AliExpress Product Importer: Search & Import to Shopify

Use Build the Drop as your AliExpress importer: search by keyword or URL, filter, auto-tag and apply price rules, then push products to Shopify in seconds.

1. 1

   Connect your AliExpress account

   Before searching, make sure your AliExpress supplier account is connected. Go to the Suppliers section in the dashboard and click 'Connect' next to AliExpress. You will be redirected to AliExpress to authorise the connection via OAuth. Once connected, the AliExpress logo will turn green in the search toolbar — that is your signal the search is ready to use.

2. 2

   Search by keyword or paste a product URL

   Open the Product Search page from the sidebar. You can search in two ways: (1) Type keywords such as 'wireless earbuds' or 'LED desk lamp' and press Search. The platform queries AliExpress directly and returns matching products in real time. (2) Paste the full URL of any AliExpress product page (e.g. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/123456.html) and press Search. This fetches that exact product by its external ID, bypassing keyword ranking entirely — useful when you already know which product you want.

3. 3

   Use filters to narrow results

   After a search, you can narrow results using the filter panel: Category — select an AliExpress product category to focus the search. Price range — set a minimum and maximum supplier price in USD cents (the platform converts these automatically based on your space currency). Page — navigate through result pages. Filters are applied on the next search run, not retroactively on the current page.

4. 4

   Set Auto-add tags before importing (optional)

   The search toolbar has an 'Auto-add tags' input. Any tags you type here are automatically attached to every product you import during the current session. This is ideal for batch workflows: for example, set the tag 'summer-campaign' before importing a group of seasonal products, so they are already labelled when they appear in your Import List. Tags are saved per product and can be edited later from the product detail panel or in bulk.

5. 5

   Set a Price Rule preset (optional)

   Next to the tag input, there is a Price Rule dropdown. Select one of your saved price rules and it will be pre-assigned to every product you import in this session. Instead of opening each product and assigning a rule manually, the rule is applied the moment you click Add. You can still override the rule per product afterwards from the Import List.

6. 6

   Add products to your Import List

   Click the 'Add' button on any product card. The product is immediately saved to your Import List with any preset tags and price rule applied. Your Import List is where you configure products before publishing them to Shopify: you can edit the title, description, images, variants, tags, and price rule. Your plan determines the maximum number of products you can keep in your Import List at the same time.

7. 7

   Publish to Shopify

   Once a product is configured in your Import List, open it and click 'Publish to Shopify'. Build the Drop sends the product data — including images, variants, tags, and the calculated price — directly to your connected Shopify store via the Shopify API. The product will appear as a draft in your Shopify admin, ready for you to review and make active.