This year's cross-border e-commerce market is particularly lively. The rise of Shopify and Shein is impacting Amazon's dominant position, and several domestic Internet giants are also turning their attention to this track.

First, JD.com formed an alliance with Walmart and Shopify, and then news came out that ByteDance would launch an independent cross-border e-commerce platform.

In addition, Shein’s popularity in the cross-border circle this year has also attracted many platforms to enter the fast fashion e-commerce field, including the veteran cross-border player - Alibaba.

In this context, Alibaba also announced the launch of a new platform to compete with Shein in the European and American markets. In this market with so many platforms and brands, who will come out on top?

Alibaba launches cross-border platform allyLikes

It is learned that according to foreign media reports, Alibaba recently launched an online fashion shopping platform "allyLikes" overseas, trying to seize the North American and European markets with Shein.

▲ Video account focuses on cross-border navigation

Prior to this, Alibaba's cross-border e-commerce had already reached many countries and regions overseas, and Alibaba is also experienced in this industry. However, unlike the previous cross-border platforms, allyLikes focuses on subdividing categories and specific purchasing groups.

Some media said that the launch of allyLikes may be based on its huge market data analysis, preparing to create a new cross-border traffic entrance.

It is reported that allyLikes is a fashion shopping app focusing on European and American women's clothing , selling a variety of fashionable clothing and accessories such as earrings, with good quality and low prices. It currently supports shipments to European countries including France and Italy, as well as Canada and the United States.

It is reported that allyLikes adds more than 500 new fashion items every week. The current products include jeans, knitwear, underwear, sportswear, casual items, various accessories, etc. Users can match relevant products and pay for them on the App based on their preferences, style, size and other information. AllyLikes will deliver the goods to consumers within two weeks.

Additionally, the platform is recruiting influencers to promote brands, offering sponsored gifts and 50% commission benefits.

In 2021, when cross-border e-commerce is booming, where does Alibaba get the confidence to launch a new platform to compete with the fast-growing shein?

Does Alibaba want to compete with Shein or has bigger ambitions?

It is learned that after the epidemic, "Made-in-China" products began to be sold in large quantities overseas, and clothing was the most popular cross-border procurement category, followed by electronic gadgets and toys.

The report pointed out that Alibaba may have launched the "allyLikes" initiative after seeing how popular Shein is overseas, but there are deeper reasons for Alibaba's new move.

First of all, the overall environment of cross-border e-commerce is favorable . Driven by national policies and the epidemic, cross-border e-commerce has taken off, cross-border exports have increased significantly, and has become a highlight of China's foreign trade growth. Against the backdrop of investments by domestic Internet giants, Alibaba naturally cannot miss this huge opportunity.

Secondly, Alibaba has its own advantages: backed by its own e-commerce platforms, AliExpress and Lazada, it can provide allyLikes with strong overseas market data support ; it has strong supply chain resources in China, which can lower costs and replicate the Shein model; its relatively successful cross-border e-commerce experience and powerful algorithm support are enough to prove Alibaba's strength.

Another reason is the popularity of the overseas fast fashion e-commerce market . The great success of the Shein model has made DTC overseas and independent website marketing very popular. Therefore, allyLikes also specializes in the fast fashion category, opens up overseas sales channels through market segmentation , improves the influence and competitiveness of the platform, and accelerates the globalization of Alibaba's e-commerce.

However, even though Alibaba is already a strong player in the cross-border e-commerce industry, allyLikes still faces many challenges in becoming a leader in fast fashion e-commerce.

Alibaba wants to compete with Shein for the European and American markets, but its competitors include more than just Shein.

What challenges will allyLikes face?

allyLikes will face direct competition from Shein, what does this mean?

It is learned that Shein is currently very popular among consumers abroad, thanks to its fast style iteration, affordable prices and promotional activities.

In the last month, Shein’s app has been downloaded 5 million times on the iOS store and 9 million times on Google Play, making it the most downloaded shopping app.

The survey shows that Shein is the second favorite e-commerce brand among American teenagers after Amazon. Shein's annual revenue in 2020 was nearly 10 billion US dollars, and it has achieved more than 100% growth for eight consecutive years.

But allyLikes is still in the early stages of its business development, with fewer than 10,000 app downloads worldwide on the iOS store and Google Play last month, according to Sensor Tower data.

allyLikes is currently ranked 262nd in the UK and 352nd in France in the Google Play shopping category, both showing a downward trend.

Although allyLikes is very similar to Shein in terms of model, compared to the mature Shein, allyLikes is a fledgling and lacks brand effect and user accumulation. It may take some time to surpass this giant.

In addition to Shein, another e-commerce giant, Amazon, is also one of allyLikes' competitors.

Research shows that independent brand websites face huge competition from Amazon in terms of customer traffic , and high shipping costs put them at a disadvantage in terms of product prices.

Compared with brand independent sites, Amazon's advantages lie in its extremely low prices and extremely high traffic.

The study found that among Amazon’s brand independent sites, 49% of brands have lower prices on Amazon than on their own websites and faster shipping speeds. Almost no brand website can match Amazon’s prices and speeds.

Despite the rapid rise of independent brand websites, according to Channeladvisor, 53% of consumers start their product searches on Amazon. Therefore, buyers are likely to compare between brand websites and Amazon, and allyLikes, as a fast fashion brand, will also face this challenge.

In short, allyLikes still has a long way to go in this "battle" for market share in Europe and the United States.