Alibaba.com Looks To India For New Partnership

China's Alibaba.com has inked a deal in with Infomedia India Limited to benefit small and medium-size enterprises in India.

Prakash Iyer, managing director of Infomedia, said in a press statement, "As India's largest Yellow Pages company – and now as part of the Network 18 group – Infomedia is delighted to bring Alibaba.com's strength and global reach to Indian businesses. We have a long history of helping SMEs grow their business and this partnership will help Indian companies realize their fullest potential worldwide. The Infomedia-Alibaba.com partnership will bring value to Indian SMEs by giving them a larger, multi-media business platform encompassing domestic and global trade services."

India has more than 8 million SMEs, which account for almost 40% of India's industrial output and employ around 30 million people. It is estimated that 3 million SMEs are engaged in B2B trade and around 1 million are in the export business. Alibaba.com has more than 400,000 members in India, already making it one of the country's largest B2B online marketplaces by member count. Alibaba.com launched a special India Channel in October 2007 to help Indian suppliers find local and global buyers for their products and services. The India Channel has been well received by members, with more than 20,000 Indian companies signing up each month since January 2008.The Alibaba.com and Infomedia partnership will combine the power of traditional print publishing with online media and e-commerce, providing Indian SMEs with a one-stop solution for global and domestic trade. Together they will create a strong online community of Indian business people and provide them with a single cost-effective channel to promote their products and source from quality suppliers in India and around the world. It will also provide SMEs in India with the latest industry news and technical developments in multi-media formats.

Alibaba.com And Infomedia Form Strategic Partnership in India; Why Am I On Indiamart?

ContentSutra: I’ve noticed Alibaba.com advertisements on the Economic Times website over the past week, and sensed that something was up. This explains it: the China-based b2b classifieds portal has announced a tie with Infomedia India. This is, as per the release, a “multi-year" strategic relationship, and extends beyond the Internet into the print domain, where Infomedia has special interest publications.

David Wei, CEO of Alibaba.com has said that India is a top priority for the companys global plans, and Infomedia will help provide on-ground support including sales, marketing and customer service. Some numbers: Around 20,000 Indian companies have signed up each month for their India channel since Jan 2008, and Alibaba.com has more than 400,000 members in India, and they hope to double that number. Alibaba has, reportedly, 27 million members from over 200 countries. They’re targeting a market of over 8 million SMEs.

In India, Alibaba will compete with the likes of TradeIndia.com and Indiamart.com, both B2B marketplaces. But here’s the strange thing: I’m listed on Indiamart! On Oct 18 2007, I received a mail from them informing me that I’ve automatically been registered. No permission sought, they just created an account, added my details including my mobile number, and just sent across a username and password. Randomly, they’ve added ContentNext (contentSutra’s parent company) in two categories: “Studios, Film Production & Multimedia Production Services” and “Advertising Agencies, Consultants & Designers”. Other mails and reminders were received 2nd Nov, Jan 16th and more recently on April 15th. Thankfully, they’ve only cold-called once - on the 25th of Feb. None of this changes the fact that I shouldn’t have been automatically added, without my permission being sought.