New Platform by Alibaba to Propel Korean SMEs into Global E-Commerce Market

Alibaba.com, the B2B subsidiary of China's largest online marketplace, is set to launch a new business-to-business platform dedicated to Korean small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Scheduled for debut on August 8, the South Korea Pavilion aims to support Korean SMEs by boosting their sales and promoting their products globally.

Andrew Zheng, Vice President and Regional Office Head of Alibaba.com emphasized the platform's potential to connect around 5,000 Korean SMEs with the global e-commerce market.

"Alibaba Group's multiple e-commerce platforms, including Alibaba.com, will use their unique business advantages to promote Korean SMEs and their brands,"

Zheng stated at a press conference in Seoul.

Marco Yang, Head of Alibaba.com Korea, highlighted the significance of this launch, noting,

"We've never launched a single e-commerce B2B platform dedicated to a specific Asian country until now."

The initiative comes on the heels of Alibaba's success with its e-commerce platforms like Taobao, Tmall, and Lazada, which facilitated approximately 34.3 trillion won ($24.7 billion) in sales for 7,600 Korean brands in China and Southeast Asia between 2020 and 2023. During the same period, Alibaba.com attracted over 2,550 Korean SMEs, with Korean companies generating 610,000 transactions in 2023 alone, leading to exports worth 130 billion won.

Korean beauty products have particularly resonated with global consumers shopping on Alibaba's platforms. Brazil, Germany, and India have shown substantial growth rates in purchases, at 260%, 253%, and 95%, respectively.

A significant portion of purchases on Alibaba's platforms comes from Chinese tourists visiting Korea. Fliggy, Alibaba's online travel booking platform, reported about 1 million Chinese tourists visiting Seoul last year. These tourists often continue to purchase Korean products on cross-border e-commerce platforms after returning home.

"Chinese consumers experience Korean brands and products through travel,"

Zheng explained.

"Returning home, they tend to purchase the same or similar Korean products on cross-border e-commerce platforms, generating sales both inside and outside Korea."

Playauto, a Korean e-commerce solution provider, has collaborated in developing the South Korea Pavilion. They introduced a Korean-English simultaneous translation API function for the platform, enabling Korean sellers to expand globally without language barriers.

News Source: The Korea Times News