Alibaba Partners Austrade To Promote Small Businesses

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) owned Alibaba (Australia) Company Pty. Ltd. has signed a strategic agreement with the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (“Austrade”). The agreement is aimed at increasing trade opportunities for Australian food producers and merchants engaged in other businesses. It will help them to reach out to global consumers through Alibaba, the e-commerce juggernaut.

Opportunities Galore

With the help of large e-commerce platforms such as Tmall.com and Tmall Global, Australian business owners will now be able to sell fresh foods over the Internet.

With over 434 million registered users, Alibaba processes 12.7 billion orders every year. Collectively, over 1300 Australian brands do business on the two platforms. Of these, 80% didn’t have access to Chinese markets before. A week long promotion called the “Australian Fresh Food Week” has also been planned to promote fresh Australian produce of high quality.

According to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Alibaba is “a liberating force for small business” as it lets small business owners to reach out to the biggest part of the world, access to which was so far available to big corporations with adequate resources. In a way, the agreement will level the playing field between the big companies and their smaller counterparts.

Similar Deals in the Past

We note that Alibaba had extended similar promotional offers in the past. Notably, in 2015, 50,000 New Zealand oysters exchanged hands over the online platform. Moreover, during the “Global Shopping Festival” held last year, Chemist Warehouse registered $2 million in sales in one single day.

What’s Next?

By the end of 2016, Alibaba intends to set up office in Melbourne in a bid to facilitate local operations in New Zealand and Australia.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

At present, Alibaba carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader technology space are Autobytel Inc. (NASDAQ:ABTL) , Stamps.com Inc. (NASDAQ:STMP) and PetMed Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:PETS) , each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

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