Shopify Drop Shipping | Updated June 3, 2023  

The Non-technical Guide to AliExpress Dropshipping Center [2023]

The global dropshipping market will hit a staggering US$ 621410 million by 2028, up from US$ 162550 million in 2021.

That’s nearly 3.8x its value in 2021 - and even higher this year.

Indeed, these stats are impressive. Still, building a thriving dropshipping business depends on two things.

Dropshipping Product Selection

First, you must pick the best products for your store. On top of that, you need to connect with the right suppliers.

Sure, that sounds easy on paper. But, finding reliable suppliers and the best products to sell can be challenging.

A low-quality supply partner can ruin your business. We're talking about missing items, poor packaging, and mishandled shipments.

Low-quality products can result in customer complaints, negative feedback, and many returns. All these could hamper your business’s growth.

That’s where the AliExpress Dropshipping Center comes in.

If you’re a dropshipper or want to launch a dropshipping store, you'll want to read this article to the tail-end.

In this post, you learn the following:

  • What AliExpress Seller Center is
  • How the center works
  • How you can leverage the center to find products and honest suppliers
  • What happens when you receive an order on AliExpress
  • How Rush fits into the entire equation

Let’s get cracking.

What is AliExpress Dropshipping Center?

The AliExpress dropshipping center is a service by AliExpress to dropshippers.

The service lets you find winning products by parameters like:

  • Keywords
  • Price range
  • Categories
  • Shipping conditions
  • Availability, and pictures

You can also use the service to analyze products on metrics like sales volume before buying. The idea is to help you pick the in-demand items for your online store.

Also, you can leverage the center to find honest, reliable suppliers. You can tell a good supplier by checking the following:

  • Number of orders from other dropshippers
  • Feedback on their name
  • Shipping punctuality

The Dropshipping center features an intuitive dashboard to help you refine searches. The best part? This service is free to use.

How does AliExpress Dropshipping Center Work?

You must create a free AliExpress account to use the dropshipping center.

You can create your account here.

Then, you must activate the Dropshipping Center. Click this link to get started with AliExpress dropshipping free registration. 

You’ll need to accept the terms and conditions to proceed as shown below.

Side Note: The link above may not always work on the first attempt.

If the link doesn’t work, you can use the strategies below:

  • Place many orders to trigger AliExpress to prompt you to start using the tool.
  • Install the Shopify DSers app and link to AliExpress. Check out this blow-by-blow video for more instructions.

How to Access the AliExpress Dropshipping Center

You can access AliExpress dropshipping center under Account>My Orders>DS Center. 

See the image below.

The AliExpress center dashboard has two main tools; find products to sell and product analysis. You'll find the tools at the top of the left corner.

Let’s take a closer look at these two AliExpress dropshipping center tools and what they can do.

Find Products to Sell

This function enables you to find items to sell on your online store. It filters products by text search, image search, etc. 

See the image below:

You can use the“top selection” feature to find trending products by typing their names on the search bar. 

The “search by image” feature lets you upload the image of the product you’re looking for once you click on the tab. 

You can also search products by price, sales volume, and price.

Product Analysis

This function allows you to analyze a product before buying it.

It links you to the supplier’s store, displaying an overview of their sales volume over time. 

You can also use the feature to check the supplier’s deadline history and seller feedback.

You'll want to pick a supplier with the best sales performance, a sizable number of orders, and positive feedback. 

The AliExpress dropshipping center thrives on an excellent user experience. The dashboard is well-laid-out and easy to navigate.

Once you activate and access your dropshipping center, the features are self-explanatory. You only need to click on the appropriate tab depending on what you want to do.

How to Find Reliable Aliexpress Dropshipping Suppliers

Finding reliable and trustworthy suppliers is vital to the success of your business.

So, you will want to remember the following points when choosing a supplier on the platform:

  • The supplier with the lowest price isn’t always the best. In most cases, the lower the price on AliExpress the lower the item’s quality. Research and compare prices from several suppliers. While one or two suppliers may have lower prices than the rest, this often shows compromised quality.
  • Engage suppliers with over 90% positive feedback. The higher the percentage, the more reliable the supplier is likely to be.
  • Tread carefully with branded products. Popular luxury brands are rare on AliExpress.
  • Pay attention to the supplier’s responsiveness. Pick a supplier who responds to your queries as soon as possible. You’ll also want to note their ability to understand your problem.
  • Assess your shipping options. You’re better off with ePacket shipping for faster and cheaper deliveries.

Who Uses AliExpress Dropshipping Center?

Anybody with an AliExpress account can use the Dropshipping center. Still, this service is for dropshippers.

You’ll benefit more from this service if:

  • You’re a dropshipper sourcing products on AliExpress
  • You’re a small business owner looking for affordable goods for your inventory
  • You want in-depth product analysis before ordering for your online store
  • You’re looking for trending, fast-selling products for your business or dropshipping store.
  • You’re a dropshipper looking for trustworthy and reliable suppliers

The AliExpress center is more than a product display and search service. The platform uses a next-level algorithm to sort out items and give final recommendations according to:

  • The country and region
  • Best price
  • Hot selling items
  • Performance
  • Service guarantee, etc.

That way, you can find winning products with the click of a button even when you don't know what to sell.

What Happens When an Order is Placed?

Now you know how the AliExpress dropshipping center works. Let’s look at what happens when a customer orders from your store.

Dropshipping allows you to sell directly to target customers without stocking inventory.

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of the entire process.

Step 1: A customer places an order on your online store, setting off a series of fulfillment actions.

Step 2: You and your supplier receive an email notification about the order generated from your online store. At the same time, the customer’s payment for the product hits your bank account.

Step 3: You’ll then send the order to the dropshipping center by communicating the order to your supplier. Most systems don’t automatically forward the order to your supplier. Still, you can use an app like Shopify DSer to connect to your supplier’s order processing system. 

Once the supplier receives your order, they’ll charge your store the wholesale price, shipping, and other fees.

Step 4: Your supplier picks, packs and ships the order upon receiving your payment. The supplier will ship the order directly to the customer, but your store’s name, address, and logo will be on the invoice.

How Does the Customer Access the Shipping and Delivery Estimate Details?

The supplier will send you the shipping details and tracking number once the order is ready for shipping. You will forward the details to your client.

The shipping tracking codes are essential because they’re the only proof that the order is currently en route to the customer.

Tracking the order is critical. It enables your customer to know when their shipment will arrive and where it is along the shipping process.

While you can track the shipment manually, this method has several disadvantages:

  • The process laborious
  • Manual tracking is time intensive and inconvenient
  • You can easily get caught up in the confusion if you have many orders to track
  • Your client may not have the time to keep checking their shipment status in a manual system every once in a while
  • Manual shipment tracking is expensive

For effective shipment tracking, it would be best for you and your customer to leverage an automated solution like Rush. 

The solution integrates with your supplier’s shipping system. It automatically sends shipment status to your customer via email or SMS at measured intervals.

Automated shipment tracking via Rush is time efficient, reliable, and cost-saving. 

Rush increases customer satisfaction. It also allows you to focus on other core functions of running your dropshipping business.

How Will Rush Help You Increase Revenue? 

With the rise of same-day and next-day, today's customers want to know where their shipment is and the estimated delivery time.

Sure, it can be challenging to offer same-day or next-deliveries with AliExpress dropshipping. But, timely delivery notifications are crucial to keeping your customer engaged.

As a forward-thinking dropshipping store, you want your customers to re-order and refer your business to their friends.  But, that cannot happen after bad experiences like poor communication about shipment status.

Rush offers an extensive collection of features to help you optimize the delivery arm of your dropshipping business.

Our application sends notifications once it receives shipment details from the carrier. The alerts appear in the customer's email, SMS, or in-app messages.

Notification messages include but are not limited to:

  • Your order has been shipped
  • Your order has expired
  • Your order will reach you at XYZ time
  • Your order is at the front door etc.

Automated shipment tracking with Rush sets up your dropship business for growth on all fronts as follows:

It Helps Reduce Returns Rate

One of the biggest challenges for running a dropshipping store is the order return rate. 

Online returns are costlier than in-person returns because of shipping, handling, and restocking. 

According to the Wall Street Journal, online returns can cost you $10 to $20  — excluding freight — depending on the product. 

Worse still, most returned items cannot be sold at full price, and 25% aren’t sold. 

Incisiv research found that 42% of customers will stop buying from a brand. 72% will leave negative feedback if they experience multiple retailer-caused returns. You don't want that for your dropshipping store.

Regular notifications to the customer via Rush.app can help cut the gap in the delivery process. When your customer knows when their shipment will arrive, they can create time to collect the package, reducing the rate of returns.

It Helps Drive Customer Loyalty

Regular communication is a crucial part of offering a delightful customer experience.

A positive experience nurtures trust, encouraging customers to buy from your dropshipping store. A bad experience has a contrary effect.

Statistics by Estaban Kolsky show that 72% of customers will share a positive customer experience with 6 or more people.

While this is good news, 13% of customers will share a bad experience with 15 or more people. The rest will just leave, Kolsky says.

It is evident customers take their experiences with brands seriously from these stats. So you’ll want to keep your customers happy by ensuring they get regular updates about the shipment status of their orders.

Rush enables you to do that automatically.

It Promotes Customer Retention

Winning a new customer is more expensive than retaining loyal buyers. It costs 5x more to acquire a new patron than to retain an existing one. That’s why every dropshipper should strive to have a loyal clientele.

Attracting a trail of loyal customers isn’t easy to achieve because online shoppers can be fickle.

But, leveraging a tool like Rush can increase the level of personalization, enabling you to retain more customers.

Customer retention results in a better return on investment (ROI) for your dropshipping business.

According to Harvard Business Review, you can boost your revenue by 25 to 95% just by increasing your store’s customer retention by 5%.

It Allows You to Explore New Opportunities

Rush removes the burden of informing your client where their order is in the shipping process.

Your customer will receive prompt notifications, so they don’t need to track their orders manually. The seamless mechanism gives you more time to expand the borders of your target markets.

Further, you can develop brand positioning and differentiation around efficient delivery.

The takeaway is this: 

Leveraging Rush means customers have better visibility over their shipment’s arrival time. It also means fewer calls from clients since they have their eyes on the shipment process.

By helping you provide an excellent delivery experience, Rush can play a crucial role in ascending your dropshipping business to the next level.

Getting Started with Rush is Easy

Delivery notifications are vital. 85% of customers admit they’ll make return purchases if they can track their orders throughout the process.

Leveraging Rush can help you boost dropshipping sales and cut costs. It enables you to provide delivery transparency through automatic notifications.

Rush understands the importance of order tracking and prompt delivery notifications to dropshippers. So, to help you stand out, we make the process as seamless as possible for your customers.

Rush.app supports multiple 3rd party integrations. These include Shopify Native, OrderlyEmail, Klaviyo, and Ominisend. That way, you can customize the notification process as much as possible.

Want to see Rush in action before spending your money?

Starting is easy.

You can sample the Rush experience before purchasing the solution through our 30-day free trial.  

Why Rush?

…because notifying your customers via email or SMS can reduce tracking inquiries by almost 78%. Save up to 15 hours per week on customer service tickets.

Stop losing customers and grow your profits by using Rush!  

Start your free 30 day Rush trial

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

As we wrap up this AliExpress dropshipping center guide, let us go over a few questions people ask regarding this topic.


Does AliExpress still have a dropshipping center?

Yes, AliExpress still offers a dropshipping center for dropshippers. The service is also available for small businesses sourcing products on the platform.

The dashboard has been revamped over the years, making it easy to register and use. The new interface is more user-friendly, making it easy to find essential features.

You can take advantage of AliExpress dropshipping center's free registration. That way, you can launch your online store without worrying about inventory.

And when you get orders, Rush will send SMS and email alerts to your customers about the status of their shipment automatically.

You can read Rush reviews to see what users say about the app.


Where is the dropshipping center on AliExpress?

You can access the AliExpress center under your Account>My Orders>DS Center.

A few things must happen before you can access the dropshipping center. You must create an AliExpress account.

Then, you’ll need to activate your dropshipping center before you can start to use it.

Follow this link to activate the center.

 You’ll be prompted to accept AliExpress dropshipping program user agreement at the bottom of the page. Click Finish to access the dashboard. 

The dashboard is super-intuitive, enabling you to quickly locate key features and complete tasks.

“Find products to sell” and “products analysis” are two of the most important functions on the dashboard. The functions are located at the left corner of the dashboard. 


Do all AliExpress sellers use dropship?

AliExpress has a unique model that makes it ideal for dropshipping, unlike other marketplaces like Etsy, eBay, and Amazon.

While sellers are not obligated to dropship, most do. That way, it is easy to find reliable and experienced suppliers for your own dropshipping business.

Besides, thousands of new sellers take up dropshipping every month. This indicates the feasibility of this e-Commerce business model.

When you find a good seller, they’ll handle the shipping without including invoices or promotional materials in the packages. That way, your customer will not know if their order was dropshipped from AliExpress.