Alibaba.com Holds Private Sourcing Event For Australian Retailer

Online trading platform Alibaba.com says it recently organized a private sourcing event for international retailer Woolworths Limited.

"The Woolworths China Sourcing Event was a great success," said Ian McDonald, general manager of Global Sourcing, Woolworths Limited in Australia and New Zealand. "It allowed the Woolworths sourcing team to meet many quality new suppliers. Alibaba was very professional in its preparation and management of the day, leveraging its extensive knowledge of quality suppliers to target the right companies to meet our long-term sourcing needs."

Themed "Partnership and Prosperity with Woolworths Limited", the Woolworths China Sourcing Event was attended by over 100 suppliers from a wide range of industries, including fashion and apparel, footwear, toys, sports, plastic products, gardening, DIY, electrical appliances, electronics, gifts and homeware, stationery, holiday products and supermarket supplies.

Staged at the Landmark Hotel in Shenzhen, the Woolworths China Sourcing Event introduced the Australian retail giant to many new potential suppliers and provided an additional marketing channel for Alibaba.com's Gold Supplier members, premium export-oriented suppliers from China and Hong Kong. Participating suppliers met with 13 buying representatives from Woolworths to discuss business opportunities in nine major product categories.

The event was an initiative of Alibaba.com's Big Buyer Service team which caters specifically to big corporations with large scale procurement needs such as P&G, Home Depot and Woolworths. Alibaba.com provides big buyers with a wide range of services and user-friendly tools from supplier matching to direct sourcing, training in online sourcing and customized private sourcing events.

"We are pleased to help connect quality suppliers with a well known international retailer like Woolworths," said Kenneth Liu, Vice President of Global Operations, Alibaba.com. "Alibaba.com operates an online marketplace but we also understand the need for face-to-face interaction among trading partners. Private sourcing events are one way to facilitate this. We also attend trade shows, run training seminars and hold networking events which bring together our members around the world."

Woolworths Limited is the largest retailer in Australia, serving customers across the nation for over 80 years. Woolworths is one of Australia's top companies by market capitalization, with sales reaching A$42.5 billion in the 2006/2007 financial year. The company's major businesses include supermarkets, general merchandise stores and hotels as well as electronic and electrical appliance specialty stores.