Alibaba Group’s B2B e-commerce platform, Alibaba.com, has recently launched a new initiative that seeks to help companies in Vietnam to go online and reach brand new pools of global buyers.
As an international extension of the 2020 Spring Thunder program initiated by Alibaba Group, Alibaba.com’s ‘Project Sprout Up’ is a timely and tailored digital solution aimed at helping local SMEs compete through digitisation amid the re-surfacing COVID-19 epidemic in Vietnam.
The new initiative seeks to support Vietnamese SMEs in several key areas. These include faster onboarding onto Alibaba.com’s platform in order to gain access to greater global reach, gaining access to digital solutions aimed at accelerating business growth, and personalised services to help SMEs develop their online trade capabilities.
“Vietnam has been gaining a strong reputation amongst global buyers with its manufacturing capabilities, high quality products, competitive pricing and focus on exports. While the B2C segment has adopted e-commerce more instinctively, some entrepreneurs have also established global B2B trading using digital channels,” said Zhang Kuo, general manager of Alibaba.com.
With the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the global economies, businesses throughout the world have felt the need for a more sustainable business model. Global trade through B2B e-commerce has proven itself more than capable in ensuring business continuity; thus providing more opportunities to enable the recovery of SMEs and generate sustained growth.
As part of Alibaba’s ‘Project Sprout Up’, the company will offer it’s suppliers a complete 90-day onboarding service covering a range of features including online store set-up, support on product postings, and support on traffic management and enquiries.
To give SMEs more confidence when participating in global trade, Alibaba.com will make its Smart Marketing Solution, an intelligent keyword advertising tool, available to suppliers in Vietnam.
The tool draws on insights from the platform and AI algorithms to help suppliers market their products with intelligent pricing without additional investment of resources required.
Vietnam is one of the few nations that has been able to manage the spread of COVID-19 relatively well. However, one of the biggest challenges facing the Vietnamese SMEs today is the lack of online trading skills. Alibaba.com seeks to address this issue through their initiative.
