AliExpress opens first physical store in Europe

AliExpress is going offline. The popular Chinese shopping platform has opened a physical store in Madrid, the first of its kind in Europe. The store actually operates more like a showroom, because products still need to be ordered online.

AliExpress has opened its first European retail store in Madrid Xanadú, one of Europe’s biggest shopping malls. Since last Sunday, Spanish consumers are able to visit the store and see, feel and try different kinds of products. But if they want buy something from Aliexpress, they still need to go online to order the products.

Spain is one of AliExpress’ biggest markets

Spanish newspaper El Periódico says it’s not a coincidence that AliExpress chose Spain as the place to open its first European physical store. Spain is the company’s fourth market by turnover volume, after China, the United States and Russia.

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‘It’s the gateway to Europe’

“Spain is an important country for the group, where the largest number of customers in both volume and value is now concentrated”, Rubén Bautista, operations director in Spain and Portugal, says. “For the Alibaba Group, it was as strategic choice to bet on Spain, because it’s the gateway to Europe.”

The AliExpress store in Madrid is 740 square meters big and is divided into five different areas, giving home to about 1,000 products from over 60 brands.