YouTube sets sights on Chinese ecommerce market with AliExpress partnership

What do e-bikes, action figures, and knockoff NBA jerseys have in common? You can buy all of those items through AliExpress.

The Alibaba-owned retailer is one of China’s ecommerce giants, and it achieved profitability during the most recent quarter. To enhance its presence in the West, AliExpress is going into business with YouTube. A newly announced pact will give YouTube Shopping a stronger presence in China’s booming ecommerce market while also opening up affiliate opportunities for creators across the globe.

According to the terms of the partnership, AliExpress will bring more products to its listings on YouTube and will offer new commissions to creators in the US, Brazil, Germany, and the UK. The two partners tested the waters with a team-up in South Korea, which went live this past March.

AliExpress will take advantage of YouTube’s affiliate marketing infrastructure. The leading video platform has made its content more shoppable through enhancements like Collections and timestamped shopping links.

“Content and commerce are converging globally, and this partnership connects AliExpress’s affiliate ecosystem with YouTube’s creator ecosystem,” said AliExpress VP Eric Zhang in a statement. “By enabling eligible products to be discovered and tagged across videos, Shorts, and livestreams, we are creating a simpler path for products to be featured through creator content at scale—and a more direct journey for consumers from product discovery to purchase.”

The deal resembles similar ecommerce agreements YouTube has made with retailers like Amazon and Rakuten. Those deals have helped YouTube keep up with TikTok, which leveraged its Chinese roots to turn TikTok Shop into a global phenomenon. During the early days of the ecommerce destination, Chinese brands like Shein and Temu helped catalyze some big sales numbers. Now, as the TikTok Shop clientele pivots toward more luxurious items, YouTube is getting in on the ground floor with deals drawn from AliExpress’ Brand+ catalog.

The resulting sales could bring more maturity to the YouTube Shopping ecosystem while putting more money in creators’ pockets. YouTubers in participating markets can head to YouTube Studio to determine whether they’re eligible to take advantage of the new AliExpress offers.

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