K-beauty, food, fashion, and other K-culture trends are driving an increase in foreign buyers looking to purchase Korean goods. We aim to become a trusted partner so that Korean corporations can easily and safely enter the global market.
Shawn Yang, Deputy Minister of global business development at Alibaba.com, said during a briefing held on the morning of the 7th at the Chosun Palace in Gangnam, Seoul, that Alibaba.com is a global B2B (business-to-business) dedicated commerce platform established by Alibaba Group under Alibaba International in 1999.
The briefing was organized to officially announce the introduction of Trade Assurance, Alibaba.com's B2B transaction protection service, in Korea for the first time and to introduce future strategies and visions. Core executives from Alibaba.com, including Shawn Yang, Deputy Minister of global business development, Summer Gao, global supply chain head, Andrew Chen, head of payments and transactions, and Marco Yang, country manager for Korea, attended as speakers.
Trade Assurance is a representative B2B transaction safety measure of Alibaba.com, currently used in several countries, including China, the United States, Europe, Southeast Asia, and India. It mainly provides payment protection, shipping guarantees, and refund support if quality standards are not met when buyers order products from Alibaba.com. It was created to reduce anxiety and risks arising from prepayment in many B2B transactions.
Specifically, when a buyer proceeds with payment at the time of purchase, the funds go into a separate account provided by Alibaba. After the buyer receives the product and confirms there are no issues with delivery and quality, the payment is released to the seller.
Additionally, Trade Assurance supports transparent management of the entire transaction process, from payment to delivery, within the platform and integrates logistics and financial functions. The company explained that this allows for mediation of disputes between sellers and buyers.
Summer Gao, global supply chain head, noted, "Currently, more than 55% of buyers on Alibaba.com actively use Trade Assurance for online purchases," and added, "As transaction history accumulates through this system, sellers' search rankings and visibility on Alibaba.com increase, and they are recognized as trusted partners by buyers, leading to a virtuous cycle of more business opportunities in the long term."
Alibaba.com plans to offer promotions for Korean sellers, including a 4% commission on successful transactions (with a maximum cap of $100 per transaction) until March of next year, exemption of fees for the first three transactions of new sellers, and a 50% discount on fees for premium sellers.
The introduction of this Trade Assurance service is interpreted as a signal that Alibaba intends to significantly expand its B2B market in Korea. Previously, Alibaba.com established a local corporation, Alibaba.com Korea eCommerce LLC, in July last year and launched a Korea-exclusive website, 'Korea Pavilion', in August. It is the first time Alibaba.com has opened a country-specific website in Asia.
Alibaba.com also recently opened an office in Busan to enhance support for sellers in the southern region. Marco Yang, country manager for Korea, said, "Currently, the Busan office has around 10 staff members, and we plan to continue expanding it in line with business growth."
Alibaba Group is actively targeting the B2C (business-to-consumer) market in partnership with Shinsegae Group. It plans to establish a joint venture (JV) with Shinsegae Group and incorporate Gmarket and AliExpress Korea as subsidiaries.
Shawn Yang, Deputy Minister, stated, "With 26 years of experience, Alibaba.com has more than 200,000 sellers and over 50 million buyers across 200 countries. The number of products registered on the platform is also at a level of over 200 million," adding, "We will actively assist Korean sellers in entering the global market through various technological capabilities and buyer networks."