Alibaba.com, the Fast Track to Global Sourcing

Hong Kong – October 21, 2009 – Alibaba.com hosted a Grand Prix-styled miniature car racing competition to entertain and educate its members in Hong Kong as well as visitors of the Mega Show Part 1, Asia’s largest trade show for the toys, gifts, premiums and housewares industries, which is being held this week at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Event attendees learned how they can “fast-track” sourcing for holiday gifts and toys through e-commerce.

Toys are one of the most popular product categories on Alibaba.com, the world’s largest online business-to-business marketplace, which exhibits around 22,000 toy suppliers and 750,000-plus related products to buyers 24 hours a day. As of August 2009, international buyers searched for 80 percent more toy products on Alibaba.com in the past 12 months compared to the same period a year ago.

Remote controlled toys including cars and helicopters are the top selling children’s play item on Alibaba.com, accounting for about 15 percent of all global trade activity in the toy category, followed by favorites such as dolls, stuffed and plush toys, action figures and wooden toys. The demand for educational toys including DIY sets, writing boards, alphabet letters and puzzles has been growing steadily over the last few years, with searches up 116 percent on Alibaba.com in the last 12 months, making it the second most popular children’s toy category.

Since the onset of the global economic downturn, more and more companies around the world are seeing e-commerce as a more efficient way to market and sell their products and services. In the first half of 2009, Alibaba.com reported a 69 percent year-on-year increase in members on its international marketplace, growing to nearly 10 million.