Installation and setup

Requirements

• CS-Cart (Ultimate) or Multi-Vendor 4.17.2 – 4.21.x (tested on CS-Cart Ultimate 4.17.2 and Multi-Vendor 4.17.2 against a local mock of the AliExpress Open Platform gateway; 4.21: template compile only; not run against the live AliExpress service).
• Administrator access to the store’s admin panel, and HTTPS on the storefront (AliExpress sends the authorization back to it).
• An AliExpress account that buys the orders (with a payment method if you want AliExpress to pay automatically).
• An AliExpress Open Platform developer account with a Dropshipping app (below). We were not charged for registering; AliExpress reviews the profile and the app category.
• A cron job on your server (see Configuration).

Install the add-on

1. Download the kv_aliexpress_dropshipping-<version>.zip package from your Kavio Labs or CS-Cart Marketplace account.
2. In the admin panel, open Add-ons > Manage add-ons.
3. Click the gear button and choose Manual installation, then upload the archive.
4. Find AliExpress Dropshipping in the list and make sure its status is Active.
5. Enter your license key under Settings > License (Kavio Labs downloads) and click Check now.

Register your AliExpress app (once, about 15 minutes plus AliExpress review time)

The add-on uses the official AliExpress Open Platform API. AliExpress gives API access to an app that you register yourself. These steps follow the AliExpress Open Platform documentation (“Become a developer”, “Register an application”, “Retrieve App Key and App Secret”, “Request API Permission”):

1. Open openservice.aliexpress.com and click Create Account. Enter your e-mail, confirm it with the link AliExpress sends, set a password and accept the developer agreement.
2. Sign in and complete User ID > Profile: choose the developer type (individual or company) and fill in the fields. AliExpress reviews the profile.
3. Open the App Console, click Create and Apply for the Dropshipping app category. In Reason, describe your use, for example: “Dropshipping store on CS-Cart: import AliExpress products into our own shop, place customer orders on AliExpress and read the tracking numbers.” Submit and wait until the category is Active (AliExpress reviews it).
4. Click Create App in the active category. Enter an app name (for example your shop name) and, as callback URL, the address shown on the add-on’s Connection page (it looks like https://your-shop.com/index.php?dispatch=kv_aliexpress_dropshipping.oauth). Submit.
5. Open the app with Manage. On App Overview copy the App Key; under Basic Information click View to see the App Secret.
6. In the app’s API Permission Group section, check that the Dropshipper APIs (product query, freight query, order create, order query, order tracking) are Active; click Apply for any group that is not.

Keep the App Secret private. If you reset it in the App Console, enter the new one in the add-on.

Connect the add-on

1. Open Orders > AliExpress Dropshipping and the Connection tab.
2. Enter the App Key and the App Secret and click Save. The App Secret is stored encrypted and never shown again.
3. Check that the Callback URL shown on the page is exactly the callback URL of your app.
4. Click Authorize on AliExpress. AliExpress asks you to sign in: use the AliExpress account that buys the orders, and allow the app. You come back to the Connection page with “AliExpress account authorized”.
5. Paste any AliExpress product link into Test connection and click it. The add-on reads the product with your token; nothing is created or bought.

If the automatic return does not work (for example a firewall in front of the admin panel, or AliExpress does not send the state back, in which case the add-on refuses the automatic answer for safety), copy the code value from the address AliExpress opened after you allowed the app and paste it into Enter an authorization code by hand within a few minutes.

Multi-Vendor

• Marketplace owner mode (setting, on by default): the owner’s AliExpress account serves every vendor; only administrators import products and place AliExpress orders.
• With the owner mode off, each vendor opens AliExpress Dropshipping > Connection in the vendor panel and clicks Authorize on AliExpress with the vendor’s own AliExpress account. Vendors use the owner’s app; they do not need a developer account. The app’s “authorized user limit” is set by AliExpress per app category (shown in the App Console under Auth Management).

Updating

Upload the new package over the installed add-on (Add-ons > Manage add-ons > gear > Manual installation, choose to overwrite). The add-on brings its tables and settings up to date on the next admin page load. Do not uninstall first if you want to be sure no data is lost; uninstalling keeps the order and product links anyway unless “Permanently delete AliExpress order and product links on uninstall” is ticked.

Uninstalling

Uninstalling keeps the links between CS-Cart orders and AliExpress orders, the product links, the connection, the rules and the settings (licence key included), so a reinstall never places a paid order twice or imports a product twice. To delete them for good, tick Permanently delete AliExpress order and product links on uninstall in the add-on settings before uninstalling. Imported products stay in your catalogue in both cases. Shipping methods that use the AliExpress carrier are removed.