Marketplace Leaders:
Patrick Kuehl, Alibaba.com

Patrick Kuehl

Alibaba.com, Strategic Business Development & Partner Manager

Alibaba.com has transitioned from a conventional sourcing platform to a leading global online marketplace. Since its inception, Alibaba.com has focused on supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) worldwide by providing a comprehensive B2B online platform that simplifies the entire sourcing and procurement process. With an extensive range of over 400,000 products in the renewable energy sector, as well as numerous other categories including beauty and personal care, Alibaba.com enables millions of buyers and sellers from more than 200 countries to  interact directly, making trade more efficient and accessible.

Patrick Kuehl, born to a Chinese mother and a German father, grew up with both cultures. Based in Munich, he supports companies of all sizes to participate in global trade through the Alibaba.com ecosystem. His responsibilities include localizing of products and features, and building the Alibaba.com organization in Germany. Prior to this role, he was part of BMW’s digital strategy team in Munich, with deployments in Silicon Valley and Beijing.

Alibaba.com started as a sourcing platform and has now grown into a global online marketplace. Can you briefly outline the main business sectors and markets?

Alibaba.com aims to connect businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), globally through its B2B online platform. Alibaba.com supports SMEs in finding the right products on a global marketplace and organizing their procurement intelligently and efficiently—all from a single source.

Overall, sellers on Alibaba.com have access to an impressive variety of products from different areas. A significant business sector, for example, is sustainability. Sustainability is becoming increasingly important for buyers, and Alibaba.com offers a portfolio with over 400,000 products and solutions for renewable energy from more than 3,000 retailers worldwide. In Germany, for example, the demand for products such as balcony power plants and energy storage systems is continuously rising. But “Beauty and Personal Care” is also a major category on Alibaba.com, to name just one of many other business areas.

Furthermore, Alibaba.com collaborates with companies of all sizes from around the world and has more than 40 million active buyers from over 200 countries and regions. Direct communication between buyers and sellers—thanks to automatic translation in more than 18 languages—replaces middlemen and keeps prices low.

How has the marketplace business in Germany developed in recent years? Which buyers and sellers are active on Alibaba.com in Germany?

The marketplace business in Germany is growing strongly. We observed this, for example, at our March Expo this year. Compared to our last sales event of this kind, Super September last year, the number of active B2B buyers from Germany increased by 14 percent. This highlights the growing interest of German SMEs in making their procurement processes more efficient and cost-effective. The increasing digitization of procurement plays a crucial role here. According to the “Alibaba.com B2B Sentiment Survey,” a survey of 500 SMEs across Germany by Alibaba.com, 52 percent of SMEs now source their goods via online B2B marketplaces.

The past four years have been a rollercoaster ride for e-commerce – how have you experienced this at Alibaba.com, and where do you stand today?

We have experienced the instability and challenges in online retail first-hand, particularly in the area of supply chains. In our survey of German SME decision-makers at this year’s March Expo, almost half of the respondents named supply chain and procurement problems as well as the availability of stock as the biggest challenges for their company. According to a study by Accenture that analyzed OECD data, up to 30 percent of the total value creation in the Eurozone depends on functioning cross-border supply chains, whether for material procurement or as a production destination.

To address these challenges, many companies are rethinking their supply chains and trying to diversify them. B2B online marketplaces such as Alibaba.com are playing an increasingly important role here. The platform gives companies access to a broad selection of suppliers from different regions and industries. This allows them to quickly tap into alternative sources of supply and make their supply chains more robust. For some companies, this means focusing more on nearshoring—the relocation of supply chains closer to the home market. We support this with our robust European supplier network. Others might look for suppliers who are able to meet the challenges due to their size.

What challenges does the B2B business or cross-border trade entail?

One challenge for us as a digital B2B marketplace is the reluctance of many SMEs to fully embrace digitization. This hesitation is often due to various obstacles, such as lack of resources, insufficient expertise, or concerns about the security and reliability of digital platforms. In our Export Opportunity Report, for example, 71 percent of respondents said they are not convinced by their company’s digitization strategy. For micro-enterprises with up to ten employees, this figure is even 92 percent.

Nevertheless, there is a clear willingness and curiosity for digital transformation, as more than three-quarters of respondents (78 percent) want to learn more about this topic. In addition to the digital challenges, companies are confronted with further difficulties in cross-border trade.

Large companies with more than 500 employees cite a lack of intercultural competence and knowledge of the target market (30 percent), economic uncertainty (26 percent), and lack of demand (26 percent) as the biggest obstacles. Micro-enterprises with fewer than ten employees, on the other hand, struggle more with bureaucracy (57 percent) and language barriers (43 percent).

This is where we can help: Our German-speaking account managers customize the online store on the platform to the wishes and ideas of each individual provider. They provide practical introductions to B2B e-commerce via Alibaba.com, including marketing and advertising solutions, and accompany every step towards a successful presence on Alibaba.com.

Providers on Alibaba.com also have extensive access to metrics and analysis tools that provide valuable data on buying behavior and potential target groups. This is important for adapting and continuously improving products, services, and measures.

In addition, our account managers assist with the conception, planning, and analysis of advertising campaigns within the platform. We make it as easy as possible for SMEs to get started in global trade. Online marketplaces are a new channel for many manufacturers and retailers, especially in wholesale. We support this transformation with a local team and enable with digital tools many German SMEs to find new trading partners on Alibaba.com and to expand into additional markets.

What makes the Alibaba.com marketplace so successful in the B2B sector? What special solutions do you offer customers? What are arguments for sellers and buyers?

Alibaba.com enables small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to conduct their business on their own terms. The B2B buying and selling process can be complex and uncertain, particularly for SMEs, especially when crossing international borders. By digitizing the various stages of the customer journey, including inventory management and product presentation, SMEs can optimize their procurement process and focus on their goals.

Buyers use our platform to source goods and parts for manufacturing products, for resale in wholesale and retail, or for the operation of their business. On Alibaba.com, buyers can search for suppliers worldwide, communicate directly with them, obtain quotes, create product descriptions and contracts, organize inspections, coordinate customs clearance and shipping, and pay for and finance products—all on one platform with the help of our partners and employees in the ecosystem.

Sellers use our platform because of our unique value proposition: Firstly, the digital transformation of their business through an online store, marketing and CRM tools. Secondly, access to demand. And thirdly, access to a community and an ecosystem of services.

What trends are relevant to you? What significance does AI have for your product range or business model?

The integration of immersive technologies, which are already established in the B2C sector, such as avatars or virtual reality (VR) fitting rooms, is also becoming increasingly important in the B2B sector. We already offer options such as virtual factory tours or showrooms, chatbots for customer service, product presentations via live stream or hybrid trade fair appearances on our platform. The integration of artificial intelligence is also an important topic for us. We are investing heavily in AI innovations in order to offer our customers added value and strengthen trust in our business relationships. Technologies such as real-time translation, image search, smart assistant and trade assurance play a key role in this.

Another important trend in B2B e-commerce is personalization, which enables companies to tailor their offers and interactions to the specific needs and preferences of individual customers. Our Account Managers on Alibaba.com work closely with sellers to provide personalized advice and support to tailor the B2B e-commerce experience to individual needs. From practical introductions to B2B e-commerce to marketing and advertising solutions, our account managers guide sellers step-by-step to ensure a successful presence on the platform.

Additionally, Alibaba.com offers tailored solutions for B2B buyers to shop more efficiently and securely. This includes the new “Alibaba Guaranteed” service, which allows buyers to purchase a selection of products directly without negotiating with suppliers. The service guarantees fixed prices including shipping, guaranteed delivery on scheduled dates, and a comprehensive money-back guarantee for any order issues.

What are future growth areas for Alibaba.com? And which topics may play a less important role in the future?

We are continuously working on developing and optimizing our services to help small and medium-sized businesses realize their full potential and grow in their own way by simplifying transactions. By democratizing AI technology and investing in AI innovations, we address the practical challenges of global trade and increase our customers’ efficiency. Additionally, exclusive shopping events such as Super September and March Expo offer B2B buyers the opportunity to discover new trends and benefit from unique discounts.

We also see further growth potential in eliminating our retailers’ last concerns about quality and authenticity as well as delivery problems. With the “Alibaba Guaranteed” service mentioned earlier, we offer an optimized e-commerce approach where buyers can purchase products directly, without negotiations with the supplier. Every transaction is secured by Alibaba. This ensures fixed prices including shipping, guaranteed delivery on scheduled dates and a comprehensive money-back guarantee in the event of any order problems.

How do you see the market in two to three years and where does Alibaba.com stand in this market in the future?

We expect B2B marketplaces to gain even more momentum as they offer SMEs the opportunity to strengthen their supply chains and discover new and interesting products by connecting with a global ecosystem of suppliers. In addition, they will play a crucial role in driving growth: 23 percent of SMEs surveyed for Alibaba for its SME Export Barometer Report in Europe already stated that a major benefit of B2B online marketplaces is that they gain access to key market insights in a way that was not possible before.

As more and more companies join these platforms, the world of B2B trade will become increasingly dynamic, with companies focusing on discovering new opportunities and streamlining their procurement processes to maximize efficiency.

eStrategy Consulting helps clients to use digital innovations to further develop existing business models and to create new business opportunities. We support the retail industry in its further development towards omnichannel and connected commerce and count manufacturers, classic big box retailers, the retail real estate industry or digital marketplaces and platforms among our clients.

eStrategy Consulting covers the entire lifecycle of digital innovation, from analysis to ideation, solution development and market launch. We work as strategy and concept developers as well as seamlessly integrated and pragmatic implementation managers. To do this, we rely on a mix of methods from the world of digital business and classic management consulting. The focus is both on our client’s applying customers as well as his organization and skills necessary to operate.