify. Additionally, the staff is quite active in reacting to reviews to address any possible problems.
IS THERE A GOOGLE CHROME EXTENSION FOR OBERLO?
A free Google Chrome plugin from Oberlo makes automating your dropshipping shop simpler and more efficient. Through the library of Chrome extensions, the extension may be installed. With the tool, you may sync orders, import items, and do other things. The addon receives frequent updates and uses less resources.
OBERLO VS. THE SHOPIFIED APP: IS OBERLO BETTER?
Oberlo is a Shopify add-on application. To utilize the Oberlo app, Shopify is still required. A high-end eCommerce option for companies is Shopify. You can build, host, and manage your eCommerce shop as well as the items and orders for your dropshipping company using the Shopify platform.
CONCLUSIONS REGARDING OBERLO VS. ALIEXPRES
For dropshippers looking for items to stock their stores, AliExpress may be a great resource. This is advantageous for smaller, simpler-to-ship goods that are relevant to your niche. Your main product sources might be regional producers, and you can use AliExpress to fill up any gaps.
Oberlo might be a great alternative for implementation if you use Shopify and want to link AliExpress with your online business. You can quickly handle orders and add goods to your store using Oberlo vs. AliExpress in your prosperous dropshipping business. All of this enables you to decrease the amount of time it takes to run your business and might result in a more efficient one, providing you a competitive edge.