If you have been shopping on AliExpress from a long time or even running a dropshipping business powered by AliExpress then you would know that there is one major problem with the platform which is that it takes a very long time for shipping and the items get delivered late most often than not.
This problem is mostly faced by people outside China because the Alibaba group is located in China and services all parts of the world but its priority delivery is only available in China. It is, therefore, recommended that you order things in advance from AliExpress so that there is no delay and it gives a better customer experience as well.
Apart from that, the well-known e-commerce fact is that customers get attracted to a platform where delivery times are faster and they often forget what they ordered if the order takes more than a week to get delivered. This not only increases their customer retention rate but also increases their conversion.
For example, you are on Amazon and you see that a product will take more than a week to get delivered and the same product is available on Walmart but it only takes two days to get delivered then you will obviously choose Walmart unless and until you get huge discounts from Amazon or you really Walmart for some reason.
This is the case with stores owned by dropshippers as well. It is well-known that delivery times play a major role in this business and the sellers also try to get their products as fast as they can in bulk quantity so as to reduce the risk of delays. Talking about delays, we have a few methods to tell you about so as to reduce the AliExpress shipping times so follow along and find out how you can do the same.
How to long does AliExpress take to ship my orders?
On average, AliExpress takes anywhere between 15 days up to 4 days and sometimes even 60 days in some edge cases to ship your order from their warehouse in China to your location anywhere around the world. After that, it depends on the courier partner they have chosen to deliver your order so it may take another 15-30 days to get your order delivered.
It definitely depends on your location, courier partner as well as other geographical factors but on average, you can expect your AliExpress order to be delivered in 25-30 days from the time of ordering while shipping times on average are 15-20 days.
How to Reduce AliExpress Shipping Times in 2023?
Yes, while this might sound like a fake promise, it is possible to reduce AliExpress Shipping Times in 2023 and we will tell you exactly how you can do so in this article.
To reduce the AliExpress Shipping Times, you need to smart in the selection of your products as well as its sellers so that there are no delays in your shipping times as well as delivery times. Having said that, even the good sellers can fail sometimes so it is not a fullproof method and there may be some exceptions.
Anyways, you can try this methods mentioned below to reduce the AliExpress Shipping Times by almost half in 2023:
1. Select Suppliers with Fast and Affordable Shipping methods
AliExpress gives you the flexibility of choosing the suppliers for your products which means that you can see the ratings and customer reviews of the sellers from whom you are ordering your products.
Make sure that the seller you choose is providing fast and affordable shipping methods so as to reduce the shipping times. On AliExpress, you can find sellers that offer super cheap but similarly slow shipping which will save you money but cause a lot of delays in the supply chain. On the other hand, there are sellers that give you superfast delivery but cost a lot more. The general idea here is to find a balance between these two type of sellers and see the sellers who offer a faster shipping method while still costing less.
We recommend a seller named ePacket Delivery on AliExpress that offers fast shipping times but reduces your overall costs at the same time so you don’t lose money on orders done by your customers. There are many sellers similar to the one we mentioned above so pick and choose from these sellers and flourish your dropshipping business.
2. Choose Suppliers with the least processing times
Another important aspect regarding suppliers on AliExpress is the time they take to process your order which is also known as their processing time. Note that shipping time and processing times are different. If your order takes 24 hours for processing and 7 days for shipping, you will get the product after 8 days as the processing and shipping time is equal to the delivery time.
There is a Google Chrome extension named Oberlo that gives you the exact seller information on AliExpress, such as their processing time, shipping time, method of shipping, and other information. Do install this Chrome extension while visiting AliExpress, and you can save a lot of time and money.
Once you check out the processing times of various sellers, make sure to choose the one with the lowest processing and shipping times, and also check out his ratings to ensure that they are not faking the details. Generally, a processing time of up to 3 days is considered as standard in the e-commerce industry so make sure to choose a seller with similar processing times to these.
3. Order Samples
If you are starting a dropshipping business, we know that you will be very excited to punch in your first order in bulk and would want as much quantity as possible so that there are no delays in delivery.
However, we must tell you that the standard practice followed by experienced dropshippers is to order samples before any delivery so that you test out the quality of the products you are ordering as well as also see how much it is taking for the order to be delivered between the date of placing the order and that of delivery.
Veteran dropshippers follow this strategy even to this day so that they can reduce the risks and this is what you should do for your own business as well. While this will not directly reduce the AliExpress shipping times, you will get an experience of how much the sellers takes their time to deliver the order and then you can either select a different seller or continue with the same one if you are impressed.
4. Select Sellers who have warehouses nearest to your location
If you are ordering from a seller on AliExpress, make sure that the same seller has a warehouse in your target country as well otherwise it will obviously take a lot of time for the products to get delivered to your country as it is being sent via a cargo ship or via flight (which is quite expensive).
For example, if you live in India and are ordering the product from China then make sure that the seller has a warehouse in India and it would be the best if the warehouse location is nearer to the address where your product needs to be delivered. In that case, the shipping times can be greatly reduced and the product can reach you faster.
On AliExpress, there is an option to select the sellers who have their warehouse located in your country as well. While the majority of sellers ship from China, there are many who have warehouses located in other parts of the world as well. To filter such sellers, go to AliExpress and sort by “ship from a country” option and then select your country such as India. Once the list is sorted, you will see all the sellers that have warehouses in India and they will be able to reach you the fastest.
5. Browse AliExpress VIP listings for your dropshipping products
If you are in the dropshipping business for a long time and you are ordering from a particular seller then they might offer you a VIP listing of the same product which is only accessed by you and not visible to anyone else.
Basically, this VIP listing will give you priority processing and shipping times as well as an even better discount on the products if the quantity is really large enough. If you don’t see a VIP listing for the product you are ordering from a long time then you can ask the seller to create a VIP listing for you and negotiate the terms in advance.
Conclusion
In this article, we have mentioned the definitive steps you need to take to reduce the AliExpress Shipping Times in 2023 and beyond and these are extremely crucial if you are starting your dropshipping business as these are the foundations of a strong business for years to come.
It is crucial to take your processing time and shipping time taken by a seller very seriously because it can lower or higher your customer conversion rate based on the delivery times. There are other ways to reduce shipping times as well but we have mentioned the most important ones in the article above.
