Michael Lee, head of Alibaba’s international marketing and business development, speaks before an audience in Chile. (Photo : www.emol.com)
Global e-commerce giant Alibaba has expressed plans to further increase its presence in Latin America, as Michael Lee, head of Alibaba’s international marketing and business development, said during a conference held in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, Sept. 1, organized by the Latin American Institute for Electronic Commerce and Argentina Chamber for Electronic Commerce.
Lee said that Alibaba will focus its expansion primarily on Argentina and Brazil, where the company has been experiencing impressive growth.
"South and Central America account for 6 percent of our total revenue but this has grown a lot, especially in Brazil and Argentina," Lee said.
The Xinhua News Agency reported that Alibaba had recently launched Spanish and Portuguese versions of its site to better cater to the needs of its customers and to capitalize on its growth in the region.
According to the report, Ali Express, one of Alibaba's online platforms, has also shown strong presence in Brazil, Chile and Mexico. In July, the platform led the ranking of international e-commerce sites in terms of visits from Brazil.
Lee said that the platform has become an important e-commerce link between China and Latin America and has the experience to adapt its offering to the local market.
"Alibaba is a global company headquartered in China. We carry over 100,000 suppliers and manufacturers and see transactions in the billions of U.S. dollars a day. We are building up trust . . . e-commerce creates unlimited opportunities for all," Lee noted.
Now, Alibaba is one of the undisputed leaders of international e-commerce with 40 million registered users in more than 190 countries. In Sept. 2014, Alibaba.com made history when it listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the largest global IPO of all time amounting to $25 billion.
