Spanish ecommerce growth fueled by AliExpress

Ecommerce in Spain is ready to grow. And for the next three years, it’s predicted to grow faster than other countries in Western Europe. One of the factors responsible for this development is AliExpress. For the Alibaba Group, Spain is the starting point of its growth in Western Europe.

Ecommerce in Spain is estimated to increase 12.5 percent this year, making it worth over 29 billion euros. And market research company eMarketer forecasts that the online retail industry in Spain will reach over 37 billion euros by 2023.

AliExpress in Spain

Emarketer says the recent entrance of AliExpress in Spain is ‘certainly’ a key driver of this growth. Especially, because Spanish consumers are more price-conscious and are looking more and more towards online marketplaces for a budget-friendly offering.

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AliExpress’ first European physical store was opened in Spain

Forecasting analyst Peter Vahle says the Alibaba Group uses Spain as the jumping-off point to grow its AliExpress marketplace in Western Europe. “AliExpress has been live in Spain for more than a year, but has made its focus on Spain more obvious this year. It chose Spain for its first physical store in Europe and also announced plans to partner with roughly 10,000 Spanish retailers by 2019, giving AliExpress access to new international markets.”

AliExpress has made its focus on Spain more obvious this year.

Over 50% of active Amazon Spain sellers is Chinese

AliExpress might have its eyes on Spanish consumers, but it’s not alone. It has to compete with Amazon, the biggest ecommerce company in Spain. And both online marketplaces host a lot of Chinese sellers, which was also recently shown by Marketplace Pulse. It found out that China represents over 50 percent of all active sellers on Amazon Spain.

El Corte Inglés has partnered with Alibaba

Another development that shows how AliExpress is investing in Spain, is the partnership between Alibaba and El Corte Inglés, one of Spain’s biggest retailers. The products of this department store has been added to the AliExpress marketplace, while El Corte Inglés also offers click-and-collect to customers of the Chinese platform.