AliExpress is owned by Alibaba Group, the Chinese e-commerce giant, and is made up of small businesses from China and elsewhere.
Sellers can be businesses and individuals, and such good prices can be found that success is evident: the group grew by 51% in the first quarter of 2019, with a turnover of $56.2 billion.
Everyone wants to take advantage of the success of the Chinese giant, and as long as this serves to extend its tentacles to all parts of the planet and sell more and more, they are delighted.
This is the philosophy behind the AliExpress affiliate programme.
Do you want to learn everything you need to know about the AliExpress affiliate programme? Then, don't go away and take good note of what we are going to tell you in Orbital Themes, and you will end up being an expert.
What is the AliExpress affiliate programme?
The AliExpress affiliate programme works in a similar way to other major global e-commerce sites such as eBay or Amazon.
Through this service, you can promote products from the shop on your website and get a commission for each sale.
This is what is known as affiliate marketing, which we have talked about before.
How to create an affiliate account
In order to sign up for the AliExpress affiliate program, you must first have a blog or a website.
If you don't have one, you will have to create one, as this is where you will promote your products and add enough quality content. You can't start with the roof!
But if you meet this requirement, you are ready to join the AliExpress affiliate program.
You can do it through AliExpress Portals in a couple of simple steps.
Click on "Sign In".
You can sign in with your AliExpress account, or sign up with your phone number or with your Google account or your social networks.
Once you have successfully logged in, you will be presented with a form to fill in with your details.
Among the options, there is a box where you must enter the URL of your website.
Note that it will be checked as soon as you submit the form to see if you meet the requirements.
That's why we insisted that the first step was to create your website, and work on it a bit.
If AliExpress considers that it is not strong enough or could be penalized by search engines, you may not be approved, and we don't want that to happen.
Advantages and disadvantages of AliExpress Affiliates
The main advantage lies in its simplicity, because the costs are minimal and the process is not complicated.
It may be more difficult at the beginning but, like everything else, as soon as you get used to the main functions of the website and plugins, everything will go smoothly.
In fact, the most difficult thing is to choose a profitable niche and work it well, so spend enough time in the preliminary phase.
Another advantage is that commissions are significantly high, often reaching 8% or more.
One of the most positive factors according to the opinions of users who use the AliExpress affiliate program is precisely the high percentage of commission, compared to other popular programs such as eBay or Amazon, which makes it a very profitable affiliate program.
All this, simply by selling products from a shop that generates millions of transactions per month due to its low prices and free shipping possibilities.
The volume is such that, even if the income is minimal, it is worth a try.
You also have the help of tools (API and SDK) to be able to do it through Android operating systems.
But there are lights and shadows in everything.
If buyers usually take advantage of the free shipping option, this means waiting times of around 60 days.
In the meantime, you will be waiting for the buyer to indicate that the transaction has been successfully completed before the commission is approved.
Although this can happen sooner, it still takes quite a long time.
Also, AliExpress only has one way to pay you: international bank transfer.
And it costs you $15 (about €13.60 at the exchange rate) or, at least, that's how it has been until now.
Is it easier than selling in AliExpress Plaza (the physical shop in Spain) or with an online shop with your own products? Yes.
That you could earn more than in other affiliate programs?
With a similar investment in time, effort and money, it will always depend on the product you sell and how you do it.
That it is a panacea and will make you money easily?
No. Nothing is on the Internet.
But it all comes with a little dedication.
How does AliExpress work?
AliExpress Affiliates is open to be used by anyone in any country.
All you need to have is a decently functioning website to pass a filter that is almost minimal, and a bank account.
When you are approved to be part of the programme, through the platform you will be able to get banners and links to insert them in your website and be able to promote products from sellers.
And when we say website, we mean blog, page or profile on social networks, forum or e-mail.
How to get affiliate links?
To get the AliExpress Affiliate links you just need to go to your administration panel.
Once you have completed the application and it has been accepted, you can log in from the affiliates section and go to "Ad Center" in the top menu.
Underneath you will see the "Event promotion" option, which is where you should start if you are a beginner.
By clicking on "Get Code" you will get the code which you can then insert into your website.
You can customise the links by adding a question mark ("?") at the end of the link, and whatever you want afterwards.
Adding tracking tags to the links allows you to track them from "Reports > Live Order Tracking". This way you will have located the links that give you commission and work better.
Commissions for each sale
The commissions of the AliExpress affiliate programme are one of the Chinese giant's strong points.
A priori, it is more generous than some of its main competitors.
The platform's minimum commission is 8%, and different bonuses are offered.
Payments can be released on a monthly basis, and it is an interesting option when you reach a fairly generous volume of commissions.
How transactions are recorded
The user who follows your links to buy on AliExpress will drag the cookies from his browser, which will indicate where he comes from, and thanks to which you will get a commission.
But if the user closes without making the purchase, even if they do it later, you will not benefit from the commission because they last for one session.
From "Reports" you can see the date of the transactions made, the order and type of promotion, and you can generate a CSV file that shows you the data in case you want to store it for your analysis.
AliExpress payment methods for its affiliates
We told you at the beginning, and we reiterate it: this is the biggest disadvantage of the AliExpress affiliate programme.
The only payment method offered by the platform is international bank transfer, and for each transaction you will be charged a commission of 15$.
You can withdraw the earnings accumulated in your account before the 20th of each month, as long as your balance exceeds $16.
Aliplugin, the easiest way to create a shop on AliExpress
To create an AliExpress shop, we recommend you to use Aliplugin, a WordPress plugin.
It is paid, but it allows you to create it in a short time thanks to options such as importing products, which you can do directly from the administration panel.
To install the plugin you need an activation key or license that will be sent to you by mail when you buy it.
They will also provide you with an API and a tracking ID for being an affiliate, but you have to request it through the web management panel and it takes between three and five working days to arrive.
When you receive it, you can also enter them in the corresponding fields in Aliplugin, knowing that you can create as many tracking numbers as you want up to a maximum of 50.
So, what does Aliplugin allow you to do?
Well, for example, you can choose how often you want your product data to be updated.
If you change the description and you want to keep your content, you also have the option to activate the "Do not update description" checkbox.
Not only does this make it easier for you to manage your products, but also to set preferences, such as currency, and to control their value with the converter.
This will make it easier to change the currency, if it suits you, for example if you start trading in other markets.
The most used and most important function is to import the products you want to promote into your shop, something you can do in bulk or by selecting more carefully product by product.
If you are recommending a very specific product or you want to focus only on those products that are highly rated, because you know they will sell the most, selective importing is the most advisable.
You can also import products by searching by keyword, or combine this method with the selective import.
You will explore options as you go, but however you do it, you can configure the tool to leave them in draft mode or make them appear online immediately.
When visible, the products will appear along with their price, descriptions and, if you wish, customer feedback.
The tool also has several different themes if you want your shop to stand out.
The competition is fierce, and you may end up appreciating it.
All in all, we think this is a good tool to set up and manage your online affiliate shop with AliExpress.
How to create your ecommerce without buying Aliplugin
Let us tell you this without discouraging you: to do affiliate marketing with AliExpress you are going to have to spend money, even a little.
You will need a domain name, which usually costs about 10 euros per year; a hosting, whose price can vary depending on many factors and, in addition, it would be a good idea to invest a little to position your page and attract an interesting amount of traffic.
You can create your e-commerce without buying Aliplugin, but you will need other tools.
Mainly, you will need a powerful and optimised template for your site, such as Orbital Themes.
Why should you like it?
Well, for many reasons.
It's fast, easy to install, lightweight, 100% search engine optimised and has features you'll love.
If you're new to this, there may be some things that you're not familiar with yet but that you'll appreciate in the long run, such as using a system of categories, tags and metatags.
Want to know what advantages Orbital Themes offers to create your online shop? Find out for yourself!
Tips for earning passive income with AliExpress Affiliates
We want you to know how to get the most out of this affiliate programme, so take note of these tips.
Study the program well
You will find a lot of information that AliExpress provides you with on their website, and it would be a good idea to take a look at it.
You don't need to become an expert before you even start your ecommerce, but you do need to have some basic notions such as the product categories that exist.
For example, Hot Products generate a higher commission per sale, up to 90% in some cases, and the list includes hundreds of thousands of products.
There are also bonuses, such as the new customer bonus.
In short, you need to learn more, put into practice what you learn and correct what you think is wrong.
This way you will be able to increase your earnings.
Focus on what can be done
It is also related to knowing well the possibilities offered by the tool and knowing what you do.
Most of the traffic sources are allowed, but others are forbidden and their use can lead to blocking.
Here are some examples of what you should not do if you do not want to be banned from the programme:
Using pop-ups: Are you annoyed by pop-ups that pop up every now and then to sell you something? So do your users, and in affiliate marketing it is usually a forbidden practice.
Using brands: You can find this point in the terms and conditions.
It is one thing to promote the products and services of the Alibaba group, such as AliExpress, AliCloud or Taobao, which they will be happy to do.
But don't use their brand illegally.
Go for adult traffic: In CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) marketing, content-specific sources are not accepted.
Because of the volume of traffic it attracts, going for explicit content may seem attractive to attract a type of audience eager to see morbidity in order to sell them a product, but no.
Even to sell erotic products you will have to go for erotic content.
Even to sell erotic products you will have to opt for subtlety.
Use promotional tools
Tools are your allies, but we repeat: don't get obsessed with them.
Start by getting to know them; select one, do your research, play around, analyse the results. Are you doing well? If the answer is yes, maybe you don't need to use any more.
One of the tools you can use are the link and banner generators themselves, which provide you with ready-to-use content that you can include on your website.
This is basic free promotional material that you won't need Aliplugin, for example, although it doesn't offer as much potential.
You also have coupons and discounts.
Promote on networks and other platforms.
We know that this is not passive, what is said passive, it is not.
Social media needs a lot of attention because of the need to create interesting content that generates impact, reactions to which you will also have to pay attention.
You may not want to create an Instagram account or a Facebook page, but at the very least you should consider going to coupon websites and posting your own.
Even so, we advise you not to underestimate the use of other platforms such as YouTube, which, although it requires a lot of work, generates a very loyal audience.
The same goes for email marketing.
To succeed with the AliExpress affiliate programme you need many other things, such as creativity for the configuration of spaces or the creation of content, or the monitoring of trends to find out what interests your audience.
If you like what you do and you dedicate time to it, the results are bound to come, at Orbital Themes we are sure of it!
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