Alibaba Expands Global Reach with New Services for U.S. and European Small Businesses

 Alibaba.com, the company’s business-to-business platform, announced Thursday the launch of “Alibaba Guaranteed,” which aims to enhance delivery reliability, payment security, and dispute resolution.

This initiative is part of Alibaba’s rapidly growing international operations, which also include direct-to-consumer sales through sites like AliExpress. Unlike consumers in China, who enjoy extensive delivery tracking and return policies, small businesses buying from cross-border e-commerce platforms face complexities in international trade. Alibaba.com’s new service seeks to address these issues by offering more definite delivery dates and free local returns.

Kuo Zhang, president of Alibaba.com, highlighted the global trend towards fragmented supply chains, noting that local businesses, from cosmetics to the automotive industry, increasingly need to purchase globally to maintain profit margins.

Alibaba.com primarily connects China-based suppliers with small businesses worldwide, allowing for both single product and bulk purchases. Over the past five years, the number of buyers on Alibaba.com has tripled, with online gross merchandise value reaching approximately $50 billion.

In recent years, popular products on Alibaba.com have included custom printing machines, laser cutting equipment, and new car parts, driven by a post-pandemic interest in supply chain diversification and the growth of the new energy vehicle industry. Sports products have also seen high demand in Europe.

Last November, Alibaba.com invested in German B2B company Visable and its European marketplace, Europages, working with many EU-based suppliers to boost the region's digitalization.

Alibaba.com plans to incorporate artificial intelligence tools into its platform this year, enabling merchants to quickly generate product descriptions and provide off-hours customer service support.