Chinese eCommerce giant Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd (BABA.N) has recently decided to allow small businesses in the U.S. to sell on its platform. This enables U.S. small businesses to sell their products globally. Let’s move forward to dive deeper into the topic and find a respectable payment processor to work with.
Alibaba Welcomes U.S. Small Businesses
Alibaba, the tech titan in China and a major player in the global B2B marketplace, has recently announced that U.S. businesses are allowed to open up shop and sell their products globally on Alibaba.com.
Such expansion points to Alibaba’s efforts to make B2B commerce a priority. Previously, Alibaba.com was basically concentrated on connecting Chinese suppliers with buyers worldwide. So, this is one of the steps towards implementing its larger globalization strategy.
The world’s biggest B2B eCommerce market, which accounted for over $768 billion in sales in 2018, is focused on tapping into the international markets. The U.S. has now become the 1st market where Alibaba has decided to globalize supply. Be aware that the eCommerce giant has set a membership fee for U.S. sellers.
Such change will enable U.S. merchants to get access to markets in the countries where Alibaba serves. These include Brazil, Canada, and India. So, the situation is completely changed for U.S. merchant since they could only make purchases on Alibaba.com previously.
By the way, Alibaba doesn’t sell inventory of its own and is hopeful that local U.S. businesses will opt for its platform as their preferred online marketplace. According to Alibaba, this can be made possible by granting small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) global selling power. Specifically, Alibaba is interested in taking over manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors.
Alibaba Group president Michael Evans notes that they’re working on empowering small businesses and large wholesalers in the U.S. to source and trade with each other. Also, they’re creating an opportunity for small businesses to offer products globally.
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U.S. Businesses Can Now Sell Globally on Alibaba.com
In 2019, the macro environment was proved to be worse as compared to the same period in 2018. However, Alibaba has launched a number of new initiatives, and the personalized product feed contributes to its growth rate.
Did you know that ShipStation is now in partnership with Alibaba? This way, the company wants to offer larger business opportunities to eCommerce sellers in the U.S. ShipStation is a company providing shipping services to eCommerce retailers.
In addition, Alibaba has also started a collaboration with Robinson Fresh, a U.S. supplier working with brands like Tropicana, Welch’s, and Green Giant. This came after Alibaba’s collaboration with Office Depot started in March 2019.
So, as you see, Alibaba is enabling sellers to use its business-to-business (B2B) eCommerce platform to do business within and outside the U.S. What’s more, Alibaba has decided to provide a platform for sellers that allows them to build and manage a digital store and enjoy other capabilities as well.
Alibaba’s support to small- and mid-sized businesses in the U.S. isn’t limited only to this. The eCommerce giant is also co-producing “Build Up” workshops and webinars with local chambers of commerce and B2B organizations such as SCORE. The latter is among the largest non-profit networks of volunteers and expert business mentors in China.
To sum up, Alibaba Group is expanding globally through its Alibaba.com commercial platform, which is serving millions of customers worldwide. Alibaba has decided to allow U.S. suppliers to connect with business partners around the globe. Alibaba.com was previously connecting only Chinese suppliers with buyers worldwide. Such expansion is undoubtedly beneficial for small businesses in the U.S.