Alibaba to deploy AI-powered sourcing engine to boost online trade for global merchants
The international arm of Alibaba Group Holding is ramping up the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) by deploying an application that will help merchants on its international wholesale platforms and various third-party marketplaces buy and sell goods online.
Alibaba's International Digital Commerce Group (AIDC) will make an "AI-powered conversational sourcing engine" available to merchants from September to simplify global business-to-business e-commerce, the group said in a statement on Wednesday. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
The AI-driven sourcing tool will be accessible through a dedicated mobile app and Alibaba.com's official website, according to the company. A sourcing professional can simply communicate via voice input with the tool, which would help streamline how a buyer is matched with suitable products and suppliers under the platform.
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"I believe our AI-powered conversational sourcing engine will further supercharge the growth of Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group by transforming the way tens of millions of global small and medium-sized enterprises operate within the US$20-trillion B2B e-commerce industry," Alibaba.com president Zhang Kuo said on Wednesday. "The sourcing engine will also be used outside Alibaba's ecosystem for merchants on third-party platforms."
The app icons of Shein, Temu, AliExpress and Lazada are displayed on a smartphone screen alongside those of Amazon.com, eBay, Walmart, Target and Etsy. Photo: Shutterstock alt=The app icons of Shein, Temu, AliExpress and Lazada are displayed on a smartphone screen alongside those of Amazon.com, eBay, Walmart, Target and Etsy. Photo: Shutterstock>
The AI-powered sourcing engine is built on top of Alibaba's decades of knowledge in helping source goods globally, according to the AIDC statement. Data collected from a billion product listings was used to train the service and that it could even be used by buyers to predict future sourcing requirements. That comes in stark contrast with the time-consuming means of keying in specific product needs and having people manually sift through a sea of information to locate suppliers.
Alibaba's latest initiative shows how the vast international business-to-business e-commerce market remains a major focus for the company, even as Chinese-founded budget shopping apps like Shein and Temu have seized the attention of many consumers around the world.
Apart from business-to-business platform Alibaba.com, AIDC's operations include international online shopping service AliExpress, Southeast Asian unit Lazada, Turkish retail platform Trendyol and Daraz Group in South Asia. AIDC said it has assembled around 100 employees to work on its AI business team, while looking to hire new recruits.
The deployment of a generative AI-powered tool for platforms under AIDC comes after senior Alibaba management sought the technology to boost operational efficiency. On at least two separate occasions last year, Alibaba chief executive Eddie Wu Yongming said the Chinese e-commerce giant would sharpen its focus AI and users.
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