Alibaba Group has opened a new office in Melbourne, with a remit to oversee sourcing and operations in both Australia and New Zealand.

The new office is Alibaba's first expansion into the region, with personnel positioned to source and promote products, which are becoming increasing popular with consumers in China and South East Asia, from both countries. Alibaba will also use the new office to better facilitate the supply of goods to markets in Asia in which it operates, having also signed a memorandum of understanding with Australia Post to improve logistics between Australia and China. It is also understood that the relationship will be used to develop an Australian shop on the Lazada marketplace in South East Asia, of which Alibaba are the majority shareholder.Cross border ecommerce a priority for Alibaba

Alibaba's new office in Melbourne is similar to other offices they have opened around the world in order to facilitate better sourcing of products that Chinese consumers are increasingly demanding. For example, Alibaba's office in London is used for the same purpose, attracting both suppliers and retailers to use its services to sell products into Asia via its platforms.

In the last few years, both Woolworths, Metcash and Costco, alongside numerous other retailers, have all started selling products on Alibaba's Tmall platform in China, with cross border ecommerce set to grow further in the future. Something that Alibaba CEO, Jack Ma, who was present in Melbourne, is keen to promote.

| A SupplyChain release  |  February 7, 2017  ||