Oberlo
AcquiredFounded 2015 · 18 employees on LinkedIn · 4 known investors
Oberlo provides free tools and resources for entrepreneurs to start and grow ecommerce businesses through dropshipping. The platform helps small business owners launch online stores and manage their operations.
Also known as Oberlo app
Investors · 4
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Oberlo was a dropshipping application launched in 2015 that integrated directly with Shopify. It let store owners browse products listed on AliExpress, import them into a Shopify store with a single click, and have orders fulfilled automatically by the original supplier when a customer purchased. Core features included one-click product import, automatic order fulfillment, real-time inventory and pricing updates, product variation mapping, and supplier communication tools. The app removed the need for merchants to hold inventory, purchase stock upfront, or manage fulfillment logistics.
Shopify acquired Oberlo in 2017. The app was delisted from the Shopify App Store on May 12, 2022, and ceased operating on June 30, 2022 (a shutdown date originally set for June 15 and then moved), after which the app was removed from merchant stores and historical data within it was lost. Shopify pointed Oberlo merchants to DSers as the recommended replacement and supported an automatic migration path.
The oberlo.com domain remains online and operates as a content property covering dropshipping and ecommerce. It publishes articles across categories such as dropshipping, marketing, business ideas, design and branding, money, productivity and mindset, hosts a podcast featuring interviews with ecommerce entrepreneurs, and offers free tools and resources, with calls to action that direct visitors to build an online store on Shopify.
Founding story
Co-founder Tomas Slimas was a dropshipper and ecommerce entrepreneur before Oberlo, launching his first dropshipping store in 2014 and generating $3 million in revenue on a single store in one year before selling that business. In that operation, orders had to be exported from Shopify daily and sent to suppliers as CSV files for manual tracking updates. Working directly with Chinese suppliers, the team concluded it was more practical to sell suppliers' products off AliExpress first and negotiate discounts and private labeling once sales volume was demonstrated. Slimas founded Oberlo so that others could build an online business without holding inventory.
Business model
Originally a Shopify app that connected merchants to AliExpress suppliers and automated product import and order fulfillment; reporting indicates a significant share of its revenue came from the AliExpress affiliate program. Following the app's shutdown, oberlo.com operates as a free content and tools site whose calls to action route readers to Shopify, monetizing through the Shopify trial promotion according to third-party coverage.
Third-party coverage states Oberlo generated most of its cash from the AliExpress affiliate program during its life as an app, and that the remaining website earns from the Shopify trial promotion.
Traction
Reported at over 100,000 active installs and, as of 2017, hundreds of thousands of stores powered by the app, making it the leading dropshipping app on the Shopify App Store.
Latest developments
The application has not returned since the June 30, 2022 shutdown; as re-verified by a third-party publisher in August 2026, oberlo.com remains live as a blog with free business tools, with its buttons directing visitors to Shopify. The site continues to publish dropshipping and ecommerce guides and an entrepreneur podcast.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Described by third-party sources as the most popular dropshipping app on Shopify, with over 100,000 active installs and, by 2017, hundreds of thousands of stores using it. By 2022 dozens of competing dropshipping apps offering faster shipping and more reliable suppliers had emerged, eroding that lead.
Its principal advantage was seamless native integration with Shopify combined with access to AliExpress's large multi-category catalog, allowing a beginner to launch a store and start selling within hours without inventory or supplier negotiations.
Technology
The app provided one-click import of AliExpress listings into Shopify, automated order fulfillment, real-time inventory and price updates, and product variant mapping. According to third-party commentary, Oberlo relied largely on browser automation via a Chrome extension rather than AliExpress's API, which required substantial ongoing maintenance.
Go-to-market
Distribution was through the Shopify App Store and tight integration with the Shopify platform, amplified by content marketing — a high-volume blog covering dropshipping, marketing and store operations, plus a podcast of entrepreneur interviews — and by third-party YouTube tutorials, courses and success stories during the dropshipping boom.
Beginner and small-scale ecommerce entrepreneurs and Shopify store owners pursuing dropshipping, including people starting side businesses without inventory, technical skills, large budgets or existing supplier relationships.
Geography
Founded in Lithuania; served Shopify merchants internationally, sourcing predominantly from AliExpress suppliers shipping from China, with a merchant base that included the United States, the United Kingdom and other markets.
History
Oberlo was founded in September 2015 in Lithuania by a group of entrepreneurs and launched as a Shopify-integrated dropshipping app. By 2017 it was the most popular dropshipping app on Shopify, and that year Shopify acquired it, reportedly for about $15 million. On July 15, 2019, Oberlo discontinued its 'Oberlo Supply' verified-suppliers marketplace. The brand underwent a full rebrand in 2020. In May 2022 Shopify announced the app's discontinuation: it was delisted from the Shopify App Store on May 12, 2022, and shut down on June 30, 2022, with DSers designated as the recommended migration target.
Risks & controversies
Contributing factors cited for the app's decline and shutdown included long AliExpress shipping times of two to six weeks or more, limited ability to verify real-time supplier inventory leading to unfulfillable orders, inconsistent product quality across suppliers causing returns and refunds, intensified competition from newer dropshipping apps, and Shopify's strategic pivot away from AliExpress-based dropshipping toward vetted suppliers and its own fulfillment investments. At shutdown, merchants lost the app's historical product, order and customer data and had to migrate to other platforms.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Competitors · 6
by search overlap
Companies competing with Oberlo for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline · 8
launches, deals, and filingsOberlo ceased operating on June 30, 2022 (a date initially set for June 15 and then moved). The app was removed from Shopify stores and historical product, order and customer data held in it was lost.
The Oberlo app was removed from the Shopify App Store on May 12, 2022, after which new installations were no longer possible; Shopify had announced the discontinuation in May 2022.
Shopify and Oberlo designated DSers as the recommended replacement for dropshipping merchants, with an automatic migration process; DSers offered AliExpress integration and bulk order fulfillment and reported more than 150,000 merchants.
Oberlo went through a full rebrand in 2020, including a new visual identity.
Oberlo shut down its 'Oberlo verified suppliers' (Oberlo Supply) marketplace, which had let users buy from suppliers vetted by Oberlo.
Shopify acquired Oberlo in 2017; the amount was undisclosed in some reporting, while other coverage puts it at around $15 million.
$15M source ↗
Oberlo was founded in September 2015 in Lithuania by a group of entrepreneurs as a dropshipping app startup letting users import products from AliExpress into Shopify stores.
Oberlo launched as a Shopify-integrated app offering one-click AliExpress product import, automatic order fulfillment, real-time inventory and pricing updates, variation mapping and supplier communication tools.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Oberlooberlo.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Oberlo do?
- Oberlo was a Shopify-integrated AliExpress dropshipping app, acquired by Shopify in 2017 and shut down in 2022; oberlo.com remains an ecommerce content site.
- Who are Oberlo's investors?
- Oberlo's investors include Inreach Ventures, Pi Campus, Change Ventures, Superhero Capital.