How AliExpress’ marketing strategy has changed from 2017 to 2020

Pricearchive
4 min readNov 30, 2020

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This article provides unique insights from the Pricearchive service regarding AliExpress’ internal marketing activities on their website.

Over the past four years, we have extensively analyzed prices for AliExpress goods, receiving and processing data for millions of products on a daily basis. The following graphs depict the number of goods analyzed during this period. Additionally, each graph is accompanied by another chart indicating the fluctuation of prices, showing the number of goods becoming more expensive or cheaper on specific days throughout the year.

The number of analyzed goods in 2017
The graph shows when and how many goods were becoming cheaper or more expensive in 2017
The number of analyzed goods in 2018
The graph shows when and how many goods were becoming cheaper or more expensive in 2018
The number of analyzed goods in 2019
The graph shows when and how many goods were becoming cheaper or more expensive in 2019
The number of analyzed goods in 2020
The graph shows when and how many goods were becoming cheaper or more expensive in 2020

Frequently, AliExpress sellers display the original price of an item and then cross it out. However, the charts presented in this analysis showcase the actual sales prices, disregarding the crossed-out prices. This allows for a more accurate representation of the pricing trends and patterns observed on AliExpress.

So what conclusions can be drawn from these graphs?

A noticeable trend is the consistent increase in the number of sales on AliExpress over the years. This becomes evident when comparing the 2017 and 2020 graphs. It appears that this approach has been successful and yielded positive financial results. Alibaba, the parent company of AliExpress, recognized the popularity of sales events and introduced themed sales throughout the year. The final graph demonstrates that in 2020, there were approximately fifteen sales, nearly double the number in 2019.

Furthermore, the data reveals that certain sellers do raise prices prior to sales. Some sellers increase prices a day or two before the sale, especially leading up to the significant 11.11 sale. This practice is clearly visible in the 2017 graph, although a significantly smaller number of sellers employed this strategy in recent years.

Considering the increased number of major sales in 2020 compared to 2019, it raises the question of what to expect in 2021. Will there be even more sales? The evolving marketing landscape of AliExpress remains an intriguing topic to observe in the coming year.

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Pricearchive

Is the only price tracker for AliExpress with data starting in 2016. We are developing a website and a browser extension with useful features.