Alibaba announces new U.S. B2B partnership

Alibaba Group Holdings trading platform has formed its first business-to-business venture with Office Depot. The news was first reported by Business of Fashion. Alibaba will be creating a new online destination to access the business supply distributor's network and build out its offerings to small businesses across the United States.

In a statement, Alibaba said this will give them access to over 10 million customers 1800 sales agents. Out of this deal, Office Depot will be getting access to Alibaba's network of over 150,000 suppliers.

“It connects businesses together for products and services,” Gerry Smith, chief executive of a Boca Raton, Florida-based Office Depot, said to Business of Fashion. “We are really bringing the world capabilities back to the US.”

The goal of this partnership is to give business across the United States access to Office Depot's catalog of products, in addition to improving cross-border distribution and fulfillment for small and medium-sized businesses across the U.S. and eventually helping them sell globally through Alibaba.

“We have a common mission to be a catalyst for growth for small businesses,” John Caplan, head of North America B2B at Alibaba Group, said to Business of Fashion. “If you are a bicycle manufacturer, you buy office supplies from Office Depot. Now, Office Depot can introduce you to Alibaba.com, where you can get access to the manufacturers of bicycle parts that you need.”

Investor's Business Daily called Alibaba a likely winner for today on the stock market, and this deal is sure to solidify that. With reports that a China trade deal is very close, the markets have been in an upswing today.

“As a trusted partner to millions of businesses, our customers tell us they want more choice in the market and need an expanded set of products and services to help their businesses grow. We believe our collaboration with Alibaba.com is exactly what they are asking for,” said Smith, in a statement. “Leveraging Office Depot’s trusted brand, local presence, and national supply chain distribution network with Alibaba’s global supplier network and well-known capabilities in serving SMBs, U.S. businesses can now access a wide array of products and services through Office Depot and Alibaba.com’s collaboration, which will empower them to compete and thrive. Through this initial phase of work together with Alibaba.com, we intend to grow our collaboration in ways that will drive even greater value and choice for our current and future customers.”

In a statement, Caplain said, “American SMBs – who account for 99.7 percent of all companies in the United States – need more ways to grow and compete in today’s economy and take advantage of the enormous opportunity in B2B e-commerce. Since our founding, Alibaba’s mission has been to make it easy to do business anywhere. With Office Depot, we will be able to offer SMBs more choice, greater access, and further opportunities to grow. We’ll accomplish this by leveraging Office Depot’s local relationships, capabilities, and expertise alongside Alibaba’s global platform, technologies, and proven marketplace model. Together, we see great opportunities to empower our customers and help them tap into the 23.9 trillion dollar global B2B e-commerce market.”

photo: via Businesswire.com