How Much Does it Cost to Develop an eCommerce Platform like AliExpress?

Ecommerce has been steadily expanding ever since the first online transaction occurred in 1994, when a person used his VISA credit card to pay $12.48, plus shipping costs, for a Sting CD. In just 30 years, e-commerce has completely changed the way we shop. Shopping is no longer limited to visiting a store, selecting what you want, paying for it, and then carrying it home. The purchase excitement is now prolonged, beginning with the click to buy and ending with the unboxing.

Despite all the praise given to American tech giants like eBay and Amazon, the true king of eCommerce lies thousands of miles to the east in China—AliExpress. The Alibaba Group owns a massive online retailer that connects consumers worldwide with independent vendors. Between July 2023 and December 2023, the website saw around 2.9 billion visitors, never falling below 431 million monthly visits. 

Without question, AliExpress is a big success story in e-commerce. It’s a compelling narrative, primarily authored by visionary founders like you, who recognized and seized an opportunity in a multivendor marketplace development solution. According to reports, 23% of retail purchases will happen online by 2027. So, there is ample room for eCommerce website development.

What is AliExpress?

AliExpress is an eCommerce platform that has become extremely popular for online retail. It was established in 2010 as a division of Alibaba Group. The portal serves as a global marketplace, bringing together buyers and sellers.

AliExpress sells various goods, including accessories, home decor, electronics, apparel, etc. It has become a popular choice for people searching for reasonably priced products. This eCommerce marketplace has given vendors a worldwide platform to connect with a large consumer base, creating chances for them. 

What Sets AliExpress Apart from Competitors?

Strategic choices, technology developments, and creative business planning gave AliExpress competitive advantages. One of the main differentiators is that AliExpress mainly serves individuals and small businesses that sell their goods directly to customers. Moreover, it caters to modest orders, making Aliexpress a great site for people looking to buy things in small amounts.

It provides various services, such as quick shipment, safe payment methods, and buyer protection. The buyer protection program gives peace of mind to customers who might be reluctant to shop online by guaranteeing they receive their orders or their money back. Aliexpress can also be an excellent place for entrepreneurs to test out new product samples they wish to launch.

Advantages of Developing an eCommerce marketplace like AliExpress

The e-commerce marketplace enables business owners to bring together vendors and customers while acting as intermediaries. Moreover, they reduce upfront and operating costs, contributing to higher revenues and ROI.

• Growth of the Market

The e-commerce market has a broad target audience and is growing at a rate of 20% each year. By 2025, its estimated value will be 1.4 trillion. Thus, developing an ecommerce marketplace software solution like AliExpress can be highly lucrative.

• Potential for Rapid Expansion 

Your portal will attract more visitors if you make it a good place for buyers and sellers. AliExpress offered an ecosystem in which everyone benefits.

• Broad Public Exposure

AliExpress welcomes a wide range of customers and retailers. Therefore, online marketplace development like AliExpress provides you with comprehensive audience coverage. The broader audience brings about higher website turnover. As a result, your income increases.

How Does AliExpress Generate Profits?

If you want to build a multi-vendor marketplace platform, you must choose how your portal will generate revenue. The monetization plan is crucial since it preserves consumer loyalty to your company. Even though AliExpress offers free dropshipping and registration, the platform has additional costs. 

• Every seller transaction is subject to a commission fee by the company ranging from 5% to 8%.
• Additionally, $1500 is raised for website registration or shop changes.
• The company also generates about $7 million in revenue from ads annually.

There’s one more suggestion for merchants who want to advertise their online store. AliExpress gives vendors annual discounts of up to 50% for those who hit a particular sales threshold. Building an online marketplace like AliExpress with this strategy helps merchants increase sales on your platform, and your business grows as a result.

Essential Features To Include in a Website Like AliExpress

Now, look at the crucial features you should incorporate when building a marketplace website like AliExpress. 

 

• User Registration 

When you build an Aliexpress clone website, remember to seek the assistance of a leading website development services provider. They will offer comprehensive user account management that comprises user registration, single sign-on (SSO), login and authentication, and permissions management.

• User-friendly Navigation

Another essential aspect to consider when you create an eCommerce website is to provide a user-friendly navigation so that your customers can find their desired products quickly. Products must be arranged into logical categories, with the most well-liked categories appearing first.

While some people shop by brand specifically, others browse by category. Their navigation bar reflects this organization, providing instant access to affordable and discounted items.

• Product Listings & Categories

When a visitor clicks on a category or searches for a term, a product listing page (PLP), also known as a category page, displays a carefully chosen catalog of products filled with product photos, costs, and relevant information.

• Search Bar & Filter Option

The sub-elements of any search are the filter and sort options because they enable users to focus and arrange their search results, which would otherwise necessitate a lot of scrolling or pagination on a small screen. Customers can use search filters to find the most appropriate results based on their selected product features.

• Shopping Cart & Checkout system

A typical eCommerce checkout process consists of a shopping cart. Customers can check their chosen products, adjust the quantity, remove items, or apply coupons and discounts here. 

The products, prices, and any applicable taxes or shipping costs should all be listed in plain sight in the shopping cart. A flawless checkout process has a seamless and easy-to-use interface.

• Multilingual Support

If your online store sells to people in that area, there are two ways to support the most common languages spoken in a customer’s location. 

If customers need assistance translating your website into another language, rely on Google Translate. Make different copies of your website for other language versions.

• Payment Gateway Integration

An online payment gateway guarantees the quick and secure transfer of a customer’s personal and payment information between an e-commerce app and one or more payment processing systems.

• Order Management

Automation is one of the best methods for managing orders. Automation is the process of automating repetitive processes, like order processing, inventory management, and shipping, with the use of software or technological solutions.

• Customer Reviews & Ratings

Customer reviews can be attributed to an average 18% revenue increase. With the reviews option, you’re increasing interest in your store. This occurs because a significant portion of consumers are willing to offer recommendations, and most value the opinions of friends and other consumers. 

• Logistics & Shipping Integration

Businesses can work with a single set of synchronized tools by integrating shipping APIs, retail, e-commerce, and supply chains.

How to Build an eCommerce Platform Like AliExpress?

A precise and well-defined timeframe must be created while building an e-commerce website. This will usually involve several development process activities, from research to deployment. Here is the development process; however, keep in mind that it depends on how complicated your particular project is:

• Planning & Research (2–4 Weeks) 

Determine who your target audience is, research your competitors, and choose your selling and distribution strategy. 

• Design (4–6 weeks)

Build wireframes, design templates, graphics, and user interface components. At this point, you could seek user or consumer feedback on your ideas.

• Development (3–4 months)

Create the website and include it with databases, payment gateways, and API connections, among other necessary services. 

• Testing & Quality Assurance (2–4 weeks)

Verify that the website functions properly across all platforms and browsers. Resolve any issues and bugs. For more extensive projects, we suggest user testing, in which users from the site’s target demographic are recruited and given tasks to complete to identify obstacles.

• Deployment (5–7 days)

Your website would not generate any sales if it were not accessible online. Shoppers must be able to find and access your website. Therefore, launch your website carefully, then optimize it for optimal results.

• Maintenance 

Regular maintenance is necessary after a website goes live. User testing can be repeated to enhance the discoverability and usefulness of newly added content and features. 

Technology Stack Needed For Building an Online Marketplace Similar to AliExpress

At SparxIT, we have developed a variety of marketplaces varying in complexity. We use the following tech stack components to create B2C marketplaces:

• Front-end: JavaScript, React, Vue.js, Gatsby;
• Back-end: Ruby, Ruby on Rails, Strapi
• HTTP server technologies: Nginx, Squid, HAProxy
• Server library: Spring
• Operating systems: Linux, Red Hat
• DevOps: Linux, Ansible, Docker
• Databases: PostgreSQL, My SQL, LevelDB, Hadoop, MongoDB, Redis
• Cloud: Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud 
• Infrastructure: AWS, Heroku, Digital Ocean
• Integrations: Strype, Google Analytics, PayPal, Mollie, MailChimp

Cost Driving Factors to Build an eCommerce App Like AliExpress

App development has become popular for businesses looking to connect with clients and increase sales. That being said, many factors might determine the cost of developing an app for an eCommerce site. Let’s analyze the main ones.

• Project Scope and Complexity

The complexity and scale of the project have a direct impact on eCommerce app development. Standard features like a shopping cart, safe checkout, product listings, and search capabilities will be less expensive. On the other hand, the cost of mobile app development will increase if your software has sophisticated features like AI or AR/VR.

• Platform Selection

The platform is the next element that affects the cost of developing an app like AliExpress. Creating apps for iOS and Android takes money, time, and effort. 

• Design and User Experience (UI/UX)

According to a study, 94% of first impressions of a brand’s app are attributed to its design. Naturally, a highly customized and visually appealing design attracts users and offers an excellent user experience. All things considered, intuitive UI/UX enhances user experience but demands more significant financial investments to build an eCommerce app like AliExpress.

• Location of Development Team

The location of the development team impacts the development expenses. Rates are often higher in areas with higher living expenses. For instance, hiring a B2C eCommerce app development team will cost more in Europe or the USA than in Asia. 

• Third-Party Integrations

The cost of integration with third-party services like analytics tools, CRM, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) contributes to the costs of developing an eCommerce app. 

• Payment Gateway Integration

Integrating secure payment channels to develop an eCommerce app like AliExpress is essential. Payment method selection and adherence to security regulations impact eCommerce App development costs.

• Testing & Quality Assurance

Ensure that your app development agency conducts thorough performance, security, and functionality testing. It guarantees a bug-free product but may also add time and expense to the application development process.

• Maintenance & Support

An eCommerce app like AliExpress must be properly maintained and supported to function properly. Additionally, it will raise the eCommerce app’s overall development costs.

• Marketing & Launch

Marketing initiatives, app launch campaigns, and promotional events influence the budget. Comprehending these aspects and conducting careful research on creating an eCommerce app like AliExpress will assist you in making a realistic budget and ensuring a cost-effective project.

What is the Cost of Creating a Website Like AliExpress?

We have estimated the cost to create a website similar to Alibaba or AliExpress. Remember that the eCommerce website development cost depends on the factors mentioned above to make sure you are ready to launch it:

 

Features	Development Hours	Cost ($30/hour)
Design
UI Development	95 hours	$2,850
UX Development	62 hours	$1,860
Architecture
Project setup	15 hours	$450
DB structure	30 hours	$900
Primary Features
Authorization and Security	70 hours	$2,100
User Profiles	40 hours	$1,200
Home page	83 hours	$2,490
Product page	41 hours	$1,230
Search and filters	94 hours	$2,820
Shopping cart	63 hours	$1,890
Notifications	30 hours	$900
Wishlist	31 hours	$930
Reviews ratings	46 hours	$1,380
Admin panel	190 hours	$5,700
Buyer panel	117 hours	$3,510
Vendor panel	228 hours	$6,840
Integrations
Payment (Stripe or PayPal)	65 hours	$1,950
Shipment (Shippo)	30 hours	$900
Non-development activity
Project management	64 hours	$1,920
Quality assurance	95 hours	$2,850
Code review	46 hours	$1,380
Total	1535 hours	$46,050

Therefore, the approximate cost to build an eCommerce website like AliExpress is $46,050. AliExpress’s architecture consists of numerous pages and features. Thus, consult an experienced web developer for more precise ecommerce website design costs. 

What is the Cost of Developing an App like AliExpress?

We typically hold several meetings before defining the project’s parameters and creating a preliminary budget. To determine the costs, we assess the intended highlights and the working hours needed to build an eCommerce app like AliExpress.

The cost of eCommerce marketplace software like AliExpress will depend on the features and services offered, integrated platforms, technological stack utilized, and other factors. The application’s complex architecture and the wide range of supported operating systems and devices dictate how many worker hours are required. The eCommerce app development cost of AliExpress ranges between $45,000 and $50,000.

Choose SparxIT for Your Multi-Vendor Marketplace Development Solution

SparxIT is aware that you require more than a reasonably priced marketplace. While having a solution that your users find enjoyable might be beneficial, your platform must also be optimized for search engine criteria to be found online.

Our developers are highly skilled in creating unique marketplaces, so we can provide eCommerce development solutions that will encourage corporate expansion. During the product discovery stage, we examine your users’ demands and expectations for your platform. Additionally, our team considers the UI and UX design and selects dependable technologies to guarantee the appropriate function of your marketplace.

Here’s a case study of Bazaar, a multi-vendor eCommerce platform we have developed. It is an intuitive eCommerce marketplace with 12+ categories, 1000+ products, and a highly dynamic reporting system. 

Conclusion 

Understanding customer demands is critical. After entering the Chinese market, AliExpress grew globally. Because the platform is inexpensive and quick, many people appreciate it. Additionally, their team is customer-focused. The business is prepared to assist vendors and customers with payments, shipping, and product returns.

If you want to create a website similar to AliExpress, find out what people like. Unique features or offerings will expand your marketplace. Contact us if you have a concept for a multi-vendor marketplace development solution and would like to discuss its feasibility. Our professional developers are ready to assist you in developing your effective, scalable, and profitable marketplace.