An e-commerce market is still of great value to small-and-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) as 87 per cent of the respondents gave an upbeat assessment of e-commerce's role in their business in the post-pandemic era.

This information was released in a survey about how suppliers worldwide find their way through the pandemic by Alibaba.com – one of the leading B2B e-commerce platforms. The survey has been conducted with more than 1,000 B2B suppliers worldwide.

More than 55 per cent of respondents saw their revenue decline, and 20 per cent reported closing completely. However, nearly 15 per cent of respondents stated that their business operations remained unchanged, and 10 per cent saw their business increase rather than decrease.

As a global B2B e-commerce platform, Alibaba.com has been a valuable resource for many businesses during the pandemic. This platform has helped businesses move their operations online so they can stay on during difficult times. Alibaba.com is not only an e-commerce marketplace, but also facilitates commerce and significantly improves accessibility to corporate customers around the world.

Alibaba.com has organised virtual trade shows and digital sales events to help businesses build new business relationships.

In addition, the e-commerce platform provides intelligent communication tools that automatically translate conversations, help break down language barriers and connect many potential trading partners. In addition, businesses can have access to a vast source of data from the platform's activities, effectively supporting them in identifying target customers and developing new products that fit market needs.

Uong Thanh Dinh, co-founder of Kaafly Hair, said: "We had the first order in a week and six orders in a month running ads with Alibaba.com. The profit margin on these orders is 70 per cent."

Nguyen Thi Dung, a sales manager, said: "Alibaba.com helped us to start exporting internationally in 2016, and since then, our revenue has doubled. Within three months of posting the product on Alibaba.com, we had our first customer - a buyer from the US who completed the purchase in just an hour."

The digitalisation of B2B commerce presents new opportunities for buyers and sellers worldwide. Digitisation makes commerce more accessible and affordable, as businesses can connect via the internet without going to trade shows or other events. — VNS