Alibaba CEO: 1688 is "Strategic Upgrade" to Alibaba.com
Beijing Times, 3/10/10
David Wei, CEO of Hangzhou-based B2B e-commerce site Alibaba.com (1688.HK), said that the newly-launched 1688.com is not a new website but rather a strategic upgrade for Alibaba.com.cn, and both domains will co-exist to provide members with two access points. All original user information, product data, transaction records and TrustPass files will be automatically upgraded to the new system.
Wu Huating, senior director of Alibaba's China market division, said the 1688 platform is the world's largest online wholesale purchasing market and will enable manufacturers, brands and wholesalers of all sizes to reach out to numerous customers, including hundreds of thousands of Taobao merchants and millions of urban shop owners, as well as tens of millions of wholesale buyers, providing them with a series of tools and services allowing purchasers to complete transactions online. 1688 will also re-establish partnerships with authoritative organizations to provide online verification and security systems, so as to settle any transaction disputes that occur on the platform. Wei said Alibaba will publicly announce specific details on March 15.
Alibaba revealed that visitor traffic volume for 1688.com reached 6.39 mln visits on its first day, March 8, with transaction volume reaching 3.06 mln units. 1688 has over 500,000 TrustPass suppliers with information on over 150 mln products to provide an integrated e-commerce supply chain with Alibaba's Taobao and Alipay platforms.
An Alibaba employee involved in back-end operations said that over 30,000 merchants applied to join the platform the day before the launch, and estimated over 2,000 online storefronts opening daily.
Keywords: Wu Huating Internet traffic David Wei B2B e-commerce Internet Alibaba TrustPass 1688.HK 1688.com
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