Alibabacom

Alibaba.com is a business-to-business online marketplace operated by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1999 in Hangzhou, China, by Jack Ma and a team of co-founders, it serves as a global wholesale platform that connects manufacturers and exporters with buyers worldwide. The site hosts millions of suppliers and buyers and supports multiple languages and currencies to facilitate cross-border trade.

The platform operates with a business model that includes a free option for buyers and paid memberships for suppliers, notably the Gold Supplier program. Suppliers pay for enhanced listing placement and credibility signals, while buyers can search catalogs, request quotes, and compare suppliers. Trade Assurance offers buyer protection for qualifying transactions, and the service also promotes verified supplier checks and, in some cases, onsite inspections to improve trust.

History and scope: Alibaba.com originated to help small manufacturers reach global buyers and is a core asset of Alibaba Group, headquartered in Hangzhou. Over time, the company broadened its cross-border commerce capabilities, including logistics and payments, and it conducted a public offering in 2014 on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BABA. Alibaba.com remains a leading platform in global B2B commerce, competing with other wholesale marketplaces.

Relation to other platforms: Alibaba.com is distinct from AliExpress, which targets consumer retail, and from Taobao, a consumer-to-consumer site within China. Together, these services form Alibaba’s broader e-commerce ecosystem and support different segments of buyers and sellers.