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  • NZ govt teams up with Alibaba to boost Chinese trade

    NZ govt teams up with Alibaba to boost Chinese trade

    New Zealand has joined the likes of other Southern Hemisphere agricultural nations like Australia, Chile and Peru by forming a strategic alliance with the world’s leading online retailer, Alibaba.

    The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the group and government business development agency New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) was signed yesterday to formalize discussions for strengthening trade between the two countries and to support New Zealand brands in China.

    Under the MOU, the parties will explore different collaboration opportunities, including Alibaba providing support for New Zealand companies to enter the Chinese consumer market through its various e-commerce channels, while NZTE will assist local companies to understand and optimize the opportunities Alibaba’s system offers in terms of business growth in China.

    “We are excited to extend our cooperation with the New Zealand Government by collaborating with NZTE to support local businesses to enter China through Alibaba’s platforms,” said Maggie Zhou, Alibaba’s newly appointed managing director for Australia and New Zealand.

    “With our strong networks in China and expertise in e-commerce, we will enable Chinese consumers to benefit from the premium products and fresh foods that New Zealand businesses can offer.

    NZTE chief executive Peter Chrisp said the new arrangement offered significant opportunities for New Zealand businesses to reach more consumers as well as advocating the country’s reputation as a place of “open spaces, open hearts and open minds”.

    “New Zealand businesses are already using Alibaba’s channels to sell a wide range of products including dairy, meat, seafood, fruit, wine, beverage, cereal, skincare and health supplements,” he said.

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  • Alibaba and UBM to create O2O trade buying experience

    Alibaba and UBM to create O2O trade buying experience

    Alibaba’s B2B business unit, including Alibaba.com and 1688.com, has teamed with trade exhibition organiser UBM Plc to “unite the online and offline trade buying experience” initially in Asia.

    The two companies have begun exploring opportunities to link the B2B online and face-to-face trading worlds by leveraging their combined strengths, technologies and relationships. The alliance will begin with pilot programs introducing Alibaba B2B business unit’s online secure transactional platforms and business portals for companies participating in select UBM Asia trade fairs.

    Cross promotional marketing, match-making services and audience development of the two company’s brands and networks will be another key aspect in working towards the longer term goal of creating the next generation of on and offline trade experiences.

    Sophie Wu, president of the Alibaba B2B business unit, says collaborating with UBM will offer small and medium-sized enterprises a multichannel B2B trading experience.

    “They can also tap into the abundant and combined expertise of the two industry pioneers for more worldwide trading opportunities.”

    Tim Cobbold, CEO of UBM  says a fundamental element of his company’s ‘Events First’ strategy is its commitment to innovate and to deliver value for customers.

    “We are excited at the opportunity to partner with Alibaba.com, to create the next generation of trade buying experience.”

    Pilot programs for the joint collaboration will begin with UBM Asia’s Malaysia International Furniture Fair (MIFF) to be held on 1-5 March 2016 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Finefood Shanghai – part of Hotelex Shanghai – to be held 29 March to 1 April 2016 in Shanghai, China; and the co-located Materials Manufacturing & Technology (MM&T) and Fashion Access (FA) fairs to be held 30 March to 1 April 2016 in Hong Kong.

    The collaboration will commence with promotions of the UBM fairs to both parties’ respective trade audiences and Alibaba will begin offering their Trade Assurance service onsite to select exhibitors.

    Alibaba’s Trade Assurance service allows participating suppliers to offer guarantees on order quality standards and on-time shipment.

    Further pilots in the second half of 2016 will include additional business match-making components for other UBM Asia events such as Shanghai International Children Baby Maternity Industry Expo (CBME China) and Sign & LED China fairs.

    James Dong, head of B2B strategy, investment, business development and business intelligence of Alibaba.com, says the eCommerce giant sees great added values for global business traders through the collaboration.

    “Alibaba’s online trading resources and technology complements with the interaction and dialogues in the offline UBM trade shows. Such an alliance not only makes trading more cost-effective but enables higher level of trust between global buyers and sellers,” he said.

    James Dong of Alibaba, left, and Jime Essink of UBM Asia announcing the new partnership.

    Jime Essink, president and CEO of UBM Asia Ltd, says one of the challenges of the trade exhibition industry is continuing the buyer and seller dialogue and experience throughout the year.

    “Meanwhile, the limitation of a pure online trading world is the absence of the physical interaction and development of the personal relationship. With Alibaba and UBM Asia – both prominent players in our respective fields of B2B trade – working together, we see opportunities to change how online and offline trade takes place, providing improved returns and efficiencies for our customers.”

  • Alibaba counterfeit guide launched

    Alibaba counterfeit guide launched

    Alibaba Group has launched an English-language version of its online system for reporting intellectual property (IP) infringements that occur on its giant Chinese e-shopping marketplaces Taobao.com and Tmall.com.

    The system, called TaoProtect, is designed to make it easier for companies to report merchants who are selling counterfeit products on the Taobao and Tmall platforms, facilitating the efficient removal of infringing product listings. Through TaoProtect, companies can also file complaints for other IP violations such as copyright infringement, patent infringement and unfair use of trademarks.

    TaoProtect is similar to another IP-complaint system operated by Alibaba called AliProtect that covers global wholesale marketplace Alibaba.com, global shopping website AliExpress and China wholesale marketplace 1688.com.

    The debut of the English version of TaoProtect will make the system more accessible to Western companies, said Xinghao Wang, Alibaba Group’s U.S.-based senior intellectual property protection manager. “Because the success and integrity of our marketplaces depend on consumer trust, we have comprehensive policies and practices in place to fight IP infringement,” Wang said, including the use of data-analysis technology to monitor the sites for counterfeit-product listings.

    Due to the sheer size of Taobao and Tmall – Alibaba’s China retail platforms host some 10 million active sellers – the company also works with rights holders to make its efforts more effective. That’s where TaoProtect comes in, Wang said. By providing an online system for alerting Alibaba to infringement on Taobao and Tmall, Alibaba is better able to identify suspicious listings that may be missed by the company’s internal countermeasures, he said.

    Wang noted that filing a complaint does not automatically result in takedowns. To safeguard the rights of all parties, the TaoProtect process is set up to determine whether complaints are legitimate, and to ensure that Taobao and Tmall merchants who abide by the platforms’ established rules are not unfairly penalised.

    The reporting system helps serve a larger purpose, too, he said: “Information received through TaoProtect and AliProtect is an essential part of the rule-making effort, and the data in the reporting system may also be used in the monitoring system.”

    In the video, the founder of a US maker of innovative cutting tools explains how he uses AliProtect to keep copycats at bay.

    “The more popular your products are, the higher the likelihood that someone is going to be copying you at some point, that form of flattery that no one really wants,” says TJ Scimone of Slice. By using AliProtect, he says he successfully got knock-offs of his products “shut down (and) off the site.”