Alibaba offers new assurance on supplier reliability

Hangzhou, China - Alibaba.com is moving to put concerns about the reliability of its suppliers to rest. The global e-commerce platform is upgrading its trade assurance program to give small-to-mid-sized businesses peace of mind when buying from overseas suppliers.



With the upgrade, buyers who make purchases from qualified Alibaba.com suppliers will be entitled to up to a full refund of their deposits or order amounts should suppliers fail to meet the shipping times or product quality specified in contracts. Coverage has been extended to post delivery, meaning buyers are now entitled to full refunds in relevant transactions if they spot quality problems after receiving orders.



To help make it easier for small businesses to identify reliable trading partners, Alibaba.com suppliers who qualify for the Trade Assurance program can display a Trade Assurance icon on their Alibaba.com virtual storefronts.



Storefronts will also display the total number of relevant transactions and total value of relevant deals completed in the previous 12 months. In addition, Alibaba.com will show how often and how quickly qualified suppliers responded to their own customers.



Trade Assurance is immediately available to all of Alibaba.com’s global buyers trading with Chinese suppliers, and it will be available for non-Chinese suppliers to participate in the coming months. Participation in the Trade Assurance program is voluntary for suppliers.



Alibaba.com uses data analytics to assess suppliers’ past performance and trading histories during six-month periods to determine who can join. 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.



The new Trade Assurance program covers payments made by telegraphic transfer and will be extended to other payment methods in the future.