AliExpress ranked second! Together with Temu and SHEIN, it entered the "Top 10 European Cross-border E-commerce"

As one of the world's important economies, Europe has always been an important part of the international e-commerce market. At the same time, cross-border e-commerce in Europe has also shown strong growth momentum. Data shows that in 2023, the revenue of the European cross-border e-commerce market will reach 237 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 32%.

The latest European cross-border e-commerce TOP 10 is released

Recently, the research organization CBCommerce.eu released the fifth edition of the "European Cross-border Commerce Market Report". It is reported that the report is based on the annual analysis and summary of cross-border e-commerce platforms in 28 European countries including the UK.

In addition, CBCommerce.eu also released the latest version of the "Top 100 European Cross-border E-commerce Platforms" based on indicators such as turnover, cross-border transaction volume, number of foreign visitors and search engine optimization. The total turnover of these 100 e-commerce platforms reached 197 billion euros, an increase of 39.3% over last year.

In this list of TOP 100 cross-border e-commerce platforms, AliExpress, Temu and SHEIN all successfully entered the TOP 10, ranking second, fifth and eighth respectively.

Compared with the previous list (the fourth edition), Temu moved up 4 places, SHEIN entered the top 10, and although AliExpress became the second, it still ranked in the first tier.

The first place this time is Amazon, the undisputed "big brother" in the e-commerce industry, which moved up two places from the third place last time; eBay rose from the fourth place last time to the third place, and Etsy fell from the second place last time to the fourth place; Zalando returned to the top 10 (10th) from outside the top 10 last time.

Lithuanian e-commerce platform Vinted, Dutch e-commerce platform Olx and American e-commerce platform Discogs ranked 6th, 7th and 9th respectively; among them, Vinted rose 4 places from 10th, while Olx and Discogs did not enter the top 10 in the previous period.

According to information, Vinted is a second-hand clothing trading platform founded in 2008. It is mainly active in the French and German markets, but also has business in the United States, Britain, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic and other countries; Olx was founded in 2006 and is a global integrated online market. Its business currently covers more than 40 countries around the world; and Discogs, as a music e-commerce platform (founded in 2000), not only has rich online music data, but also allows users to buy and sell various new and old music products on it.

The fifth edition of the European Cross-Border Commerce Market Report also mentioned that Europeans' cross-border online shopping sales will reach 362 billion euros in 2024, and are expected to reach 364.3 billion euros in 2025. Of this year's cross-border e-commerce sales, 225 billion euros were completed through e-commerce platforms, accounting for nearly 70% (69%). Therefore, e-commerce platforms are becoming the cornerstone of European cross-border e-commerce.

It is worth mentioning that although Amazon is the largest e-commerce platform in Europe, CBCommerce believes that it is facing huge challenges in the European market.

CBCommerce said that Amazon's advantage as the largest e-commerce platform in Europe is shrinking ; looking forward, Amazon's share may decline slightly . There are two main reasons for this: on the one hand, sellers are beginning to look for alternative channels to Amazon; on the other hand, Chinese e-commerce platforms are rising rapidly .

For sellers, especially those who adopt a multi-channel strategy, Amazon's position in the e-commerce field is being challenged. Since 2022, sellers have begun to expand their sales channels. In addition to selling on Amazon, they have also begun to pay attention to independent websites and social media platforms, and began to explore new e-commerce platforms. This situation is closely related to Amazon's rising costs, market saturation, and sellers' control over their own businesses.

Chinese e-commerce platforms are also influencing the European e-commerce market. According to CBCommerce's research, emerging e-commerce platforms such as SHEIN and Temu, which originated in China, are redefining the picture of global market competition and changing the landscape of the European e-commerce market by emphasizing factory direct sales, affordable prices and new models of social media marketing. CBCommerce believes that Chinese e-commerce platforms have now become the benchmark of the e-commerce market, and Amazon will have to adapt to the new standards set by "Chinese players."

Chinese cross-border e-commerce is sweeping the European market

At present, Chinese cross-border e-commerce platforms are dominating Europe.

Ommisend found in a survey of 1,000 British consumers that 60% of the respondents had shopped on Chinese cross-border e-commerce platforms such as AliExpress, Temu, SHEIN, and TikTok Shop, and 62% of the respondents had shopped on multiple Chinese cross-border e-commerce platforms. They rated AliExpress, Temu, SHEIN, and TikTok Shop as more than 6 points (out of 10).

In addition, data from the APP store also showed that in August, AliExpress defeated a number of competitors and topped the UK iOS free download list; during the same period, Temu ranked second, SHEIN ranked fourth, and TikTok ranked sixth.

ECC KÖLN's survey data found that during the survey period, German consumers' awareness of Chinese brands increased by 13 percentage points , from 78% to 91%. At the same time, 43% of consumers would shop from these platforms. Among them, the usage rate of German consumers on Temu reached 32%, and the usage rate of SHEIN also increased to 22%.

Data from the first quarter of 2024 released by the French Federation of E-Commerce Sales showed that in terms of mobile applications, AliExpress, Temu and SHEIN had a clear advantage , ranking 4th, 5th and 7th in terms of downloads on the Google Play Store respectively .

After investigating e-commerce in nine European countries, the NIQ Consumer Online Group found that in Spain alone, 34% of online shopping in the first half of the year was completed on Chinese platforms such as Alibaba, Temu or SHEIN .

The rapid development of Chinese e-commerce platforms is not only influenced by the purchasing power of local European consumers, but also related to the support of China's high-quality supply chain. China's complete and efficient supply chain enables Chinese e-commerce platforms to provide European and even global consumers with high-quality, low-priced and rich products. At the same time, the emphasis and layout of Chinese e-commerce platforms on logistics also allow goods to be quickly delivered to consumers in Europe and other parts of the world.

However, as Chinese e-commerce platforms become more and more "dazzling" in Europe, they are also under tremendous pressure. From a policy perspective, the EU has identified AliExpress, SHEIN, and Temu as very large online platforms (VLOPs), and they will face stricter supervision than ordinary e-commerce platforms. At the same time, the EU has also revealed early that it will impose taxes on all postal express parcels from outside the EU, especially on goods with a value of less than 150 euros.

For Chinese e-commerce platforms, these policies are undoubtedly a huge challenge - whether it is product pricing, regulatory compliance, or even logistics and warehousing layout, the platforms need to adjust according to the policies. This will also be a huge project for AliExpress, SHEIN and Temu. However, Temu, AliExpress and SHEIN have also expressed their willingness to cooperate with EU policies and adapt to the new market environment.

At the same time, for cross-border sellers, the adjustment of market policies and e-commerce platform policies has undoubtedly brought a series of challenges. As a cross-border seller, it is necessary to pay attention to the latest policy dynamics of all parties in a timely manner and actively adjust strategies according to the policies in order to better adapt to market changes and maintain their own growth.

Temu, SHEIN, AliExpress

European cross-border e-commerce rankings