Alibaba.com Reduces Sourcing Cycle Time by Seventy-Five Percent According to New Survey

Alibaba.com Reduces Sourcing Cycle Time by Seventy-Five Percent According to New Survey

August 29, 2006

Online Sourcing `Comes of Age' as Alibaba.com Allows Buyers to Cut Sourcing Costs and Achieve Fast Time-to-Market

    NEWARK, Calif. and HANGZHOU, China, Aug. 29
/Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Sourcing online through Alibaba.com
can cut the normal sourcing cycle by 75 percent, according
to a new survey released at MAGIC 2006 by the world's
largest online B2B marketplace for global trade. 
Alibaba.com members say it takes about three weeks to find
the right trading partner and negotiate a deal through the
Web site, compared to the average sourcing cycle of 3.3 to
4.2 months(1).

     (1) According to the Aberdeen Group

    The survey found that 56 percent of Alibaba.com members
take two to four weeks to negotiate the terms of a purchase
or sale from first contact to finalized contract agreement,
while 17 percent say it takes them no more than a week.  The
survey was conducted from June 19 to July 9, 2006, and
included responses from more than 1,100 Alibaba.com
members.

    "Online sourcing has finally come of age. 
Alibaba.com has become the number one destination for
sourcing professionals and entrepreneurs because it is the
simplest and most efficient way to find quality suppliers
and products," said Porter Erisman, Alibaba.com's Vice
President for International Marketing and Business
Development.  "We reduce the sourcing time by bridging
geographies and time zones and putting thousands of products
and suppliers in one easy-to-use location."

    "Many companies are also leveraging the
convenience of the Internet to set up physical meetings at
tradeshows with buyers or suppliers they have met on our
site," added Mr. Erisman.  "This is a powerful
example of how trade show organizers and online
marketplaces can work together to serve buyers and
suppliers, and grow both their respective
businesses."

    Research shows that the discovery phase -- when buyers
search for sellers -- is the most time consuming and costly
phase of the sourcing cycle.  Online marketplaces like
Alibaba.com can reduce the time required for the discovery
phase significantly by providing information on products
and suppliers from around the world 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week, 365 days a year.  In 2001, the Aberdeen Group
predicted that on a global basis businesses could save
approximately $1.7 trillion by deploying effective
e-sourcing strategies.  Five years later, with the
emergence of Alibaba.com, these savings are becoming a
reality.

    "In the world of fashion sourcing, I think of
Alibaba.com as a much, much better version of the Yellow
Pages -- one where you let your fingers do the walking and
talking," said Richard Price, President of SMU, a Los
Angeles, CA-based import and export company for the apparel
industry.  "What used to take weeks and months to
source, literally now takes minutes and hours through
Alibaba.com."

    Alexa.com, an independent provider of Web site traffic
statistics, ranks Alibaba.com as the most popular global
site in the categories of e-Commerce and International
Business and Trade.  More than 500,000 people visit
Alibaba.com every day, most of them global buyers and
importers looking to find and trade with sellers in China,
and other major manufacturing countries.  Alibaba.com has
more than two million registered users from over 200
countries and territories.

    About Alibaba.com Corporation

    Alibaba.com is a global e-commerce powerhouse, and the
largest e-commerce company in China.  The company operates
several e-commerce platforms that connect individuals and
businesses from China, and around the world.  Alibaba.com
makes doing business easy, and even fun, enabling an
interactive community of millions to meet, chat, search for
products and trade online. 

    The company's five businesses include:  Alibaba
International (alibaba.com), the world's largest online B2B
marketplace for global trade; Alibaba China
(alibaba.com.cn), the largest online small- and
medium-sized enterprise community in China; Taobao
(taobao.com), Asia's largest consumer e-commerce website;
AliPay, China's leading online payment service; and Yahoo!
China (yahoo.com.cn), a leading search engine and portal,
acquired from Yahoo! Inc. in October 2005.  For more
information, please visit http://www.alibaba.com .

    For more information, please contact:

     Bruce Shu
     Citigate Dewe Rogerson
     Tel:    [phone]
     Mobile: [phone]
     Email:  [e-mail]

     Sandy George
     Citigate Cunningham
     Tel:    [phone]
     Mobile: [phone]
     Email:  [e-mail]

SOURCE  Alibaba.com