WorldFirst and Alibaba’s B2B marketplace, have entered a partnership to help UK-based small and medium-sized businesses bolster their digital presence and expand their sales internationally, overcoming the constraints brought by the Covid-19 pandemic. WorldFirst will become Alibaba’s official channel partner in the UK, helping British sellers gain access to the 15 million buyers from over 200 countries and regions on the platform.
As Alibaba’s official channel partner, London-based WorldFirst will help these SMEs assess how Alibaba can benefit them and assist them in navigating the platform’s variety of services, including everything from registration, setting up and running their online stores, to conducting online marketing campaigns together with certified Alibaba partners. Through WorldFirst, sellers will be able to conduct fast, convenient, and cost-effective cross-border payments.
The outbreak of Covid-19 has had a severe impact on businesses in the export sector, especially SMEs, many of which lack an online presence and are still largely reliant on physically attending tradeshows to showcase their products. With the ongoing pandemic causing many events to be scaled down, rescheduled, or even cancelled, the WorldFirst and Alibaba partnership aims to help British small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) reach customers and business partners around the world in an efficient and cost-effective way.
Founded in 2004, WorldFirst is an international payments business helping small businesses move money around the world. Since 2019 it has been part of Ant Group, an affiliate of Alibaba.
“WorldFirst’s market-leading international payments capability and Alibaba.com’s unrivalled ecommerce expertise mean we are ideally placed to connect dynamic and ambitious small businesses to millions of potential buyers across the world. Our partnership with Alibaba.com is a testament to our shared commitment to helping our SMEs thrive online as well as offline, and benefit from the huge opportunities that exist in the international market.”
– Jeff Parker, CEO, WorldFirst
“Alibaba.com is well aware of the value and potential of British businesses, and has been at the forefront for years in supporting EU brands and SMEs in their digitalization and internationalization path, globally. In this ambitious journey we are proud to join forces with WorldFirst to further strengthen our support and action to British companies who intend to seize all the business opportunities offered by B2B ecommerce.”
– Daniel Zheng, General Manager EU, Alibaba.com
