Alibaba is making targeted efforts to attract European SMEs. According to the company itself, it has been successful: the number of SME buyers from Germany has increased by 14 percent in the past six months. Additionally, more and more British SMEs are using Alibaba.com as their procurement platform.
Towards the end of its annual March Expo, Alibaba.com’s flagship online trade show, the company reported strong business buyer demand from both German and UK SMEs.
More efficient and cost-effective
According to Alibaba, SMEs are seeking ways to make their procurement processes more efficient and cost-effective. “They are facing challenges such as macroeconomic pressure, disruptions in the supply chain, and issues in supplier relationships.”
In this quest, many German companies turn to Alibaba, the Chinese ecommerce giant says. The number of active SME buyers is 14 percent higher this month than in September 2023. The press release does not mention how many German small and medium-sized sellers are now active on Alibaba.com.
Alibaba also recorded a “positive rise” in the number of active B2B buyers from the United Kingdom at this year’s March Expo, without specifying seller numbers or growth percentages.
Shift to digital procurement channels
According to Alibaba, the increase in SME buyers reflects the general shift to digital procurement channels, which Amazon in Europe also taps into. Alibaba’s recently released ‘B2B Sentiment Survey’ found that 52 percent of German SMEs now make online purchases on B2B marketplaces. In the United Kingdom, that percentage was 51 percent.
Most German and British SMEs purchase on marketplaces.
Jijay Shen, General Manager Europe for Alibaba.com, states that online B2B marketplaces make cross-border sourcing “easier than ever before, enabling SMEs to explore opportunities to find new products, mitigate the risk of their supply chain, and drive margin at the click of a button”.
Alibaba.com in France
Alibaba.com is also actively targeting buyers in France, the third largest ecommerce market in Europe. Earlier this year, it launched a partnership to promote French SMEs with government agency Business France.
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- Source: https://ecommercenews.eu/alibaba-gaining-popularity-among-european-sme-buyers/
