Alibaba.com is a platform operated by the Chinese e-commerce company of the same name that focuses on overseas business customers.
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Beijing – Chinese e-commerce giant Ali Baba It is ramping up its global expansion with new services aimed at attracting small businesses in the US and Europe.
Alibaba.com – the company's platform for businesses that sell its products to companies outside China – on Thursday announced the launch of “Alibaba Guaranteed” to provide greater certainty on 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 such as AliExpress.
While consumers in China have long enjoyed delivery tracking and favorable returns policies, small businesses purchasing from cross-border e-commerce platforms have not, due to the added complexity of international trade.
The new service offered by Alibaba.com aims to provide buyers with more specific delivery times and free local returns, the company said in a press release.
“We believe this is in line with current global trends,” Alibaba.com President Ko Chang said in an interview Thursday, according to a CNBC translation of his Mandarin-language remarks.
Pointing to a growing trend of fragmentation in supply chains, he said a growing number of local companies, whether in the cosmetics or automotive industries, need to buy globally in order to protect profit margins.
The online platform mostly sells products from suppliers based in China to small businesses in Europe, the United States and other parts of the world. Alibaba.com notes that it is possible to purchase products individually, or in bulk, but notes on its user registration page that “suppliers prefer to deal with businesses.”
Zhang claimed that in the past five years, the number of buyers on Alibaba.com has at least tripled, with the total value of online goods reaching about $50 billion. GMV measures total sales during a specific period.
Demand for equipment
In the past three to four years, Zhang said some of the most popular products sold on Alibaba.com include machines for custom-made T-shirt printing or laser cutting.
Since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, increased interest in diversifying the supply chain has driven demand for such machines, he noted. The growth of the new energy vehicle industry has also led to increased demand for new auto parts sold by Alibaba.com, Zhang said.
He said that the sports products are very popular with customers in Europe.
In November, Alibaba.com invested in German business Visable and its European marketplace.
Alibaba.com works with several EU-based suppliers who sell within the bloc, Zhang said, adding that the company aims to help the region accelerate digital transformation by using more technology for business.
He pointed out that trade activity within the European Union is much greater than the bloc's trade with other countries.
Alibaba.com will also begin integrating AI tools into the platform this year, Zhang said.
They include the ability for merchants to use artificial intelligence to quickly create product descriptions using search keywords, or provide customer service support outside of business hours, he said.
