Setting up a AliExpress API
To get started on selling your products on the AliExpress Marketplace, you will need to have an AliExpress seller account. If you don't have an AliExpress seller account yet, we advise you to reach out to AliExpress to obtain this. Once you have an AliExpress seller account, you can connect with Channable.
Preparation
Before you begin integrating your products from Channable into AliExpress, it's important to understand the process and requirements:
Existing listings and API management
No need to erase existing listings: You do not need to delete your existing listings on AliExpress before pushing products from Channable for the first time.
Clearing the API: Be cautious when clearing the API as it will remove all listings and related data (such as reviews, history, and ratings) for products pushed through the API.
API token expiry: The API token for AliExpress is valid for one month. You must refresh the token monthly by clicking on 'refresh token' in the connection settings. For more details on how to renew your API connection, click here.
Seller eligibility: Currently, only sellers from Spain, France, Italy, China, Turkey, and Russia are eligible to sign up as AliExpress sellers.
Cost model: AliExpress operates on a cost per sale model, where the commission rate varies between 5% and 8% depending on the product category.
Handling different scenarios
Note: The synchronization of existing listings with Channable only applies during the initial successful run of the AliExpress API. Listings manually added to AliExpress later will not be automatically synced with Channable unless manually added to Channable.
Step 1: Create a new connection
Create a new AliExpress connection
Go to the API page within your project and click +Add new API. This redirects you to your company's connections page.
On the connections page, select +Add a new connection.
Search for the AliExpress connection (browse through the pages). After finding it, provide a label for this connection.
Click Connect with AliExpress. You will be redirected to AliExpress — log in using your AliExpress credentials.
After successfully logging in, the connection with AliExpress is established and available for use. You will be brought back to the API setup.
Step 2: Create the API
Configure API settings
Once back in Channable, select your new AliExpress connection and continue setting up your API.
Name your API.
Select the language of your API.
Note: The language setting is used to pull the business policies (i.e., shipping profile) from your AliExpress account for that specific language/country.
Choose the unique ID per item (we recommend the 'id' field).
Step 3: Create your product listings
Follow these steps to set up your channel in the API. The substeps below are each presented as a stepper.
Categorize your products
To set up your product data, assign categories to your products.
AI product categorization: Automatically assigns product categories through our algorithm.
Manual Categorization: Manually assign product categories with custom rules. You can create detailed filters to map each product to the correct category.
Uncategorized Items: Products that still need to be reviewed and categorized.
Set up rules
Rules help you quickly optimize your product data for the marketplace you want to sell on.
Rule templates: Commonly used rules you can adjust for your use case.
Rules setup: Set up rules to refine your product data. This can include filtering, modifying, or enhancing data fields to meet marketplace requirements.
Build your listings
The Build step is where you configure your product listings to match marketplace requirements. It’s essential for getting your products live and avoiding errors.
Mandatory and optional fields:
Mandatory fields: Required to list your products on this marketplace.
Recommended: Recommended to avoid errors.
Optional: Not required to list.
Shared attributes:
Shared attributes are common fields that apply across your products, such as EAN, prices, and titles.
Use static or dynamic values:
Static values: Fixed values that don’t change (e.g., brand name).
Dynamic values: Fields that automatically change based on linked data (e.g., stock, prices).
Category-specific attributes:
Fields that specifically apply to the category for your products (e.g., size for clothing or dimensions for furniture).
Fill in attributes specific to the selected category.
Tip: Click Auto-map fields to automatically map using information using information from your other channels or other similar setups. Learn more.
Check the quality of your setup
The Quality step provides feedback on your channel before you activate it. It highlights mandatory and optional errors to ensure your product data meets requirements to list on the marketplace.
Solve errors, prioritizing mandatory errors first.
Actions:
View items: See products with specific issues.
View in build: Redirects to the Build step to map missing information.
Set categories: Directs to the Categories step to categorize items.
Show source: Available for ID fields. Directs to the Settings step.
Preview before activating
The Preview step displays the attributes you mapped in the Build step, helping you check if everything is configured correctly by providing an overview of your products and potential errors.
Filtering:
Filter by error: Use the All dropdown to filter products with errors or a specific error.
Filter by category: Use the All categories dropdown to filter by category.
Before you continue:
Review Shared attributes: Ensure all mandatory shared attributes are filled.
Review Category-specific attributes: Ensure all mandatory category-specific attributes are filled.
Check for errors: Correct any red-marked fields.
Additional requirements for AliExpress
Localized prices:
Optional step: If no localized prices are set, the existing price fields in the item tab will be used by default.
Configuring localized prices: Allows setting different prices for products based on the country of purchase.
Title & description:
Language options: Choose the language for the product title and description.
Field connection: Connect the fields from Channable that contain your title and description.
Shipping tab:
General shipping information: Include weight, dimensions (length, height, width), and dispatch times.
Service policy profile:
Selecting a profile: In Channable, you can automatically select the shipping profile you have configured in AliExpress.
Enabling profiles: If profiles are not appearing, activate them within AliExpress.
Freight template ID: Necessary for defining shipping costs and methods. For more guidance setting up a freight template ID reach out to AliExpress.
Images tab:
Image linking: Link the field(s) in Channable that contain your product images. This ensures the correct images are displayed for each product variant and listing.
Notes on grouped variants
Item group ID field: Used to group multiple variant items under a single listing. For a detailed guide on setting up grouped variants for AliExpress, refer to this article.
Variant attributes: If configuring grouped variants, set the variant attribute in this tab to ensure variants are correctly grouped and displayed on AliExpress.
Additional information
Static values and profiles: AliExpress profiles are retrieved as static values. If unable to find them in project fields, navigate back to the static values section to select the appropriate profiles from AliExpress.
Following these guidelines will help you make sure your AliExpress listings are set up correctly and in line with their requirements.
Step 4: Send your product listings to AliExpress
Almost there — your product listings are ready to be sent. If you have not activated your project, go to your project settings on the left-hand side of the screen and click Activate project.
Then go to the APIs overview and open [Your AliExpress API] > Settings, and activate the API by clicking Activate API.
Once the API is activated, navigate back to the API overview and click the blue Run now button to send your product listings to AliExpress.
Step 5: Check your product listings for errors
To check for errors, navigate to the Result page of the API > Errors tab, where you see which product listings have errors. By clicking on a specific error, it will display more information about what is causing the error.
Note: If you get an error on one variant in a listing, this error is shown for every variant in that listing.
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