Upgrade of foreign trade services: services make trade more convenient
Before 2017, the focus of the development of cross-border B2B platforms was to transform from information-based platforms to transaction-based platforms, that is, to provide complete B2B online payment functions and transaction guarantees. Now efforts in this direction have gradually produced results. Taking Alibaba.com as an example, the number of online transaction orders and transaction volume grew steadily in 2017, especially at the end of 2017, the transaction amount and order volume increased by 2 to 3 times compared with the same period in 2016. During the New Trade Festival in March 2018, Alibaba.com also launched a local T/T service in the United States. American buyers can pay to local T/T accounts, saving the original handling fees caused by cross-border payments, thereby reducing the overall procurement costs.
Growth of credit insurance GMV and orders from 2014 to December
However, to achieve the digital transformation of new foreign trade, doing a good job of online sourcing and payment is only the first step. Whether it can provide full-link service support for buyers and sellers, improve efficiency and reduce transaction risks and costs is the ultimate goal of digitalization. Therefore, under the new foreign trade model, it is not only necessary to realize the online display of information, cross-border communication and payment, but also to migrate the back-end services of undertaking cross-border procurement to the online, so that the services can be viewed, booked and tracked online. The online and digitalization of the entire trade chain is the final symbol of the new foreign trade. Inspection service. Buyers who choose the inspection service can contact the inspection service provider through the platform to complete the inspection service. During the entire procurement festival, a total of 17,000 orders were eligible for free inspection. In March 2018, the New Trade Festival once again launched the free inspection rights. The payment conversion rate of orders that choose the inspection service increased by 64% compared with the payment conversion rate of orders without the inspection service. The added value provided by the inspection service has a significant role in promoting transactions. On Alibaba.com, inspection service has become a regular service option for buyers and sellers to choose directly according to their own needs in daily transaction scenarios. During the procurement festival in September 2017, Alibaba.com provided buyers with free inspection service. At present, B2B buyers around the world still rely heavily on local procurement. Taking the US market as an example, 31% of buyers still choose to purchase from local suppliers: the complexity and cost of cross-border logistics are one of the biggest obstacles for their overseas procurement. Even buyers who have already adopted cross-border logistics will encounter problems such as complex logistics links, opaque information, and unreasonable resource allocation, and even have to pay higher fees for this.
Alibaba.com has fully connected order flow and logistics since September 14, 2017. While drafting credit guarantee orders, it can query and order logistics information. The worry-free transportation service provided by Alibaba has broken through the traditional offline model in terms of ensuring the timeliness of goods delivery, priority delivery during peak seasons, and freight insurance, and escorts online cross-border trade orders; after using Ali’s worry-free transportation, buyers and sellers can find the transportation track and estimated arrival time of goods in the order. So far, the order volume of logistics orders (express delivery) has increased fivefold. In 2018, Alibaba.com will focus on creating better services: launching a 5-day China-US express line, a 24-hour service response mechanism, and no stagnation during peak seasons. The onlineization of logistics services will also be the focus of subsequent investment in cross-border B2B e-commerce. From the access of logistics service providers to the platform, to the query, reservation, and implementation of logistics information, to the tracking of logistics, it is a long process to open up the entire service chain. At present, Alibaba.com has realized the functions of online selection of logistics services, price inquiry, and contacting service providers in the order transaction link. In terms of land transportation, the online visual tracking function has been realized, that is, buyers and sellers can view the transportation status of goods on the platform in real time. Currently, the proportion of traceable orders is 55.9%. The loading places of the orders cover 74 cities in 11 provinces and arrive at 16 ports. In the future, Alibaba.com will replicate this capability in the transportation process of cross-border logistics such as sea transportation, air transportation, and express delivery.
Visualized proportion of orders in land transport
Connecting the service links online makes it easier for buyers and sellers to view the service options and fees online. At the same time, the online service information can also help buyers and sellers to track the delivery and transportation of orders in real time, better arrange subsequent work and handle emergencies in a timely manner. On the other hand, the online information and data accumulation can also help the platform to better match the needs of buyers and sellers with the services of service providers, and evaluate the service capabilities and contract capabilities of service providers.