Today, there are many activities which may help you to relax after a long day – some people choose betting with 22Bet, others prefer shopping. Online shopping has long been the most used way to buy a new dress for a holiday or a suit for work. People choose this type of shopping because it is convenient and fast – there is no need to stand in line at the fitting room and go from one store to another. You can quickly choose what you need and calmly try it on at home. Recently it became known that one of the retailers – Shein – attracted a billion dollars of investments and became one of the most expensive startups in the world, and about six thousand new products appear on the platform every day.
And if Zara, H&M or Massimo Dutti, and other stores in the mass market segment are considered “fast fashion”, then platforms such as Shein and others are considered the sphere of “superfast fashion”. In this review, we will look at what other marketplaces will help save time on shopping.
Table of Contents
Alibaba
Alibaba, like AliExpress, TaoBao, is owned by the same company, Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group. It was this man who for several years in a row was recognized as the richest man in China. Each of the platforms is suitable for different purposes.
Alibaba is intended primarily for wholesalers and was created for transactions between factories and owners of large stores or chains. So, if you go to the page of any of the products, you will see the approximate price, the batch available for ordering, the location of the seller, the payment methods established by the seller, and contacts for communication. Everything works on parole – there is no process control or guarantees on Alibaba, so you can easily fall for scammers.
Taobao
Auction and the largest marketplace (online) in China with a huge selection of goods, low prices, and retail sales. True, there is a significant disadvantage – TaoBao works on the Chinese interface, so it is problematic to find the right product without an interpreter or basic knowledge of the language. In addition, delivery from TaoBao is carried out mainly through China – for other countries, in most cases, you will have to look for an intermediary, which means adding a percentage (on average, taking into account the work of an intermediary, the cost of delivery and the commission of payment systems, it ranges from 20 to 50%) to final check.
AliExpress
AliExpress was originally conceived as an analog of the TaoBao platform for the international market, and among other companies of the Alibaba Group, it is best suited for retailers and buyers from other countries.
This platform provides both English and German interface and search languages, secondly, there is a rating system that helps to identify reliable sellers, and thirdly, there is a large selection of payment methods. In addition, in product reviews, you can see real photos of buyers, sales are often held on the site, and purchases are guaranteed. And this, of course, does not take into account the extremely low prices, even taking into account the current dollar exchange rate.
Shein
This marketplace was originally created by teenagers and offers a huge selection of trendy clothes, as well as home goods, animals, and many other categories. In general, Shein, which grew out of a small wedding dress store, over the past few years has gained fame as one of the fastest-growing companies in the world, was able to break into the American market and successfully conquer it, and at the same time fill the Russian-language TikTok – videos with unpacking from there are found in recommendations with an enviable regularity.
At the same time, Shein is focused primarily on Western buyers (in total, goods are delivered to 220 countries), so it is not common in China, although it cooperates directly with Chinese manufacturers, providing low prices. The choice of such a target audience is reflected, by the way, in the appearance of the site, for example, in photos, also designed for American and European consumers and made in the style of bloggers. According to one of the employees of the company, Shein conducts a rigorous selection of photographers, hiring only one out of a hundred candidates. They are no less scrupulous about distribution on social networks: the platform, for example, regularly collaborates with influencers and stars and even arranges concerts (online) with the participation of Saweetie and The Chainsmokers, Lil Nas X, Katy Perry, Nick Jonas, and others. Shein is criticized, however, no less than orders are placed on it: the company is accused of polluting the environment with huge production volumes, as well as violating the working conditions of employees. The site has been repeatedly accused of copying big brands, and some of them (Ralph Lauren, Dr. Martens, and Levi Strauss & Co.) filed lawsuits against the company, but they were unsuccessful.
eBay
American competitor AliExpress has a partially English interface. This is not a store in its classical sense, but rather an auction where literally everything can be placed.
To trade on the site, you need to pay a commission, VAT, and a fee per commodity unit, but it gives you access to a huge market. From the point of view of the buyer, eBay is also quite convenient: in addition to the fact that due to rates, you can buy goods here for almost a penny, there is also a huge catalog of major Chinese brands.
Joom
The history of this Latvian trading platform has only six years. But already in the second year of its existence, in the ranking of Russian companies delivering goods from China, it took second place, second only to AliExpress.
In terms of assortment, Joom is not inferior to competitors: here you can buy household goods, clothes, shoes, electronics, suitcases, bags, watches, even jewelry and pet products. But what distinguishes the platform from competitors is the presence of sellers not only from China, but also from Japan, South Korea, Turkey, and Russia, high-quality translation of the site into several languages and applications, as well as simplified ordering, and free shipping.