Competition, price reduction, development of online shopping and more choices – what happens if AliExpress opens its representative office in Tajikistan?
In late August this year, Tajikistan’s Ambassador to China Parviz Davlatzoda met with Mr. Jack Ma, the co-founder and former executive chair of Alibaba Group, on the sidelines of the 2019 Smart China Expo (SCE) and invited him to visit Tajikistan.
Ricky Xue, Head of Global Logistics of AliExpress, had earlier noted that AliExpress is interested in establishing permanent cooperation with Tajikistan. Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Ricky Xue noted that the company intends to open its representative office and warehouse for goods in Tajikistan.
Meanwhile, experts doubt that AliExpress representation in Tajikistan will be the same as in Russia. “For this we are too small country, which means that the volumes will be completely different,” the experts say.
“Moreover, they will have to build powerful logistics system here – we practically do not have it,” the expert say, adding that Tajikistan is a very small market for them.
And yet, if…
The experts consider that opening of the AliExpress representative office in Tajikistan will significantly reduce prices and give more choice to buyers.
According to them, AliExpress will accustom people to online shopping due to a wide choice and low prices.
At the same time, the experts say that opening of the AliExpress representation in Tajikistan will seriously affect domestic merchants, because many of them used to buy goods from this online shop and then sold them at Tajik markets.
AliExpress is an online retail service based in China that is owned by the Alibaba Group. Launched in 2010, it is made up of small businesses in China and other locations, such as Singapore, that offer products to international online buyers. It is the most visited e-commerce website in Russia and was the 10th most popular website in Brazil. It facilitates small businesses to sell to customers all over the world. AliExpress has drawn comparison to eBay, as sellers are independent and use the platform to offer products to sellers.
AliExpress started as a business-to-business buying and selling portal. It has since expanded to business-to-consumer, consumer-to-consumer, cloud computing, and payment services, as well. AliExpress is currently available in English, Spanish, Dutch, French, Italian, German, Polish, Portuguese, and Russian languages.
Sellers on AliExpress can be either companies or individuals. AliExpress is different from Amazon because it acts only as an e-commerce platform and does not sell products directly to consumers. It directly connects Chinese businesses with buyers. AliExpress differs from fellow Alibaba-subsidiary Taobao in that AliExpress is primarily aimed at international buyers.
