Alibaba doubles down on AI features development for marketplace buyers and sellers
Alibaba continues to roll out new features and functions which will continue to drive more sellers to its B2B marketplace.
Today at Co-Create, Alibaba’s second annual user conference in Las Vegas, the company unveiled two new features: an updated sourcing tool enhanced by artificial intelligence and a co-branded credit card with Mastercard and extended financing.
Alibaba says that the new sourcing tool, AI Sourcing Agent, will provide more accurate search results for global suppliers and product searches. Meanwhile, the new AI tool gives users the chance to use natural language queries in their searches on Alibaba.com, making the query seem more like a regular conversation.
Alibaba owns the world’s two largest online marketplaces by gross merchandise value (GMV), Taobao and Tmall.
Other features help sellers make faster product sourcing decisions through a series of “agent” suggestions in real-time. They also have more detailed product comparisons with information on each supplier and their quotations.
Alibaba.com president Kuo Zhang says that the company continues building a global network of diversified suppliers and making global sourcing simpler.
About 30,000 businesses on the B2B marketplace use Alibaba’s AI tools to increase product exposure in targeted markets. Sellers on the marketplace say the practice helps them grow, even with limited internal staff.
Alibaba is also rolling out new payment options. The Alibaba.com co-branded credit card with Mastercard offers buyers an option of either 3% cashback or 60-day interest free payment terms, subject to a total spend limit of up to $40,000 per year.
A newly launched buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) program now allows sellers entrepreneurs to split payments into three or four installments over six weeks using Afterpay, PayPal or Klarna.
About 30,000 businesses on the marketplace use Alibaba’s AI tools to increase product exposure in targeted markets. Sellers on the marketplace say the practice helps them grow, even with limited internal staff.