Global Sources to Expand Dubai Shows in 2009

Global Sources expands 2009 Dubai shows 40% to include Greater China manufacturers of gifts, premiums, home products, electronics and fashion accessories DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, May 21

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, May 21 - Global Sources (Nasdaq: GSOL) announced that its four upcoming China Sourcing Fairs in Dubai have sold out, growing 40% this year to reach over 1,100 booths. The China Sourcing Fairs: Electronics, Fashion Accessories, Gifts & Premiums, and Home Products will feature manufacturers from Greater China (mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan). The events will be held June 14 - 16, 2009, at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre.

Alibaba.com Partners on Turkish Logo Group

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--Alibaba.com Ltd. (1688.HK) said Wednesday it formed a strategic alliance with Turkish software developer Logo Group, which will help it expand in Turkey.

As part of the agreement, Logo will help Alibaba.com build its brand in Turkey and become a reseller of Alibaba.com product Gold Supplier international. Logo-operated corporate social networking site Diyalogo will also co-promote Alibaba.com to its users.

Alibaba.com already has about 200,000 registered users in Turkey. It said its user base in Turkey grew nearly 75% in the last 12 months. Alibaba.com also intends to extend its Gold Supplier membership to suppliers in Turkey in July and, for a limited time, upgrade existing Turkey-based International TrustPass members to Gold Supplier international service for free.

The company said Turkey is an attractive market for online business-to-business services because of its growing domestic market of 70 million people, its large manufacturing sector and an Internet population estimated at 30 million.

Logo's flagship company has 150,000 customers and 1 million active users, most of which are local small and medium-sized enterprises.

Alibaba.com to turn Alipay into International Online Payment Platform

May 11, 2009 (China Knowledge) - China's Alibaba.com Ltd <1688>, the world's largest online B2B marketplace, plans to team up with HSBC Holdings plc and Citibank A.S. as it aims to turn its Alipay unit into an international online payment platform, sources reported. The company will allow account holders of the two global lenders to pay and transfer funds online via Alipay platform.

Alibaba to Invest $12M in Mobile Software - Rumor

According to an unnamed insider, Alibaba Group has agreed to invest $12 million in Guangzhou-based mobile browser developer UCWeb to build a mobile Internet e-commerce company, reports ChinaByte. A UCWeb marketing department employee said the company has heard of the rumor, but that the rumor had not yet received confirmation from company management, reports DoNews. The employee said the company will announce details if there are further developments. Alibaba has not confirmed the news, said the report.

Alibaba recently issued an internal document announcing the establishment of a fund management company that will be led by Libra Capital founder and former CEO Xiong Xiong to target the secondary market.

Alibaba's online payment tool Alipay confirmed May 4 that the company will begin promoting mobile payment services this year, according to a Sina report.

Tradekey Launched “Buy Now” Feature

Tradekey, a famous B2B marketplace, has just launched Buy Now feature on its official website, Tradekey.com. The feature seems to facilitate buyers to buy directly from the sellers. Unlike, DHGate & Alibaba’s Super Deals, Tradekey.com is not offering ESCROW services right now.

They are simply displaying products information along with the price per quantity suggested by the seller, shipping methods and a couple of product images. The Buy Now feature on tradekey.com seems to be in testing level. A couple of sellers have been selected for pilot project.

How “Buy Now” works on Tradekey.com?

When a buyer clicks on “buy now” button, it takes him to product detail page where buyer can view more information about the product and can enter the desired quantity. The quantity shouldn’t be less than the minimum quantity mentioned by seller. Fill in the desired contact information and click “Buy Now” to proceed to the next step. Unlike DHGate, Tradekey doesn’t display many details about the product. Buyer will have to contact seller, for further information.

On this step two emails are generated from Tradekey.com, 1 for the buyer as acknowledgment and the other to the seller. Here the actual communication between the seller & the buyer starts.
On “Thank you” page, Paypal link of the seller’s Paypal account is displayed. Tradekey so far is not taking any responsibility of the payments or the products. Buyer pays directly to sellers.

So far no information has been received from Tradekey.com about “Buy Now” feature. The success of this feature can be determined if more sellers are opt into this feature and Tradekey continues to deliver the services.