E-Commerce in Textile and Apparel-A FUTURE TREND

E-commerce is an exemplary concept in the future of textile and apparel industry. It is playing a major role in the present scenario of textile and apparel industry. It is also very significant that the future of textile and apparel industry is complete only with E-commerce. Diverse e-commerce applications are being implemented in the textile and apparel supply chain. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have the capacity to make extravagant amounts of information available to users located in various parts of the world. ICTs also facilitate rapid communication between them. One application of these technologies is in the development of e-commerce to support electronic trading.

E-Commerce A New Concept and Scope

E-commerce can be specified as any form of economic activity conducted through computer-mediated networks. The potential of e-commerce caught public's attention as a result of ventures such as the electronic bookshop. As a result there are a growing number of other Internet-based retailers in the business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce area. However, business-to-business (B2B) ecommerce is growing much more quickly than B2C forms of electronic trading. E-commerce is a new and exciting technology, attracting much interest. It has the power of fundamentally changing the ways in which companies do business. It is having a profound effect on the management of the supply chain. Aspects of e-commerce are much diversified.

E-commerce has a large impact on industry as a whole, including aspects associated with Business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce, business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce. In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in companies practicing electronic commerce. Two basic modes of organizing such companies have emerged. The first is creating a "brick-and-mortar" company, by installing an e-commerce division. The second is initiation of an enterprise as an electronic commerce company (dot.com), without previous organizational links to a traditional "brick-and-mortar" organization. Both modes of corporate practice of electronic commerce require redesign, recalibration, and even restructuring of key organizational dimensions. In such companies, there is also a question of applicability of traditional organizational dimensions to this new format of conducting commerce. As electronic markets and electronic commerce proliferate, there has been a marked increase in scientific studies of this phenomenon.

The emerging conventional wisdom suggests that electronic commerce is different enough to warrant an in-depth examination of traditional organization design in the present global scenario; e-commerce and e-business have increasingly become a necessary component of business strategy. E-commerce also acts as a strong catalyst for economic development. The integration of information and communications technology (ICT) in business has heavily improved inter organization relationships and intra organizational relationships. Specifically, the use of ICT in business has improved productivity, encouraged greater customer participation, and enabled mass customization and has also reduced costs. With the help of developments in the Internet and Web-based technologies, distinctions between traditional markets and the global electronic marketplace are gradually being narrowed down. The strategic positioning, the ability of a company to determine emerging opportunities and utilize the necessary human capital skill is the main aim of each and every firm. To make the most of these opportunities through an e-business strategy that is simple, workable and practicable within the context of a global information milieu and new economic environment is the focus of e-commerce. E-commerce coupled with the appropriate strategy and policy approach enables small and medium scale enterprises to compete with large and capital-rich businesses.

Source: http://www.fibre2fashion.com/

The Importance of Website Conversion

Many companies make the mistake of spending money in areas where it's not necessary. Take, for example, companies pumping marketing dollars into increasing traffic on the website. It's great to get more traffic, but that is just the first step. Now you need that traffic to do something.

Website Conversion Defined

The percentage of total visitors who come to the website, follow through after clicking on the company's desired point of action (POA) and submit information, download a demo, make a purchase, etc. is the definition of website conversion. In an e-commerce application, multiple visitors will add items to their shopping carts, but a smaller percentage will actually make the purchase. The percentage of visitors that completes the transaction signifies the conversion rate for the website. In a lead-generating application, multiple visitors will follow a path that you desire for them to follow (at first), but will not complete the form, download, etc. The percentage that does signifies the conversion rate.

In order to boost the website conversion rate, companies need to determine why potential customers drop out at certain points in the process and eliminate these roadblocks in order to increase sales. Clearly defined POAs, intuitive navigation, and simple checkout processes all make it easier for potential customers to buy, contact, download, or whatever else it is that you want them to do that will lead to a sale.

Point of Action

Basically, the POA on your website is what you want visitors to do initially. Many websites will have more than one POA, so POAs are further broken down into primary, secondary, and even tertiary POAs. A primary POA (usually the most profitable action for a user to take) might be completing a purchase on the site while a secondary POA might be signing up for the site's email newsletter announcing weekly specials. As a general rule, the marketing department (not the web designers) in consultation with sales should decide what the primary and secondary POAs will be.

Some websites have no clear POA and mainly serve as 'brochure-ware.' If a website doesn't have clear POAs that guide users toward taking specific, valuable actions, those users are of course less likely to become purchasers.

Take Rate

The number (or percentage) of visitors who show interest in your POA (i.e. click on a link to visit the site's contact form), comprise your take rate. Say a B2B website is highlighting its downloadable demo as its POA; a visitor might click on that link to get to a download page. Whether or not they actually follow through with the download has no bearing on the take rate - the take rate merely demonstrates that there was enough interest for them to take the POA.

On an e-commerce site, for instance, a visitor who adds a product to his shopping basket has taken the first step toward the company's desired POA, but the potential purchaser may not complete the transaction.

There are many ways to improve the take rate of a website. One of the biggest ways is to simply make it very clear to visitors, on every page of your site, what you want them to do. Whether this is to purchase, to contact, to download, to sign up, or any number of other actions, make it clear and prominent for the visitor. No matter where they are on your site when they decide they are ready to take that POA, your site should make it easy for them to do so.

Website Conversion Rate

The actual website conversion rate is the ratio equal to the number of people who actually convert on the site versus the overall number of visitors to the site for a given period. If, for example, 3 out of every 100 visitors to your B2B site filled out a contact form (and that form was your only POA) your website conversion rate would be 3%.

Obviously, improving your take rate will also improve your conversion rate, since more people will be coming to the form, download page, purchase page, etc. But there are many things you can do to increase the likelihood that people will convert after they have taken the initial POA. Keeping contact forms short and only asking for the minimal information you need is one way. Having a prominent and clear privacy policy or encryption policy can also help. The important thing to recognize is that a large number of people who demonstrate an interest in your products or services by clicking on your POA may not follow thorough, and it is important to determine why and to remove those obstacles.

Putting it Together

There are literally thousands of elements you can change on your website to increase both your take rate and website conversion rate. A/B testing has long been used to determine how changing certain variables affects the conversion and take rates. However, this method is limited to testing one variable at a time if you want to gather the granular metrics from each slight modification. Today, with more sophisticated testing software packages available, multivariate testing, which enables you to test many variables at the same time while still seeing granular results, is becoming more common. Common tests include changing color schemes, tweaking various aspects of navigation, copy, and POAs have all been proven to maximize the take rate, website conversion rate, and subsequently, your revenue and bottom line. Website conversion is all about your visitors - appeal to their needs and desires in a logical, concise way, and you'll see your rates improve.

Source: http://www.techlinks.net/

Mobile eCommerce - success means doing it right

The promise, hype and expectation of South African eCommerce fulfillment, fuelled by the realisation that online procurement and supply-chain management could potentially trim costs and improve customer relationships, even after 10 years has fallen short.

In 2007, World Wide Worx study of internet shopping, predicted a contribution of at least 20% to the holiday shopping spend and that the trend showed that consumers were beginning to gain confidence in online gift shopping specifically.

Two years later and South Africa has still not perfected the formula nor managed to successfully bring online purchases mainstream. Approximately only half of the current internet users shop online. It is still very much a developing market with statistics predicting that internet usage figures alone are set to grow by a further 13% during 2009, providing some hope that with it, so will online shopping. Although online browsing has increased significantly with consumer's easily performing product price comparisons, most purchases are still taking place offline.

Although it is still a developing market, this year it seems that a new trend is being adopted by internet commerce-potential institutions. It is as if South Africa decided to skip completing the eCommerce cycle and jump straight onto mCommerce. For the South and larger African market mobile commerce would be a step in a potentially lucrative direction as the mobile platform is the most accessible form of internet access on the continent.

But how successful can this channel be if we consider that we've hardly scratched the surface on eCommerce?

Obstacles faced in eCommerce

Up to 2003 the biggest obstacle to eCommerce was the lack of a robust online payment platform and costs involved to create bespoke commerce solutions put many companies off from investing in developing this on their websites. Six years later the complications have finally mostly been ironed out, but the hesitation to leverage these systems still remains.

Bandwidth was another technical barrier, which also mostly lead to shopping carts and payment systems that were in place to time-out, leaving would be purchasers with the fear that their credit card would be doubly charged.

From the design and usability side, commerce websites in South Africa are not up to the commonly accepted Western Standards. When a website is not user-friendly and simple to navigate, drop-off rates are high, which result in the site not generating enough revenue.

Some companies also encountered delivery issues, and with the era of instant gratification for those individuals that were already net savvy, waiting for up to six weeks versus immediate satisfaction of store purchase was no contest.

Although by no means the only obstacles, having learnt from these, how can we make both eCommerce and mCommerce a success, and can we do this jointly?

Development considerations for e+mCommerce

It is hugely important to ensure that a website is initially built correctly. Don't have an add-on wish list for later, unless you are 200% sure that all the ‘wish-list' components will work with the existing website functionality. For example some might develop commerce functionality, but consider mobile commerce functionality as an afterthought. Ideally if the site is created on a XHTML platform, it would not require a full redevelopment at a later stage and could save companies fortunes.

Consult with usability and conversion experts and conduct user-group testing on the platform to ensure that it can cater to both ‘newbies' and ‘techperts'.

Ensuring that your website has a robust and simple ‘shopping cart' will minimise the purchase drop-off rates. One does not need to invest in bespoke carts to achieve this. There are many “off-the-shelf” products that cater to this and won't break the bank. By using “off-the-shelf” products can save up to 35% on maintenance and license fees alone. Commerce software products that have proven functionality include Magento, OSCommerce and Zend Cart.

Achieving success through Mobile Commerce

Mobile Commerce,, or mCommerce, include applications and services that are accessible from internet-enabled mobile devices (cellphones).

Mobile is the most accessible form of internet access on the African continent, therefore products and services in theory have a much wider chance for adoption if they are accessible through this platform.

Achieving success in mCommerce as with eCommerce very much relies on a sound technical structure. Making your website mobile friendly does not necessarily mean that you need to build an entirely separate website primarily for mobile. It is of course ideal to own a .mobi in addition to the .com or .co.za domain extensions indicating that your website is focussed and viewable on a mobile device.

There are dedicated mobi search engines, which can be utilised from both the desktop as well as mobile device. As with websites ensuring the structure is accessible by these search engines will also ensure that you gain increased visibility. XHTML hierarchies have ensured that both desktop and mobile search engines are easily able to read the content and classify it. Also, the website should automatically be enabled to transform itself to the mobile screen if developed in this coding structure.

Understanding mobile devices and their capabilities to render this structure is of vital importance. Ensure that it is compatible with the most prevalent cellphones and that updates for new phones could easily be implemented.

As with most things online, the marketing would be the biggest factor in achieving success. Comprehensive campaigns including press articles, social media and search are the primary channels to use to increase adoption rate.

FormFunction Digital Consultants Pty Ltd is one of the leading digital exploration and implementation companies in South Africa and takes pride as a strategic consulting business first and foremost. Understanding and hands-on experience with various web and social application platforms, successful eCommerce websites deployment in technologies including Magento, OSCommerce and Zend, and experience as one of the first agencies to create an iPhone application make them a natural forerunner in the field of mobile commerce in South Africa.

To understand how your company could potentially benefit from creating an eCommerce or mCommerce presence, contact FormFunction to arrange an objective and informative consulting meeting.

Source: http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/16/36419.html

TAITRA Features Recession Beating Global B2B Tools on Taiwantrade

TAIPEI, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) features recession beating B2B tools on Taiwantrade. Designed to meet the rapidly changing requirements of global trading during challenging times, Taiwantrade provides instant access to B2B commerce tools to international small and medium enterprises who are members. Taiwantrade is going to launch a promotion to offer free memberships and elite bonus to all worldwide suppliers and buyers next week.

Essential tools include an electronic bulletin board showcases numerous buy and sell business opportunities posted by Taiwantrade members from around the world, and alerts for new products, biz exchange trade leads, new suppliers, special offers, and trade-related news. Taiwantrade also provides an extensive business and trade database. A personalized homepage will highlight exactly the information that was specified while signing up as a member.

Taiwanese companies play a major global role in supplying the world’s requirements in sectors such as electronics, communications, computers, auto parts, and motorcycles. Associations representing these industries work closely with Taiwantrade to enable global buyers and suppliers to obtain the latest information on products and manufacturing services offered by these Taiwanese enterprises.

In 2008, TAITRA organized 28 international trade shows, provided services to 10,072 local and foreign exhibitors. TAITRA updated a domestic suppliers' database that features more than 240,000 companies, and established a foreign buyers' database that includes more than 1.12 million companies. TAITRA provided enterprise-portal services over 30,000 companies, compiled 240,000 pieces of new electronic product catalogs, initiated 706,600 trade leads, and racked up 7,668,176 visits to the Taiwantrade and TAITRA websites. TAITRA also sponsored 68 promotional seminars concerning eMarketing, increased foreign company members by 27,364, and organized 23 international online trade shows. Plus, TAITRA arranged 915 purchasing tours for foreign buyers to come to Taiwan.

Mr. Yuen-Chuan Chao, the President and CEO of TAITRA stated that “The e-Procurement Site service of Taiwantrade helped foreign buyers and sellers create 54 global business transactions in 2008, of which value reached up to US$800 million. We are redoubling our efforts in 2009 to overcome the challenges of the difficult times. Taiwantrade is a major component in our strategies.”

With the B2B commerce tools on Taiwantrade, it has never been easier for worldwide buyers and sellers to locate online vital global trade information that exponentially increases business opportunities.

About Taiwantrade

Taiwantrade is an interactive e-business portal designed to provide small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with immediate access to B2B e-commerce activities, and to help them gain a digital edge over their competitors worldwide. Backed by a wealth of trade promotion resources and strong support from different trade and industry associations, e-marketplaces, and popular trade websites, Taiwantrade offers the utmost online trade and promotion services. Taiwantrade is sponsored by the Bureau of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Economic Affairs and administered by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council.

Source: http://www.businesswire.com

Financial Times launches new B2B direct marketing campaign

The Financial Times is launching a new B2B direct marketing campaign designed to target media planners and buyers in the EMEA region, in conjunction with Touch DDB and DDB London. The campaign entitled ‘A Complete Spotter’s Guide to the World’s Most Elusive Breeds’ will launch with a teaser email on 30 April, followed by a direct mail pack on 6 May and a refreshed media toolkit at www.ft.com/advertising.

The direct mail brings to life how media planners and buyers can more effectively target an elusive high value audience using a combination of advertising space in FT print and online products. With a bird spotting theme, a guide profiles six audience ‘breeds’ – including the high net worth individual, the business decision maker, the entrepreneur, the client facing professional, the financial professional and the opinion leader.

A pack with the guide and an FT branded pair of binoculars will be sent to approximately 300 existing contacts while the guide will also be delivered separately to 1,000 further recipients.

Caroline Halliwell, Director of Brand & B2B Marketing at the Financial Times, said: “The campaign has been created to position the FT as the most effective and efficient route to reach the world’s most influential and affluent people. That’s why the FT is such an important media choice for advertisers.”

Guy Bradbury, executive creative director at Touch DDB, added: “Communicating with media buyers, the savvy and difficult to reach audience, can be a real challenge but with this piece we’ve really hit the nail on the head, creating something memorable, amusing and demonstrative that the FT is the smartest way to reach high-quality audiences for a wide range of products. This idea was all about creating something pertinent to media buyers, something they would keep referring to but also enjoy reading and in doing so consider the FT more often.”

The newly designed FT online media toolkit created by OneBite will feature a free trial subscription to FT.com which will allow agencies to sign up to email bulletins and keyword alerts on their clients, competitors and industry sectors. It will also include case studies, research, audience information, product highlights and information about FT strategic solutions and digital innovations.

Source: http://mnilive.com/?p=3272

Rosy Blue to launch B2B e-commerce site

Antwerp, Belgium--The Rosy Blue Group has announced the beta launch of RosyBlueOnline.com, a business-to-business e-commerce site offering certified polished diamonds at competitive prices directly and securely to registered trade customers.

The site, which is going live on May 25, will enable customers--including independent retail jewelers, specialty chains, wholesalers and general-merchandise retailers--to purchase any quantity of polished diamonds from anywhere in the world, regardless of the size of their enterprise or their proximity to a Rosy Blue affiliate.

The assortment will consist of a broad range of stones, from 0.25 carat and larger, certified by grading laboratories including the Gemological Institute of America, AGSL, HRD and IGI.

The site will provide real-time visibility of the entire certified polished-diamond inventory available from all Rosy Blue affiliates. The site will also indicate the locations of the stones and automatically create separate orders for each location, enabling direct shipping and ensuring quicker deliveries to clients.

The "Quick Search" feature of the site allows users to view in a single click Rosy Blue's entire diamond stock and selection based on the Four C's. The site also enables users to drill down into an individual stone and even view the image and certificate where available.

The primary user (owner) retains control for purchasing stones. Secondary users (sales associates) can be set up with access to browse and select stones.

Further, each user can customize the language in which they browse the site. Language options include English, French, German, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish (Mexican and European), Arabic, Russian and Italian, with more languages planned.

The entire user experience is backed by Rosy Blue's quality and service assurance.

RosyBlueOnline.com has various other features such as detailed search, saving repeated searches, purchase confirmation, ability to reserve stones for up to four hours, order tracking and status, dashboard and many more.

"RosyBlueOnline.com will enable us to efficiently and effectively reach out and directly trade with a much larger set of clients," Rosy Blue India Chief Operating Officer Russell Mehta said in a media release. "The site will also provide what was heretofore unavailable: visibility of our global inventory, in one place. We strive to add value for our customers, and this site is one such endeavor."

Source: http://www.nationaljewelernetwork.com/

An appointment with Alibaba ,dreams of future come true

Lots of people regard the machinery manufacturing industry as an eternal sunrise industry, thereafter, as a leading company in the field of producing small precision spare parts and hardware spare parts, we should also be a brilliant landscape in the sunshine. However, during the past five years, our annul value of production was merely $1.5 million. Why?

I've been thinking about this issue. Are our equipments straggly? No! We have nearly 50 sets of CNC lathes, and other auxiliary equipments for milling, stamping, sawing, and welding and so on, all of which are not the first-rank, but they are definitely much better than the average ones. Are our management, products quality and service not in place? No! A system of quality products, excellent management and perfect service has been set up for a long time, and has always been improving. In a word, we always strive hard for perfection.Then, what was the key cause of slow development of the company in those years. While thinking about this question, a friend of mine who is engaged in foreign trade comes to my mind.

It was in 2004. I stopped by to see him, whom I hadn't seen for many years. Lacking of money at that moment, he lodged with a relative of him and could only afford bread. To my surprise, he spent nearly RMB20, 000 in purchasing a laptop computer and arranged wireless Internet access. I asked him: "why not save the money for a house or something others?" He smiled a subtle smile and said: "Alibaba will bring all things to me in the future." This was the first time I heard of Alibaba!

Tell the truth, I paid scant attention to what he had said. However, in the summer of 2008, he suddenly gave me a call and drove his Audi car to my factory a few minutes later. That was really a big surprise to me. "Did you switch over to be a driver?" I asked. He laughed and said:"As the saying goes like this: every dog has his day. It has been about 5 years, eh?" "Yes！" I nodded. He continued: "Do you remember？Once, I said Alibaba would send house and car to me. Now it has come true!" Then he told me his development course these years.

It turned out that with Alibaba B2B online platform, he took orders from foreign customers, and adopted a business mode of "purchase domestically and sale to overseas". Day by day, his business develops rapidly. Up to now, it has an annual turnover of $15 million.

Yes! Isn't that the bottleneck restricting the development of my company? Our market is too narrow. Why don't we promote our products through Alibaba?

So in September 2008, our company became a China Supplier of Alibaba.

An old saying goes like this: easier said than done. It took some ingenuity to well operate online business.

Lacking skills at the beginning, after uploaded the products' pictures and brief introduction to the website, we waited with a passive attitude and thought customers will find us initiatively. However, one month passed by and we got little progress. After communicating with Alibaba service personnel, we found that our products' pictures were blurry, product description was not accord with the purchasing habits of overseas buyers and information of our new products was not updated regularly. So we improved and enhanced some details. Since the middle of the second month, we could receive 4-5 inquiries per day. At the same time, we also found a better way in doing online business. Our foreign trader took the initiative to search demands of overseas buyers online and sent Emails with product pictures and description to potential customers who need similar products. Besides, we also replied inquiries timely. By doing this, we averagely sent 200 Emails every day and almost 5000 ones each month.

Adhering to the spirit of "Extensive Cultivation, Every Little Makes", through our hard strive, we have signed orders valued $1 million now, with more potential orders valued $3 million coming to us in the second half of the year.

We made the acquaintance of Alibaba by chance. Under such a circumstance, let us make an appointment with Alibaba to create more "Made in China" with more Chinese suppliers.

Source: http://news.alibaba.com/

Alibaba.com and Hannover Fairs Shanghai Enter Partnership

Hong Kong, July 18, Alibaba.com, the most-visited B2B marketplace on the Internet in terms of user traffic, and Hannover Fairs Shanghai Ltd, (HFS), the Chinese subsidiary of Deutsche Messe, a world leading organizer of trade fairs and exhibitions, today signed a strategic partnership to promote CeBIT Asia to Alibaba.com's millions of buyers and sellers.

CeBIT Asia will be held from October 10-13, 2007 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre and is run by Hannover Fairs China Ltd. The annual event enjoys broad support from the ICT sectors and application industries, professional associations, and boasts a strong lineup of businesses from China and abroad, including Germany, Australia, USA, Korea, and India. Last year, CeBIT Asia attracted 324 exhibitors and 38,238 visitors. This year, the show will join hands with PTC Asia and CeMAT Asia and collectively is expected to draw more than 2,000 exhibitors and 70,000 visitors.

This partnership aims to unite the online and offline trade communities, providing global buyers and sellers with more opportunities to connect and trade. Exhibitors are expected to achieve a higher return on investment as this cooperation will lead to more promotions online and at the trade show, thereby improving deal closing rates.

The announcement is part of the growth of Alibaba.com's Trade Show Partnership program launched in February last year. The CeBIT Asia cooperation is the first phase in a partnership that could eventually include fairs in Europe, the United States and the rest of Asia.

"Our cooperation with Alibaba.com, one of the world's largest online B2B marketplaces, will help us draw more qualified visitors from across the world with a tangible willingness to invest and significantly extend the reach of CeBIT Asia," said Mr. Fu Yu, Managing Director of Hannover Fairs China Ltd. "Moreover, it will effectively expand the exhibition coverage from several days to all year round."

"This is a major step forward in our Trade Show Partnership program," said David Wei, President of Alibaba.com. "CeBIT combines innovative products and quality suppliers with a huge networking platform. Alibaba.com does the same in the virtual world. Electronic components and supplies is one of the most popular categories on Alibaba.com, so CeBIT Asia is an ideal event to kick off our collaboration with Deutsche Messe."

CeBIT Hannover is Deutsche Messe's flagship event and is the world's largest exhibition. It attracted 480,000 international visitors earlier this year. In addition to CeBIT, Deutsche Messe has a large portfolio of leading international events, including Hannover Messe (industrial technology) and Biotechnica (biotechnology). Its main exhibition facility in Hannover, Germany is the world's largest, measuring over one million square meters and attracting 1.79 million trade show visitors per year.

Source: http://news.alibaba.com/

The global trade in green products is increasing dramatically, according to popular searches on Alibaba.com, the world’s leading B2B e-commerce company.

Analysts had forecast that the multibillion-dollar green products market would lose momentum as consumers worldwide curtail their spending due to the economic downturn, but this trend is not supported by data collected by Alibaba.com. In fact, searches for alternative energy resources such as solar and wind, electric cars, bio-diesel and organic products increased steadily on Alibaba.com over the past two years, driven by growing mainstream environmental awareness, especially in developed countries along with large-scale government initiatives towards clean energy.

Historic rises in oil prices, which peaked at a record US$147 per barrel in the third quarter of 2008, further intensified global attention on the need for alternative energy. This is clearly reflected in the 67 percent increase in searches, particularly for solar energy products, on Alibaba.com during the same period compared to the third quarter of 2007, when oil prices were just US$77 per barrel.

Solar-powered energy and organic products are the fastest growing green sectors on Alibaba.com, increasing 71 percent and 68 percent year-on-year, respectively, in the first quarter of 2009. Solar lights are among the hottest green items sold online as some countries in Europe as well as the US move to replace traditional street lights with sun-powered alternatives. This trend is not just at a governmental level, as businesses and factories also move towards solar power for their outdoor lighting. Power savings and consumption reduction used to be the main objective for this shift, but the recession has brought other imperatives to the forefront, such as cost cutting.

“Despite the downturn, online trade in environmentally friendly products is holding up well. This is because going green not only saves money but also creates money, especially as more entrepreneurs develop innovative products to support growing global demand. Also, many consumer-based green options, such as switching to solar lights, both make economic sense and protect the environment. Entrepreneurs and SMEs are realizing that green is good business, as long as there is a fiscal motivation as well as an environmental one,” said David Wei, the CEO of Alibaba.com.

While consumers are lured to the “feel good” and cost-saving benefits of the green sector, entrepreneurs see a new growth industry with lots of business potential. Green technology is becoming more accessible to businesses of all sizes as costs are declining, and favorable government legislation and tax subsidies make it more sustainable. All these factors have led to exponential growth of the market for green goods.

“Climate change is having a positive impact on our business. Our sales have been growing by 30 to 40 percent over the past three years thanks to strong demand for green products from customers in the US, Europe, Middle East and Southeast Asia. Solar lighting products are our most popular selling items,” said Xiao Benpeng, the International Trade Manager for Huangshi Donper Mech-Electric Group Solar Energy Co., Ltd., a Hubei-based company specializing in high-tech solar energy products and a member of Alibaba.com.

According to US President Barack Obama's stimulus bill, 10 percent of the funding will be allocated to environmental projects. In his inauguration speech, Obama pledged that America “will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories,” which has set the tone for the West, while China is committed to generate 16 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.

“Around US$30 billion of China’s huge stimulus package is to be invested in energy conservation and ecological engineering. These large scale projects are going to have a major impact in driving awareness of green power and the desire for smaller-scale eco-friendly alternatives will escalate significantly, if not exponentially. Green is one of the new opportunities for entrepreneurs around the world, and e-commerce is clearly going to be the platform through which a significant amount of that business is conducted,” Wei concluded.

Source: http://uk.sys-con.com/node/927812

Alibaba.com Opens Taiwan Office

Launch of Gold Supplier Membership to Boost Taiwan’s Export Competitiveness

Taipei, Taiwan – July 24, 2008 – Alibaba.com today opened its fourth functional office outside mainland China. The new Taipei office will be able to better serve its 40,000 local members and enable more small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in Taiwan to grow their business through e-commerce. Alibaba.com's three websites – for global trade, domestic trade in mainland China and trade with Japan – collectively form a business community of close to 30 million registered users from over 240 countries and regions.

Taiwan is a priority market for Alibaba.com and the company is committed to bringing global trade opportunities to Taiwan SMEs by helping them reach millions of buyers and sellers around the world. Alibaba.com is the only business-to-business e-commerce company that connects its Taiwan members with potential trading partners in mainland China, emerging markets like India and developed markets like Japan, Europe and the US on one single platform.

In 2007, there were over 1.2 million SMEs in Taiwan, accounting for around 98% of all
enterprises[1] and more than 220,000 of them were engaged in export related businesses[2]. With the saturation and slowing of Taiwan's domestic market, it has become more crucial for local SMEs to engage in international trade to stay competitive. However, official statistics estimate that SMEs contribute only around 18% of Taiwan's total export sales. This compares to around 40% of exports contributed by SMEs in South Korea and India, and over 60% by SMEs in mainland China.

Steve Kang, Senior Business Manager, Alibaba.com Taiwan, commented, "In recent years, fierce competition and a flat domestic economy have cut into the profits of Taiwan businesses and traditional cost saving measures are no longer enough. SMEs in Taiwan need to increase their margins by finding new customers overseas and Alibaba.com can help them tap into the global marketplace."

Alibaba.com recently launched its Gold Supplier membership package in Taiwan. This paid service enables suppliers to gain more exposure to buyers on Alibaba.com's international marketplace by providing them with a premium storefront, priority placement in search results and high quality customer service. The Taipei office will provide local customer service, marketing and sales support, as well as conducting offline education and training for its Taiwan customers. Currently, Alibaba.com has about 2,000 paying members in Taiwan.

[1] According to the 2007 White Paper on SMEs published by the Ministry of Economic Affairs of Taiwan
[2] According to the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA)

source: http://news.alibaba.com/

Mercer Chooses Sterling Commerce To Facilitate E-Comms with NZ Inland Revenue

Sterling Commerce, an AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) company, today announced that Mercer, a leading global provider of consulting, outsourced and investment services, has selected the Sterling Collaboration Network, an on demand business-to-business (B2B) network, to safely and securely exchange electronic communications specifically related to superannuation with the New Zealand Inland Revenue Department.

In existence for over 30 years, Sterling Collaboration Network provides connections to over 90 other public and private networks and manages as many as 4.5 million B2B documents per day with more than 99.9 percent reliability. It will enable Mercer to automate the flow of information, including retirement benefit information to and from Mercer and the New Zealand Inland Revenue Department.

Mercer works with clients to solve their most complex benefit and human capital issues, designing and helping manage health, retirement and other benefits. The company conducted a lengthy market evaluation and chose Sterling Commerce based on its strong market footprint, brand reputation, and proven technical expertise in being able to transmit high volumes of messages in a secure and reliable fashion.

“We reviewed several solutions but were impressed with the scalability and proven expertise of the Sterling Collaboration Network. This was confirmed when we signed on to the network as this was both a rapid and smooth transition which enabled us to continue offering a seamless service to our clients.

“Since going live with Sterling Collaboration Network, Mercer and its clients have reaped the benefits of a faster speed of messaging service and an overall leap in the quality of document visibility and transparency,” said Andrew Godfrey, Chief Operating Officer, Outsourcing, Mercer.

Sterling Collaboration Network simplifies trading partner relationships by eliminating all paper-based transactions and providing end-to-end visibility and control over the business processes shared with outside companies. It eliminates all paper-based transactions and removes the technical complexity in dealing with the technical requirements of the trading community. With this solution, companies are able to securely and reliably exchange business documents, making it simpler to automate their B2B processes to increase their competitiveness and productivity.

“Sterling Commerce has performed as a professional organisation with the capacity to deliver a smooth deployment within set timeframes and provide ongoing excellence in its quality of delivery,” said Godfrey.

Source: http://www.itwire.com/

E-Business Survey -- Special Report: Winning Ways

Far Eastern Economic Review

THE REVIEW'S E-BUSINESS survey shows that small and medium-sized enterprises tend to invest much less in doing business on-line than their larger competitors. Maybe one reason they aren't spending so much is that they can rely on on-line B2B market places. True, it means they surrender some control, but they can cut costs to a minimum and expose their products to large numbers of buyers all over the world.

That's certainly the need addressed by Hong Kong-based Alibaba.com, which, by a narrow margin, was voted the most popular B2B Web site by readers of the REVIEW's e-mail newsletter.

Alibaba.com's founder, Jack Ma, has always stressed that his target customers are small businesses -- in his own words, "shrimps" and not "whales." On a typical day, the on-line community trading on the Alibaba.com Web site will contain around 50,000 buyers and 120,000 sellers from more than 200 countries.

But it seems that, in absolute terms, the companies that provide B2B exchange software and services are still at the shrimp stage of development.

More than 70% of the 4,846 people who responded to the REVIEW's e-business survey said they simply didn't have a favourite B2B site in their industry. Of the 20 prominent sites we suggested, most ended up with fewer votes than they have employees. Alibaba.com got the most votes -- a little over 4% of the total. Four other companies, two of them based in Asia and two in the United States (ariba.com, asia2b.com, commerceone.com and globalsources.com) got around 3% each.

The lack of dominant players isn't surprising, says James Wang, an Internet analyst with Merrill Lynch Taiwan. It's a sign of an immature market. "You're seeing that some companies like Ariba and Commerce One are gaining some traction over local sites. Within three to five years we'll start to see the winners," he says.

Support from only 3%-4% of a market may seem like a tenuous toehold, but business-to-business transactions over the Internet are potentially a very big pie. The total value of global commerce is predicted to exceed $50 trillion by 2005, with as much as 10% of that being conducted on-line, according to various analysts. Operators of B2B platforms don't necessarily need to expand their market share beyond a few percent, but with competing market places a mere mouse click away, they do need to work hard to hold on to the customers they have.

Companies coming into the market late with a "me too" approach are unlikely to succeed, says Wang. "There are a lot of local and regional players who are trying to reinvent the wheel." And B2B service providers who fail to look for customers across national or regional boundaries may be trying to build a niche where none exists: "The market's global," he says.

Alibaba.com is a good example of this. The company has its roots in China, home of founder Jack Ma, and more than half of the exchange's participants are based in China.

However, the rest come from all over the world, with a notable proportion from developing markets and poor countries that normally don't figure very prominently in e-business statistics. During the past few months, Alibaba has hosted an Albanian buyer of motorbikes, an Algerian company in search of computer-memory modules, as well as sellers of silk in Cambodia and cashew nuts in Burkina Faso.

source: http://news.alibaba.com/

Alibaba.com and Koelnmesse Form Strategic Alliance in Asia

Hong Kong, July 20, 2007 - Alibaba.com, the most-visited B2B marketplace on the Internet in terms of user traffic, and Koelnmesse, one of the world's largest trade fair organizers, today formed a strategic alliance covering joint marketing activities for trade fairs in Asia.

Alibaba.com and Koelnmesse will initially collaborate to promote the China International Hardware Show, the world's second largest hardware show, and leading food fairs including Sweets China, International Sweet&SnackTec China 2007, World of Food China and International FoodTec China. The two companies intend to explore a similar partnership arrangement for trade fairs in Europe.

"This alliance is a win-win for both parties," said Mr. Michael Dreyer, Vice President Asia Pacific, Koelnmesse. "We are confident that Alibaba.com's Trade Show Partnership program will help us effectively promote our events to the online community and bring in more participants. Alibaba.com will benefit by promoting their online service to buyers and sellers who participate in our events."

David Wei, President of Alibaba.com, said, "We are delighted that Koelnmesse, one of the world's premier trade show organizers, has joined our Trade Show Partnership program. Our strength in Asia and Koelnmesse's well-established base in Europe complement each other well. By working together, we can become an even more powerful facilitator of world trade for buyers and sellers everywhere."

Alibaba.com's Trade Show Partnership program is bringing together the combined forces of leading trade fair and exhibition companies and one of the world's largest online B2B marketplaces. This partnership is aimed at increasing attendance at Koelnmesse trade shows, promoting Alibaba.com to Koelnmesse's international and German domestic customers and giving exhibitors and buyers the benefit of the best sourcing opportunities online and offline.

In 2006, Koelnmesse held its three food fairs in Shanghai concurrently for the first time, creating immense synergy for different sectors of the food production chain. The fairs received almost 30,000 trade visitors and featured around 500 exhibitors.

Around the world, Koelnmesse organized 74 trade fairs and exhibitions last year in over 25 trade sectors, including major trade fairs such as International Hardware Fair/PRACTICAL WORLD, Asia-Pacific Sourcing, spoga + gafa, Anuga and ISM. Its main exhibition ground in Cologne, Germany attracts around two million buyers from more than 200 countries every year. For more information on Koelnmesse trade fairs and events abroad, please visit www.koelnmesse.com.

Source: http://news.alibaba.com/

Chinese E-Commerce Sites Allow Small Firms to Reach Wider Base

The Wall Street Journal, February 25, 2004

BEIJING -- When Li Bo began producing memento buttons in 1998, he reckoned his three-man operation would sell mostly to tourist-site operators nearby.

Then he registered his company with Alibaba.com, a Chinese Internet company that specializes in introducing manufacturers and buyers across China and around the world. A Chinese trading company more than 1,240 miles from Mr. Li's base in Shenyang saw the listing and ordered 200,000 political-campaign buttons for a buyer in France. Last year, Mr. Li's company generated the equivalent of $845,700 in revenue, and garnered half its orders from people who learned about the company through Alibaba.com's Web site.

Electronic commerce is changing the way companies all over the world do business, making it easier for them to buy and sell to each other and to connect with customers. But in China, e-commerce is having an especially big impact in helping small private businesses sell nationally and even internationally.

Hampered by poor roads, a creaky transportation network and fractured local markets, small companies have a hard enough time doing deals in other provinces within China; traditionally, it would have been near-impossible for them to identify potential partners abroad. By acting as global trade fairs, Chinese e-commerce sites are allowing many smaller companies to reach a far wider market and to compete directly with larger competitors.

Ant farmer Lu Dengai estimates that her sales of ant nests and eggs jumped one-third to about 80 two months after she followed her son's recommendation and registered the Guangxi province farm on Alibaba.com in November.

Fu Xiaohui, a researcher for the Ministry of Information Industry, estimates the value of online business-to-business deals in China hit 275.6 billion yuan ($33.30 billion) in 2003, with most of these deals initiated online but with payments made offline. By comparison, the official Xinhua news agency put the total amount of such transactions in 2000 at 76.77 billion yuan.

"China has at least one million companies who want to sell products abroad, but they don't know how," says Jack Ma, founder and chief executive of Alibaba.com, widely perceived as China's biggest e-commerce site. The Hangzhou-based company operates two Web sites that serve as a sort of online Yellow Pages for companies looking to buy and sell goods. For an annual fee, users can post information on their companies on the sites and access information about other users.

Alibaba.com commissions basic background checks on its registered users. It also allows users to post references, such as their bank, on the site, enabling businesses to check up on potential partners themselves -- crucial services in a country that has no national credit-rating system.

Source: http://news.alibaba.com/

Taobao.com Launches B2C Services

With market share of more than 67 percent of China's online shoppers, Taobao.com opens doors to large manufacturers and retailers

HANGZHOU, China, 10 May 2006-Alibaba Group announced today the launch of business-to-consumer (B2C) services on its Taobao.com online consumer marketplace. Already China's largest online consumer-to-consumer (C2C) marketplace, Taobao.com is expanding its e-commerce model to include products and services provided by major manufacturers and retailers.

"While American B2C models have failed to succeed in China, Taobao's model will make B2C a reality in China," said Toto Sun, Taobao.com's General Manager. "Because we are simply connecting large sellers to consumers, rather than taking possession of the goods and serving as a middleman, we are offering a solution that will benefit both manufacturers and consumers in China."

Already, Taobao.com has signed up manufacturers and retailers including Motorola, Nokia, Haier, Aigo, Lining, Adidas, Giordano, and UT Starcom. In the coming months, Taobao will aggressively expand its B2C services to include additional leading manufacturers and brands.

"Taobao's growth has been based on four pillars - trust and safety, the AliPay payment system, search and an active marketplace," Sun said. "With Taobao's trusted e-commerce community now leading the market, the site is the ideal channel for manufacturers and retailers to reach millions of consumers and to expand as online shopping becomes a part of everyday life in China."

More than 10 million small- and medium-sized businesses use other Alibaba Group online marketplaces for B2B marketing and sales, and Taobao.com expects to see a large number of Alibaba.com members joining its new program along with leading international companies.

Taobao.com's announcement comes after the China Internet Network Information Center announced this week the results of a new e-commerce study, which found Taobao holding 67.3 percent market share in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, versus eBay China's 29.1 percent. The recent data indicate significant market share growth from the fourth quarter of 2005, when Taobao.com was found to hold 57.7 percent market share by independent research firm Analysys International. Another recent study, by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, found Taobao.com to be the clear market leader in China, with 72.2 percent market share.

Koubei.com was founded in Hangzhou in June 2004 and is one of China's largest online classified listing companies. It offers local classifieds and discussion forums for multiple cities in China allowing people to find and share information on apartment rentals, restaurants, entertainment, employment, goods and services, and just about anything else. Koubei.com has over two million registered users.

Taobao.com now has more than 26 million product listings, nearly 20 million registered users, and over 100 million page views per day. In 2005, Taobao's transaction volume, or Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV), reached US$1billion, up 700 percent from 2004. AliPay, China's leading online payment solution, recently reached 150,000 transactions per day.

Source: http://news.alibaba.com/

Alibaba.com Board of Directors Elects New Member; Increases Significantly Percentage of Independent Directors

HONG KONG, December 19,2008 – The Board of Directors of Alibaba.com (HKSE: 1688; 1688.HK), the world's leading business-to-business e-commerce company, today elected a veteran businessman with e-commerce experience as a new independent, non-executive director. The board also re-designated an existing non-executive director, also an experienced e-commerce executive, as an independent director. As a result, the board announced, more than one-third of Alibaba.com directors will now be independent non-executive directors.

The Board elected Savio Kwan as an independent, non-executive director, as well as member of the company's audit and nomination committees, effective immediately. The Board also voted, upon the recommendation of the nomination committee, to re-designate Andrew Tsuei, an existing non-executive director, as an independent non-executive director, also effective immediately. Tsuei will keep his present investment management committee assignments.

"With today's decisions, the Board has not only enhanced the governance of Alibaba.com with additional independent oversight, but we have also satisfied a commitment made earlier to recruit independent directors with e-commerce experience," said Jack Ma, chairman and non-executive director of Alibaba.com and chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group, holding company for Alibaba.com. "We are fortunate to have directors of the caliber of Savio Kwan and Andrew Tsuei to inform our strategies and to represent shareholder interests."

Kwan is currently a partner and chief executive officer of A&K Consulting Co., Limited, a company co-founded by him in 2005 focusing on helping small and medium enterprises and start-ups in China. He served as president and chief operating officer of Alibaba Group, now the holding company of Alibaba.com, from 2001 to 2003, and chief people officer in 2004, He has more than 30 years of global management experience, including 17 years at the Medical Systems Division of General Electric Company, during which he was responsible for sales, marketing, operations, business development and establishment of joint venture companies in Asia region. He also served as the managing director of the China operations of BTR plc, a United Kingdom- based Fortune 500 company, for four years.

Kwan was a board member of the Asia Pacific advisory board of York International Corporation, a leading global air conditioning system provider and a unit of Johnson Controls, Inc., a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. He is also a visiting executive professor of Henley Management College in the United Kingdom. Kwan received a Higher National Diploma from Cambridgeshire College of Technology in the United Kingdom and holds Master's degrees in Science from the Loughborough University of Technology and London Graduate School of Business Studies in the United Kingdom.

He will serve until Alibaba's next general meeting of shareholders, and will then stand for election by the shareholders at that time.

Tsuei was appointed as a non-executive director of the Company on October 12, 2007. He was formerly senior vice-president of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. From 2001 to 2007, he was managing director of Wal-Mart's Global Procurement Division, where he oversaw the global procurement operations of Wal-Mart, which has a presence in over 30 countries. Tsuei is also an independent non-executive director of Tao Bao Holding Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alibaba Group.

Kwan will assume memberships on the Company's audit committee and nomination committee, replacing Long Yong Tu, who will remain on the Company's Board as an independent non-executive director. In addition, the Board announced that, with effect from today, Simon Xie, a founder of Alibaba Group, will resign as an executive director of Alibaba.com as he takes on other responsibilities within Alibaba Group.

"We thank Mr. Long for his contribution to the audit committee and nomination committee and look forward to continuing to receive his guidance on key business issues, particularly in the areas of international trade and globalization. We'd also like to thank Simon for his tireless dedication to the Company for the past 10 years," Ma said.

Effective immediately, the Board will now consist of 13 members, including five independent non-executive directors, up from three previously.
About Alibaba.com Limited

Alibaba.com Limited (HKSE:1688)(HK.1688) is the world's leading B2B e-commerce company. It connects millions of buyers and suppliers from around the world every day through three marketplaces: an English-language marketplace (alibaba.com) for global importers and exporters, a Chinese-language marketplace (alibaba.com.cn) for domestic trade in China, and, through a joint venture, a Japanese-language marketplace (alibaba.co.jp) facilitating trade to and from Japan. Together, its marketplaces form a community of 36 million registered users from over 240 countries and regions. Headquartered in Hangzhou, Alibaba.com has offices in more than 30 cities across mainland China as well as in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Europe and the United States.

Source: http://news.alibaba.com/

Alibaba Group Launches Online Advertising Exchange Company Alimama

Hangzhou, China, Nov 20, 2007 - Alibaba Group, a global e-commerce leader and the largest e-commerce company in China, today announced the official launch of Alimama (www.alimama.com), an online advertising exchange which allows web publishers and advertisers to trade online advertising inventory. A wholly owned subsidiary of Alibaba Group, Alimama has emerged from its 100-day beta period as China's largest online advertising exchange platform and well positioned to help small- and medium- sized web publishers monetize the estimated 80% of web site traffic which goes unmonetized in China.

Since launching the beta version of the marketplace on August 10, Alimama has already signed up more than 150,000 small- and medium- sized web publishers and 135,000 personal blogs, covering more than 1 billion page views per day. The exchange has over one million registered users with an inventory of more than 380,000 advertisement positions available for purchase, with transactions for more than 20,000 advertisement positions occurring each day. Alimama continues to grow at a rapid rate, adding 4,000 small and medium sized websites and 10,000 personal blogs each day.

Alimama is the newest innovation to come to market from the Alibaba Group, applying the Group's expertise in operating online marketplaces to the trading of internet advertising inventory. Building on Alibaba Group's strong track record in pioneering e-commerce communities among China's highly fragmented small- and medium- sized businesses, Alimama's growth is expected to encourage the growth of the Alibaba Group's member companies which operate in distinct, but complementary areas of e-commerce.

Alimama's unique business model is designed to meet the needs of China's fragmented market for online advertising, providing a system that is transparent to both web publishers and advertisers. To use the service, publishers register on Alimama.com to provide a description of the advertising inventory for sale, as well as the pricing models based on which the inventory can be sold, such as pricing based on impressions served, clicks or other actions by Internet users. Advertisers review the information posted by publishers, along with independent website traffic data. Once they've decided to buy the inventory, they simply click "Purchase" and follow the steps to upload their ad. Current advertisers include large companies such as Bank of China and small advertisers, such as restaurants and shops.

"No longer will 80% of China's website traffic go unmonetized," said Jin Jianhang, an Alibaba Group spokesperson. "The launch of Alimama makes web publishing commercially viable for China's more than one million small- and medium-sized web sites. At the same time, advertisers now have an affordable way to reach targeted audience groups on the growing number of specialized websites and blogs in China."

Source: http://news.alibaba.com/

GXS Managed Services Customer, CNH Global, Named to Managing Automation's Progressive Manufacturers 100 Listing

Company Honored For its Global Deployment of GXS Managed Services

GAITHERSBURG, Md., April 15 /PRNewswire/ -- GXS, a leading provider of business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce solutions, today announced that its customer, CNH (Case New Holland), a world leader in the agricultural and construction equipment businesses, has been named to Managing Automation's Progressive Manufacturers 100. CNH was honored by the publication for its global B2B e-commerce deployment via GXS Managed Services which began in 2007. GXS Managed Services is the company's comprehensive B2B outsourcing portfolio that provides companies with the people, processes and technologies necessary to maintain complex and geographically-dispersed B2B e-commerce programs.

CNH is a majority-owned subsidiary of Fiat S.p.A. and has more than 28,000 employees around the world and more than $16 billion in annual revenue. The company has a very complex B2B network which includes 10,000 parts suppliers in 40 countries and more than 300 transportation carriers. Its suppliers supply anywhere from one to 25 CNH plants and vary widely in their technology use and maturity. CNH has utilized GXS' EDI services for suppliers and carriers for more than 14 years in North America and more recently in Europe and Latin America. However, CNH's recent purchase of a new Transportation Management System increased its electronic transaction volume ten-fold, making it cost-prohibitive to manage its B2B network in-house. CNH needed an outsourced solution to manage the increased volume in transactions and standards translation as well as a vendor with expertise to handle transportation management transactions such as tenders, tender responses and shipment status reports. CNH also wanted to improve shipment visibility and the parts receiving process on their docks, requiring all CNH suppliers to provide Advance Shipment Notification (ASN) documents.

"Receiving this award from Managing Automation is an honor as well as a reflection of the work and dedication put into this project from both CNH and GXS," said Sundar Nagarajan, manager of e-commerce at CNH. "With GXS Managed Services, our global B2B network is now managed smoothly and efficiently, with minimal resources required to support new projects or trading partners. Furthermore, GXS was able to support the integration with our new TMS system, ensuring our B2B process is automated end-to-end."

As part of its deployment of GXS Managed Services, CNH has substantially increased its B2B automation on a global scale. The company has added nearly all its trading partners in Europe and Latin America to which they were having difficulty connecting prior to migrating them to GXS. In fact, 95 percent of CNH's suppliers have migrated from the software solution previously utilized by CNH to GXS. Specialized portals were created for the unique needs of the transportation provider and direct materials supplier communities. The portals are available in eight different languages, reflecting the diversity of CNH's supplier base.

"CNH's approach to supply chain integration is a case study in best practices for multi-national manufacturing companies," said Ryan Kraudel, director of GXS Managed Services product management. "The desire to build demand-driven supply networks is driving many large organizations to seek better integration between their ERP systems and their trading partner networks and transactions. In addition, leading companies such as CNH are automating supply chain transactions not just in Europe and North America, but in emerging markets such as Asia and Latin America as well. CNH's recognition in Managing Automation's Progressive Manufacturers 100 is a testament to the value of this initiative."

GXS Managed Services is a comprehensive B2B outsourcing portfolio that provides companies with the people, processes and technologies necessary to maintain complex B2B e-commerce programs. With B2B outsourcing from GXS, companies can build and grow B2B networks without making additional investments in hardware, software or human resources. GXS provides customers with world-class B2B program management including trading community management, global supply chain visibility, transaction management, data translation, systems administration and supplier performance reporting. GXS Managed Services customers represent a variety of industries including consumer products, financial services, high tech, manufacturing and retail. More than 200 companies currently use GXS Managed Services around the world, including BB&T, Henkel, Miller Brewing Company, Shinhan Bank, Sun Microsystems and WHSmith.

About CNH

CNH is a world leader in the agricultural and construction equipment businesses. Supported by more than 11,000 dealers in 160 countries, CNH brings together the knowledge and heritage of its Case and New Holland brand families with the strength and resources of its worldwide commercial, industrial, product support and finance organizations. CNH Global N.V., whose stock is listed at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CNH), is a majority-owned subsidiary of Fiat S.p.A. (FIA.MI). More information about CNH and its Case and New Holland products can be found online at www.cnh.com.

About GXS

GXS is a leading global provider of B2B e-commerce solutions that simplify and enhance business process integration and collaboration among trading partners. Organizations worldwide, including more than 70 percent of the Fortune 500, leverage the on-demand services on GXS Trading Grid(R) to extend supply chain networks, optimize product launches, automate warehouse receiving, manage electronic payments and gain supply chain visibility. GXS Managed Services, GXS' B2B outsourcing solution, empowers customers with the expertise, technical infrastructure and program support to conduct B2B e-commerce with trading partners globally.

Based in Gaithersburg, Md., GXS has an extensive global network and has local offices in the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific regions. GXS can be found on the Web at www.gxs.com, http://blogs.gxs.com/ and http://twitter.com/gxs.

All products and services mentioned are trademarks of their respective companies.

Source: http://news.prnewswire.com/

Modern B2B Marketing Leader Marketo Announces Record Number of New Customers

San Mateo, CA (PRWEB) April 15, 2009 -- http://www.marketo.com - Marketo, the leading provider of modern B2B marketing software and best practices, today announced a record number of new customers in the month of March. In addition to 22 new customers, Marketo reported an emerging trend of repeat business from revenue leaders who changed their employer but not their lead management solution. The movement includes Sales leaders who are vocal in their need to collaborate with their Marketing peers across the entire revenue cycle.

"This is my second time around with Marketo and salesforce.com," said Roque Versace, Vice President of Sales at Mashery, a leading provider of API management services enabling companies to easily leverage web services as a distribution channel. Versace previously used Marketo Lead Management at EchoSign. "With Marketo, I can trust marketing to nurture and recycle leads that are not ready for my sales team to pursue. I also like Marketo's tight integration to Salesforce.com and have grown to depend on the insights Marketo delivers with qualified leads. Marketo helps drive more meaningful conversations, shorter sales cycles, and higher win rates."

"I was sold on the value of Marketo before I joined Ketera," said Sam Rapp, Vice President of Sales at Ketera, a leading provider of on demand enterprise spend management. Rapp was first introduced to Marketo Lead Management when he was head of sales at DreamFactory. "The Marketo team 'gets it' when it comes to campaign management across today's eclectic social media channels. Marketo captures the nuance of every interaction and does a brilliant job of nurturing leads until they are ready for sales engagement. With Marketo, the virtual barrier between Marketing and Sales disappears -- the focus is on revenue, and results are a team effort."

In addition to Mashery and Ketera, notable customer wins in March include SHARP Electronics Corporation, a world-leading provider of crystalline solar PV for residential, commercial, industrial, off-grid and satellite applications; TeleNav, a global leader in location-based applications delivered via a mobile device; Qualifacts, a leading provider of enterprise Software as a Service for human service and behavioral health providers; HubCast, a worldwide digital print delivery network; Coveo, a leading provider of Information Access and Enterprise Search solutions; Insight Direct, the provider of ServiceCEO, a leading business management software solution for the field service industry; and Tideway, a pioneer in data center search software.

"We enter our second year with tremendous velocity," said Phil Fernandez, President and CEO at Marketo. "While I am pleased with the record number of customers we signed up in March, I am equally flattered by this new trend of Marketo champions who change companies but not their use of Marketo. Marketo has quickly become both a resume builder for our power users and a business imperative for companies of all sizes."

On average, companies who use Marketo report a full return on investment in only three months. Savvy users like Acteva, an online event service provider for event organizers, continue to find innovative ways to provide value to their clients.

"Our entire marketing department is hooked on Marketo," said Ed Lemire, Executive Vice President at Acteva. "We can build campaigns 4-5 times faster than before, and we've saved at least $400,000 a year by reducing our creative cycle times. Marketo's power, usability and agility helped us to quickly launch the Acteva Referral Program. Overall, Marketo has helped deliver $2 million in incremental gross revenue and partner satisfaction that is priceless."

About Marketo:
Marketo provides B2B marketing automation software that translates marketing spending into revenue. Our award-winning lead management software features email marketing, lead nurturing, lead scoring, and closed-loop reporting capabilities to help marketing and sales teams work together to generate and qualify sales leads, shorten sales cycles, and demonstrate marketing accountability.

Driven by a relentless focus on customer success and touting the most innovative user experience in business software today, Marketo is emerging as the fastest-growing lead management vendor in the world. Marketo's on-demand marketing products are easy to buy because they don't require complex implementation or upfront fees, easy to own because they don't require IT support, and easy to use without specialized technical skills or significant training. Pricing starts as low as $1,500 a month, and qualified customers who commit to running a production campaign can get started with a free trial that includes set-up, training, and integration. www.marketo.com

Source: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/04/prweb2323004.htm

With the help of Alibaba, we are growing rapidly

TNN Development Ltd, established in 1998, in Dalian, China, is a foreign trade group that exports chemical, pharmaceutical raw materials and food additive. In 2007,in order to answer the country’s call of generalizing the export of high value-added products, we add the export of machinery and equipment such as loaders, beverage production lines. And the annual sales are 20 million U.S. dollars. The company's advantages lie in the strict quality control of export products and the professional and timely export services.

Early in inception, the company has got to the e-commerce platform. But as the result of incomprehension of network’s risk, our loss was not only money but also goods. Therefore we had doubt on the e-commerce. During the period of SARS in 2003, the circumstances at that time restricted the trip. We began to contact ALIBABA, and founded that it is indeed a good platform to sell products. Therefore, after careful inspection, we joined ALIBABA with a hesitation in 2004，and then promised that if our accounts couldn’t balance for the cost of ALIBABA one year, we will not trust any e-commerce.

There was a wide range of valuable inquiries and mails after joining. And we signed an order with the war-town Iraq in 2 months. Though we were not sure whether it’s real and can be really realized, because according to the traditional way of trade, it is not possible. But all my concerns were dispelled by the successful implementation of the contract. Only this order has recovered the cost of ALIBABA one year.

Through the network, the customers are in a wide range: from the powerful traditional trade countries, such as Western Europe, the United States, Japan, and South America; and also from underdeveloped areas, such as Southeast Asia, Africa, Russia; even the small country which can not be found in map, such as Macedonia. And the types of procurement people and agencies are diverse. There are purchasing managers of large companies, foreign commission agents, and even small shops and individuals. Those required us as foreign trade personnel to judge and select by professional e-mail. Additionally we should not be subjective and judge people with their appearance. Two years after joining the ALIBABA, a Korean with an unattractive appearance and a disabled leg, surprisingly appeared at the door of our company. However, at that time we still gave him a formal business reception, and sent him several samples. But actually, we did not put it in our hearts and minds. It’s even more than a surprise that, after a few months, we received the order of the client agent, which is the famous enterprise — Bayer Corporation.

With the help of ALIBABA, the company is correspondingly growing. At present, the staffs are accustomed to dealing with the customer inquiries from ALIBABA. If there is fewer customer inquiries from ALIBABA, the operational staff will not be satisfied, because they has been considered ALIBABA as a never-ending exhibitions.

Source: http://news.alibaba.com/