Alibaba.com partners with J&T to aid SMEs

• J&T Alibaba has 26 branches across Indonesia
• B2B business model will allow suppliers to sell and ship their products worldwide

ALIBABA.com, a leading business to business (B2B) e-commerce player announces its partnership with Indonesian logistics company J&T by launching J&T Alibaba.

Set-up in 2016 and officially launched on May 9, 2017, J&T Alibaba is not a logistics partner to Alibaba.com in Indonesia, but exists to support economic growth by connecting Indonesian SMEs and entrepreneurs to the global market through e-commerce.

“Alibaba.com and J&T have the same vision to boost Indonesian SME growth in the international market with the help of technology. Alibaba.com is now in 190 countries and we saw that J&T Express has a wide network across Indonesia. This is why we have chosen to partner them.

“J&T Alibaba can help local suppliers to reach the global market and it will also help buyers to find products from other countries,” said Alibaba Group general manager of overseas B2B Jack Zhang.

According to the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, SMEs only contribute 15.8% to Indonesia’s total exports. They only contributed 0.8% to the global supply chain in 2015.

“J&T Alibaba has become our strategy and commitment to boost Indonesia’s economic growth and support local SMEs. We provide solutions based on technology to help businesses access the international market. I hope that J&T Alibaba will contribute to the government’s initiative to promote SMEs,” said J&T Alibaba director Oliver Yang.

Products and services

J&T Alibaba offers two membership programmes to maximize a company’s exposure and business opportunities. These programmes are Global Gold Supplier (GGS) and International Free Member (IFM).

GGS is available in three packages depending on a user’s needs – Basic at cost 22.5 million rupiah (US$1685), Standard at 48 million rupiah (US$3594) and Premium at 95 million rupiah (US$7115).

They also offer Value Added Services (VAS) that provide an Extra Inquiries Package (EIP) and Request for Quotation (RFQ).

EIP is a paid package that would be received by GGS. Suppliers will obtain the facilities needed to run promotions through Alibaba.com’s website partners.

RFQ is a chance for GGS members to directly search for potential buyers. With IFM, members will not be charged and allowed to post up to 50 items.

Other than the two products, J&T Alibaba also provides consultation for businesses especially in e-commerce to educate users.

“With our third-party partners, we will try to provide services that our users may need. Now, we are focusing on helping local SMEs to export and promote their products with ease,” said J&T Alibaba marketing manager Agustina Putri Wijaya when being asked about their strategy to attract more suppliers.

All SMEs that sell products which can be exported are allowed to use J&T Alibaba’s platform.

Agustina says that the main categories of Indonesian SME products that are popular are furniture, agriculture, food and beverage, and handcrafts.

Challenges and future plans

The biggest challenge when it comes to an export business is shipping costs.

“If the quantity of products from a few suppliers has reached the minimum shipping quantity, we will combine the products into one container to reduce shipping costs. We also have third-party partners to help suppliers in calculating shipping costs and looking at the export process,” Yang says.

Zhang however, feels that Indonesian SMEs still lack in the resources and usage of technology needed to help them penetrate the global market.

“We can see the potential in Indonesia, that is why we set up this platform for them to connect to the global market,” Zhang says.

In terms of competitors, Yang says that J&T Alibaba is using a different method in B2B and it not only finds and connects buyers and suppliers from the local market, but also in the global market.

There are 26 branches of J&T Alibaba across Indonesia in big as well as secondary cities.

“We want to cover and give a chance to all suppliers in Indonesia especially those who are in secondary cities and if the market potential is good, we are aiming to have 50 branches in total by the end of 2017,” Yang concludes.

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