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With many traditional marketplaces in flux due to the global pandemic, Manawatū businesses could learn how to reach a whole new customer base during a visit by one of the world’s e-commerce giants.

Alibaba.com event, workshop, trade, b2b, CEDAWorldwide leading business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce marketplace Alibaba.com will be running a free workshop on doing business online to launch their Gold Supplier program, offering local business owners the chance to be some of the first in New Zealand to join.

The event will begin at 3pm on Wednesday 27 July at the Central Economic Development Agency (CEDA) offices, on level one of the TSB Towers, 1-19 Fitzherbert Avenue, Palmerston North. It is a collaborative partnership between CEDA, Palmerston North City Council, Manawatū District Council, the Manawatū Business Chamber and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.

Hosting a global platform like Alibaba.com in the region presents an exciting education and network opportunity to support local businesses in their digital growth journey. The workshop will give business owners an understanding of how Alibaba.com can support their business to grow their international B2B sales, while getting the best out of the platform.

CEDA’s Business Development Manager Nats Subramanian says the success of Manawatū region’s economic performance is based on the diversity of our sectors and businesses.

“In a similar vein, this event will showcase the Alibaba.com B2B platform as a great opportunity for our local businesses to explore new markets around the globe other than their traditional ones. It also paves a new way to find suppliers from other parts of the world,” he says.

Recent closures of retail businesses locally have seen physical doors close, with the move to an e-commerce model. Hence for some, this access to Alibaba.com couldn’t have come at a better time.

Pier Smulders, General Manager of Australia and New Zealand at Alibaba, stated “Small to medium businesses (SMBs) account for many businesses worldwide. We aspire to see SMBs succeed and grow their presence. Alibaba.com’s free workshops will allow local business owners to further build their skill set in this digital era, while laying the foundations for them to grow their business internationally.”

The first business unit of Alibaba Group, Alibaba.com is a leading platform for global B2B e-commerce that aims to make it easy to do business anywhere. Launched in 1999, Alibaba.com is engaged in services covering all aspects of commerce, including providing businesses with tools that help reach a global audience for their products and helping buyers discover products, find suppliers, and place orders online fast and efficiently. It serves millions of buyers and suppliers from about 190 countries around the world.

International research shows that access to e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba.com has driven the growth, profitability, and efficiency of adopting small to medium enterprises (SMEs), which make up around 98.5% of total businesses and employ 44% of the total workforce. By enabling access to millions of customers that would otherwise be out of reach, alongside other benefits such as driving innovation and improving customer service and access to product information, the performance of our critical SMEs can be further enhanced.

One of CEDA’s key areas of focus is to attract investment and business to the region, and help businesses to grow and expand, and this workshop is one of the many ways and tools in which the team at CEDA delivers on this. This workshop will enable local businesses to increase their digital reach and ultimately their bottom line.

To register for this free workshop with refreshments hosted by CEDA, please click here.

For more information:
[email protected]
06 350 1830

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