Alibaba.com is a platform of the Chinese e-commerce company of the same name that focuses on foreign business customers.
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BEIJING – Chinese e-commerce giant Ali Baba is ramping up its global expansion with new services aimed at attracting small businesses in the US and Europe.
Alibaba.com – the company’s business-to-business platform that sells to companies outside China – announced on Thursday the launch of “Alibaba Guaranteed” to provide greater security in delivery, payments and dispute resolution.
The platform is part of Alibaba’s fast-growing international business, which also sells directly to consumers abroad through sites like AliExpress.
While consumers in China have long benefited from tracking and favorable return policies, this has not been the case for small businesses shopping on cross-border e-commerce platforms due to the added complexities of international trade.
Alibaba.com’s new service aims to provide shoppers with more concrete delivery dates and free local returns, the company said in a press release.
“We believe this is in line with current global trends,” Kuo Zhang, president of Alibaba.com, said in an interview on Thursday, according to CNBC’s translation of his remarks in Mandarin.
Noting an increasing trend towards fragmentation of supply chains, he said a growing number of local companies, be it in the cosmetics or automotive industries, were having to buy globally to protect their profit margins.
The online platform mainly sells products from China-based suppliers to small businesses in Europe, the US and other parts of the world. The Alibaba.com website states that it is possible to purchase individual products or in bulk, but notes on the user registration page that “suppliers prefer to do business with companies.”
Zhang claimed that the number of shoppers on Alibaba.com has at least tripled in the past five years, with online gross merchandise value at about $50 billion. GMV measures total sales over a specific period of time.
Demand for equipment
Some of the most popular products sold on Alibaba.com in the past three to four years include machines for custom printing on T-shirts or laser cutting, according to Zhang.
He noted that since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, greater interest in supply chain diversification has increased demand for such machines. The growth of the new energy vehicle industry has also led to demand for new auto parts that Alibaba.com sells, Zhang said.
Sports products are also popular with customers in Europe, he said.
In November, Alibaba.com invested in German business-to-business company Visable and its European marketplace europages.
Alibaba.com works with many EU-based suppliers that sell within the bloc, Zhang said, adding that the company wants to help the region accelerate its digitalization by leveraging more technology for businesses.
Trade activity within the EU is far greater than the union’s trade with other countries, he emphasized.
Alibaba.com will also begin integrating artificial intelligence tools into the platform this year, Zhang said.
This includes retailers’ ability to use AI to quickly create product descriptions with search terms or provide after-hours customer service support, he said.
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2024-06-06 23:00:01
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