UPS establishes alliance with Alibaba.com
UPS to serve as preferred logistics provider for new online wholesale marketplace. UPS announced it has formed a strategic alliance with AliExpress, a new online wholesale marketplace launched by Alibaba.com, which claims to be the world’s largest small business e-commerce company.
AliExpress allows customers to tailor orders to the needs of their small businesses, offering smaller-quantity orders, instant online transactions and an escrow service to protect buyers and sellers. Through its alliance with UPS, AliExpress now offers users the key benefit of managing their shipping and tracking processes online via UPS shipping technology integrated into the AliExpress platform, including the ability to print UPS shipping labels and request pick-up for their UPS packages all from within the AliExpress website.
“Our partnership with UPS is crucial to the success of AliExpress, as one of our main goals is to make international trade for our buyers and sellers, including the shipping of their products, as easy, safe and convenient as possible,” said David Wei, CEO of Alibaba.com. “UPS’s shipping technology, ease of use and trusted premium global services will help us fulfill this goal.”
Many of the suppliers who sell on AliExpress are long-time members of Alibaba.com and have been working with overseas buyers for years through the site. The initial supplier base includes companies from mainland China but the platform eventually will be open to international suppliers as well.
“UPS is committed to the growth of China’s involvement in global e-commerce as part of our overall strategy,” said Jordan Colletta, vice president, e-Commerce Marketing at UPS. “Through our alliance with Alibaba, we hope to partner with more small and mid-sized Chinese businesses to simplify their logistics processes and connect them with new buyers and sellers worldwide.”
