BackAlibaba adopts reseller approach in India to boost sales growth
Move will allow Alibaba to service the SME segment more effectively and build a wider geographic reach across India
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Mumbai: After five years of operations in India, Alibaba.com, the business-to-business (B2B) arm of China’s Alibaba Group, is introducing a new reseller strategy in the country to boost sales growth.
A reseller is a domestic Indian agent who will connect a small and medium enterprise (SME) or a manufacturer or supplier in India to customers of Alibaba.
The company will be partnering with resellers who have local contacts, resources and knowledge to service SMEs better.
Despite starting out in India in 2010, Alibaba has kept a low profile and expanded cautiously, unlike its global rival Amazon, which has promised to pump $2 billion into its local arm over time.
By adopting the reseller strategy, Alibaba said it plans to accelerate sales growth.
“India is an important strategic market for Alibaba.com, that’s why we are launching the reseller strategy in India. We are not going to be hidden anymore. We want to be big. We believe that by going through resellers, we are able to tap their resources, networks and knowledge in order to more efficiently serve a burgeoning Indian SME community," Timothy Leung, head of global supplier development and sales of Alibaba.com, said in an interview on Friday.
Leung said India is the second-largest market for the company while China is the largest by a huge margin.
“We have launched the reseller approach in India since Tuesday by recruiting two agents. We are aiming to cover entire states and add more products to the portfolio," he said.
Introducing the reseller approach in India will allow Alibaba.com to service the SME segment in the country more effectively and build a wider geographic reach across the country.
“The timing is just right as the Indian government is encouraging ‘Make In India’ concept. We will be facilitating these SMEs for raising finance and offering logistics support," Leung said.
He said the company had opened virtual trade facilitation centres that will help secure loans for SMEs through tie-ups with banks, including ICICI Bank Ltd.
Leung said the company had also tied up with logistics companies to help ship products to international destinations.
Through the trade facilitation website, Indian SMEs can get hotline access to Alibaba.com’s partners on a range of import-export services such as trade financing, forex remittances, international shipping, customs clearances, warehousing and credit checks of potential trading partners.
A similar approach adopted by Alibaba.com has been successful in other markets such as Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam, Leung said.
The reseller channels are expected to be the key driver for Alibaba.com’s business development worldwide, enabling it to reach more SMEs.
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