Alibaba.com has upgraded its Trade Assurance program to give businesses peace of mind when buying from overseas suppliers.
The company said new free service make buyers entitled for a full refund of their deposits or order amounts when supplier fail to meet the shipping times or product quality specified in contracts.
With the upgrade, buyer will receive full refunds in relevant transactions if they spot quality problems after receiving orders.
Alibaba.com suppliers who qualify for the Trade Assurance program can display a Trade Assurance icon on their Alibaba.com virtual storefronts.
Company officials said Trade Assurance is available to all of Alibaba.com’s millions of global buyers trading with Chinese suppliers while non-Chinese suppliers will have to wait till next month.
Every qualified supplier is assigned a Trade Assurance Amount, which will be used to cover the buyer’s loss in the event of the supplier’s breach of the purchase contract.
Alibaba.com will make payments to buyers through telegraphic transfer (T/T).
“By providing maximum trade protection, Alibaba.com aims to make cross-border trading easier, therefore empowering small-and medium-sized businesses to engage in global trading,” said Wu Min Zhi, senior vice president, Alibaba Group.
Last month, Aliyun, Alibaba Group’s cloud computing arm launched Marketplace Alliance Program (MAP) to provide enterprises with access to Aliyun’s full suite of cloud computing services and international partners.
Also, ICICI Bank partnered with Alibaba.com, a platform for global wholesale trade, to launch a trade facilitation centre, a single window facility to provide easier trade finance to the small and medium enterprises in India.
Shilpa Khatri
