Brazilian merchants have become the first in the Americas – and sixth in the world – to sell their goods on the AliExpress shopping website run by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd of China, O Globo reports.

Thousands of Brazilian merchants had signed up to use AliExpress only three weeks after the website invited them to do so, a report carried by the Brazilian newspaper on Monday quotes Yaman Alpata, leader of Local Marketplace in Latin America for AliExpress, as saying.

The report says another arm of Alibaba Group, Cainiao Smart Logistics Network Ltd, will deliver Brazilian merchandise sold on AliExpress the next day or sooner – free of charge if the value is over 30 reals (about US$9.20).

AliExpress will eventually set up its own distribution centre in Brazil to speed up delivery, O Globo quotes Mr Alpata as saying.