SWOT Analysis and Recommendations about the Cross-border E-commerce AliExpress Russia

Abstract

with the development of information technology and cross-border logistics, and the bilateral trade policy support, cross-border e-commerce between China and Russia experienced a rapid growth in the past decade. To date, AliExpress Russia, the e-commerce platform under Alibaba Group, becomes the largest cross-border e-commerce platform in Russia. Although the transaction scale of AliExpress Russia, as reflected by Gross Merchandise Volume, achieved a steady growth in recent years, the market share of AliExpress Russia was gradually overtaken by Wildberries and Ozon (two Russian e-commerce enterprises) since 2018. This paper is aiming to determine the underlying reasons on the declination of the market share encountered by AliExpress Russia. A systematic analytical method, the SWOT analysis, is employed to reveal the internal and external environment of the cross-border platform simultaneously. It is possible to determine the problem of infringement and counterfeiting, costly and inefficient logistics, and underdeveloped credit system are three internal factors impinging the development of AliExpress Russia platform. Moreover, increased level of market competition combined with tightened cross-border e-commerce policy are two external threats. It is believed that the Alibaba Group should adopt the SO (Strengths – Opportunities) and ST (Strengths – Threats) strategy to combine its internal advantages and external opportunities while minimizing its potential risk exposure. By optimizing supply chain system, deepening localization process, constructing a diversified payment system with high reliability, and improving the companies’ core competitiveness, AliExpress Russia can seize the opportunity of promising future Russian e-commerce market and develop its brand influence.