Alibaba To Highlight US SMBs With ‘B2B Tuesday’

B2B eCommerce platform Alibaba.com announced “B2B Tuesday,” an initiative to “support, highlight and celebrate” U.S. B2B-focused small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), “highlight their contributions to the U.S. economy and help them capture the global eCommerce opportunity,” according to a press release.

Every Tuesday, Alibaba.com, which is the B2B business unit of Alibaba Group, will celebrate the event.

“Together, the B2B Tuesday community promotes the successes of U.S. B2B SMBs, share insights and resources to help them grow and make it easier for U.S. SMBs to access the $23.9 trillion global B2B eCommerce opportunity — which is six times the size of the B2C eCommerce market,” the release said. “B2B Tuesday will feature B2B success stories, in-person events, new platform offerings, educational content, and more.”

Alibaba.com also shared the results of a new survey called “Alibaba.com U.S. Small and Medium Business (SMB) Confidence Survey.”

The company commissioned an independent research outfit to do the survey, which involved 5,000 U.S. SMBs conducting business-to-business (B2B) commerce. The survey found that about 62 percent of respondents said they felt good about the economy, adding that they thought it was trending upward, while 4 percent said they feared a downturn.

Looking ahead, 46 percent of those asked said they expected their business to do more volume, and 27 percent of those said it they expected an increase of a quarter or more.

Of survey participants, 57 percent said they did some hiring to help with B2B buying and selling, and eight out of 10 said they’ll hire at least one employee due to online activity.

Many B2B companies are also digitizing, with 54 percent saying they understand the impact sites like Alibaba.com can have on their business.

“Strong SMB confidence among American business owners and entrepreneurs, plus the growth from digitizing of their business and doing business globally means the future is bright for U.S. SMBs,” said John Caplan, head of North America B2B at Alibaba Group. “Less than one third of businesses we surveyed have been doing business online for more than five years. That means there is an enormous opportunity for U.S. SMBs to digitize and grow their businesses globally with ease. And B2B Tuesday is one more example of how Alibaba.com is here to help.”

PYMNTS recently did a deep dive on Alibaba.com, and why the company sees the U.S. as a testing ground for global B2B eCommerce.