ISLAMABAD – Alibaba.com, the global B2B e-commerce platform of Alibaba Group, held another online summit aimed at helping Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Pakistan leverage e-Commerce to secure global export opportunities today. With the trade value of exports from Pakistan reaching a 5-year high at PKR 339 billion in October 2020, the Summit is aimed at helping more SMEs ride on this momentum and connect with global buyers effectively.
The “Go Digital, Go Export” Seller Online Summit brought together e-Commerce experts, global business advisors and successful Pakistan suppliers to share tips on digitalizing and globalizing business. The summit is aimed at supercharging the success of local SMEs when pursuing cross- border trade by introducing high quality leads, nurturing hot prospects and changing mindsets on e- Commerce and exports through discussions on global trends, buyer profiles and behaviors, popular product categories and case studies of top performing Pakistani exporters.
The summit kicked off with an overview of the global trade landscape, opportunities and challenges in Pakistan and insights on future export and economic growth by Mr. Stephen Kuo, Head of Asia Pacific, Alibaba.com.
“Pakistan is one of our key markets. Buyers are also moving online to find suppliers, as demonstrated by the doubling of active buyers we have seen on our platform along with a 42% increase in the number of daily inquiries made. We believe there is a great opportunity for Pakistani SMEs to explore new trade possibilities and export their products and services globally,” said Kuo.
Eric Cross, Head of Buyer Marketing for the United States and Europe, Alibaba.com delved deeper into the global buyer spread, purchasing behaviours and motivations of different buyer profiles from micro- buyers to wholesalers and the preferences for and perceptions of Pakistani products. Eric also touched on the high tempo and quality of interactions with buyers on the Alibaba.com platform with more than
340,000 inquiries made daily, and how buyers are looking for a partner not just a seller which means
SMEs need to be upfront about strengths and weaknesses and be a trusted supporter of the buyer.
Vera Xia, Seller Service Program Manager, Alibaba.com, continued with insights on securing relevant traffic from vast global network of over 20 million buyers and converting them into serious inquiries, plus a detailed two-year training and curriculum plan by Alibaba.com to help new cross-border sellers to level up their cross-border e-Commerce trading skills.
Jeremy Wang, Business Manager, Alibaba.com Pakistan followed up with the special support packages made available for Pakistani businesses when using Alibaba.com to secure export opportunities, and the one-to-one consultations available right after the webinar for local SMEs.
The summit also featured a special session with local success story ImpexPakistan, a manufacturer and exporter of Himalayan salt, onyx marble and semi-precious gemstones, which has leveraged the Alibaba.com platform to boost their business globally.
“It has always been my intention to explore the global market via the internet since I started my business, because the competition in the local market is huge. Taking advantage of global online marketplaces like Alibaba.com is important to any company who wants to expand their business globally. On top of providing easy access to its massive global buyer network, Alibaba.com enabled me to start exporting globally online from scratch, and the hands-on trainings provided is definitely a game- changer for any business,” said Mr. Haider Ali, Founder, ImpexPakistan.
