Alibaba Revamps Global B2B Sourcing Tools To Improve Efficiency

(CTN News) – A suite of new products and enhancements to existing sourcing tools has been unveiled by Alibaba.com, the global business-to-business platform of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding.

The upgrades include a tab to clearly distinguish product searches from those for manufacturers, virtual showrooms, real-time translation in 17 languages for live video chats with suppliers, a better quotation request system to summarize all responses from suppliers in a template, as well as logistic services with 24-hour customer support, Rah Mahtani, head of the platform’s US arm, told Yicai on Sept. 6.

There has been a significant recovery in the vitality of our small and medium-sized businesses,” Mahtani commented. “Online and digitalization have become almost irreversible trends over the last few years.”

As Mahtani pointed out, Alibaba has seen a 33 percent increase in the number of active buyers at Alibaba.com from a year ago, with 91 percent of countries and regions worldwide, including the United States, reporting a higher level of online traffic, compared with a year ago.

As a result of the digitalization trend, sellers have also been able to benefit from it. A supplier of borosilicate high heat-resistant glass, Ikoo Glass, reported a turnover of USD45 million last year after doing the same thing in 2014. More than half of the company’s orders came from Alibaba.com in 2014, according to Jessica Li, the company’s business development manager.

In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, Alibaba.com continued to attract new customers, and many of them are collaborating with the platform on an ongoing basis, Li noted.

She pointed out that a growing number of customers opt for online sourcing because they are able to get a closer look at factories and products because they can see them directly, adding that this is much more efficient than going to trade shows or exhibitions.

There is a growing number of retail customers for IKOO Glass, including BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Costco Wholesale, and Walmart, which are mainly located in North America.

At its first Co-Create conference held yesterday through today in Las Vegas, the platform revealed the results of a survey that it conducted with over 300 small and mid-sized businesses.

Over 90% of the participants feel optimistic about their businesses next year, and 80 percent believe that introducing a new product will significantly increase their success and profit in the future.

There are a number of challenges that organizations face with regards to finding the right supplier, 28 percent face difficulties with research, development, and design, and 27 percent face financial obstacles when putting in an order.

Alibaba announced in its latest earnings report that revenue at International Digital Commerce Group surged 41 percent to CNY22.1 billion (USD3 billion) from a year earlier. A steady CNY5 billion was earned from international commerce wholesale.

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