expo

By Rieva Lesonsky

 

March Expo is coming—and it’s going to be filled with opportunity for SMEs.

If you haven’t heard about it—March Expo kicks off Monday, March 5th on Alibaba.com. It lasts the rest of the month—through March 31st—offering business owners great deals, discounts and other promotions when you make a purchase on Alibaba.com or the Alibaba.com mobile app during the sale.

But March Expo is not just about deals (though there’ll be plenty of those). It’s a month of discovery. SMEs will get access to thousands of suppliers and find new products, new markets, and meet some of Alibaba.com’s best-established Chinese brands.

If you’ve been thinking about exploring Alibaba.com, but have been hesitant, March Expo is a great time to jump in. You’ll not only find great suppliers of the goods you’ve been searching for, but you’ll find out what products are driving trends, so you can be among the first to market them. Already, more than 58,000 suppliers have registered to participate in March Expo.

According to Zhang Kuo, the General Manager of Alibaba.com, the special event will feature “new products, services and the expansion of a new market, which will further facilitate companies of all sizes or even individuals to engage in global B2B trading.”

Empowering global trade

Following Alibaba.com’s successful debut of the Design and Sourcing Marketplace at CES, Zhang says March Expo is another way for Alibaba.com to “provide opportunities to help SMEs connect to global trade via events. Our vision is a world where SMEs play a major role in cross-border trade, where ‘Buy Global, Sell Global’ is no longer just a dream.”

During March Expo, Alibaba.com will be introducing new services to help SMEs get their goods faster and cheaper, including its new logistics service. (More about that later this week.)

There are four main pillars or product categories highlighted this month: fashion and accessories, consumer electronics, home and garden and machinery. For the rest of the week, we’ll be featuring new posts to help you plan for March Expo, discover the new products, and learn more about the incentives and discounts being offered during the special event. You can also follow the action on social media by following @AlibabaTalk and the #DiscoverNewMarch hashtag.

Whether you’re a new business or an established one, all retailers and e-tailers should take advantage of the great opportunities March Expo has to offer. This is a great chance for you to explore the world of business, which will help you win more loyal customers.