Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

On January 17, Alibaba's international e-commerce platform began to allow European shoppers to pay after receiving goods, hoping to boost global sales through "cash on delivery" services.

Financial technology payment company Splitit Payments confirmed on Monday local time that it will work with Alipay, a subsidiary of Ant Group, to provide delayed payment services to customers of Alibaba's online trading platform AliExpress.

Splitit Payments claims that the "cash on delivery" service will first be launched in Germany, Spain and France, and may then be extended to other international markets. Splitit Payments is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA and is listed in Australia.

Founded in 2010, AliExpress sells toys, clothing, electronics and other consumer goods to more than 200 countries, according to its website. Most of the sellers on this platform are Chinese companies, and they tend to deliver goods to international customers for a long time, which is a disadvantage for buyers.

A spokesman for AliExpress said that for major European cities such as Paris and Madrid, goods can be delivered within 10 working days. For more remote parts of Europe, the average delivery time is 15 to 20 days. The company also offers a delivery guarantee: it will provide shoppers with some compensation if their goods are not delivered on time.

In Alibaba's report for the last three quarters, orders placed through AliExpress declined. The company said demand was affected by factors such as the weakness of the euro against the dollar, changes in EU tax rules and supply chain and logistics disruptions.

In 2022, Zhang Yong, CEO of Alibaba, said that globalization is one of the company's three key strategies, and the other two strategies are consumption and cloud computing. Alibaba's international retail business, including AliExpress, accounts for only 5 per cent of the company's total revenue. AliExpress is facing increasing competition from other Chinese online retailers, including fast fashion giant Shein and pinduoduo's four-month-old US subsidiary Temu.

Although retailers or merchants have to bear the financing costs of usually interest-free loans, "cash on delivery" services are becoming increasingly popular around the world. In mainland China, Ant Financial Services Group has long provided short-term loans to shoppers on Alibaba's e-commerce platform. Alibaba holds 1/3 of Ant Financial Services Group's shares.

Under the cooperation agreement reached between Splitit and Alipay, shoppers will be locked in their credit cards when they shop on AliExpress. The money will not be transferred to the seller until the customer confirms that they have received the goods they bought. Splitit's shares closed up 22% on Monday, while Alibaba's Hong Kong-listed shares changed little.

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