Alibaba have announced new Alibaba Cross-Border Payment Terms, the first-ever trade financing solution embedded directly into a cross-border B2B ecommerce marketplace. The aim is to enable SMEs in the US to order goods in bulk and rather than having to pay up front, access finance in a similar manner to that available to larger companies.
Also announced are Alibaba Freight, a digital ocean and air freight shipping solution built into the platform and Alibaba Online Trade Shows in the US.
Alibaba Cross-Border Payment Terms
Alibaba Cross-Border Payment Terms allows qualified buyers to order goods and pay for them up to 60 days after they are shipped. Before today, the vast majority of cross-border trade between small businesses required full payment upfront. Small businesses could not benefit from the global supply chain financing programs that their larger competitors frequently enjoyed. Alibaba Cross-Border Payment Terms, offered in collaboration with MSTS, addresses this problem and gives qualified SMEs an additional way to stay competitive by helping to alleviate cash flow pressures.
“While SMBs often have difficulty getting trade financing from banks, Alibaba.com’s Payment Terms provides the working capital they need to fuel their growth. This is possible for Alibaba.com because we know the buyers and sellers on our platform, and financing is offered for transactions that we know are real. This is a truly game-changing innovation that opens new opportunities for America’s small businesses. I can’t wait to see our customers benefit from it.”
– John Caplan, President of North America and Europe, Alibaba
More details available at paylater.alibaba.com/page/PAYMENT_TERMS/lp
Alibaba Freight
With an average order size of $2,000, Alibaba shipments involve containers and pallets, not parcels and envelopes. The newly launched Alibaba Freight, powered by digital freight marketplace Freightos, helps SMBs simplify arranging their bulk shipments with the ability to instantly compare, book, manage and track ocean and air freight in real time online, effectively modernizing the analog, opaque and historically slow process for arranging cross-border logistics.
More details available at ship.alibaba.com
Alibaba Online Trade Shows
Alibaba Online Trade Shows are launching in the USA as a series of category-specific, livestreaming experiences designed to convene quality buyers and sellers to meet and transact in real-time over a pre-determined period of days. These events showcasing US-based manufacturers and wholesalers are part of Alibaba’s global online trade show initiative of over 20 shows in the next 120 days to bring the world’s SMEs together over virtual show floors.
These events feature agendas full of insightful keynotes from industry leaders as well as top US suppliers promoting their products to a select audience of verified business buyers. US-based manufacturers and wholesalers are able to showcase their stories, capabilities and products as a way to promote their business, meet new prospects and drive sales during this transition to digital-first trade. Buyers who attend the events can interact and ask questions of the suppliers, schedule one-on-one sessions and place orders through the platform.
More details available at activity.alibaba.com/page/usonlinetradeshow
