Alibaba Debuts Partnership Program Dubbed A100

Alibaba Group announced over the weekend the launch of A100, a partnership program that offers a one-stop service to speed up companies’ digital transformations.

In a press release, the Chinese eCommerce giant said members of A100 will gain access to Alibaba businesses across multiple functions’ platforms to jointly create digital offerings. “With over 600 million monthly active users and nearly 30 business units specializing in enterprise services — including tech-driven retail, mobile payment, digital marketing, media entertainment, IT infrastructure and more — Alibaba is the leading partner for businesses within China and around the world to capitalize on the growing consumption by China’s middle class. The A100 initiative, powered by the Alibaba Operating System, will be a one-stop shop for businesses to access a comprehensive range of enterprise services in the digital era,” said Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba Group, in a press release announcing the new initiative. “Many partners have gained enhanced operational efficiency and business growth through a deep partnership with Alibaba. Synergies generated by our ecosystem are creating new avenues for sales and distribution, and catalysing product innovation to capture opportunities in lifestyle upgrades across China. We look forward to adding many more global and Chinese domestic companies to the A100 strategic partnership program in the near future.”
According to the eCommerce giant, the A100 program is built upon the company’s Alibaba Operating System, in which it offers support for sales, logistics, supply chain optimization, payments, marketing and other support services powered by cloud technologies.  Alibaba said it is now offering the Alibaba Operating Systems to all-sized companies via the new partnership program. Members get to choose from a menu of services to boost operations. Alibaba noted in the press release that it will create a cross-platform integrated account service team to supervise the implementation of A100 and will begin with partners already in Alibaba’s ecosystem.  The program will be expanded over time to include other brands that want to boost their digital businesses. Alibaba pointed to its partnership with Nestle as one example. It said through the partnership Nestle strengthened its core business to consumer business through a store on Alibaba’s Tmall.