Alibaba.com launches service for export-focused businesses

The world’s largest B2B e-commerce company, Alibaba.com, has debuted an export-focused membership, Gold Supplier International Edition, to help suppliers in Viet Nam move their businesses online and benefit from global trade.

Subscribers to this highest class membership available to Vietnamese exporters receive first-level priority listings with a Gold Supplier logo and product showcases on the web site, the company’s representatives said during yesterday’s launch in HCM City.

Other benefits include promotion at some of the largest international tradeshows and the opportunity to ride the marketing coattails of Alibaba.com’s US$30 million advertising campaign in key buyer markets.

"With the country’s growing importance as a popular base of low-cost quality products, efficient marketing channels such as online marketplaces have become critical for exporters’ success," said Brian Wong, Alibaba.com’s Senior Director of Marketing and Strategic Business Development.

"Strong local interest in e-commerce has already been validated by the substantial growth in our Vietnamese membership in the past year," he added.

Indeed, Alibaba.com, which was founded in China in 1999 and has more than 8.6 registered users in 240 countries and regions, passed the 100,000 member milestone in Viet Nam on July 2009.

With more than 4,000 Vietnamese small businesses joining every month, Alibaba.com’s global online marketplace has expanded its membership here by 105 per cent in the past year.

All suppliers applying for the membership must pass an authentication and verification process conducted by an independent third-party agency.

In the first half of this year, Viet Nam’s trade gap narrowed from US$17 billion to an estimated $2.1 billion, following government intervention. Still, embracing online business is important for Vietnamese exporters to accelerate their entry into the world trade community.

To that end, Alibaba.com has also closed a channel sales partnership with OSB Investment and Technology Joint Stock Company to help more local exporters trade online

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