China-based e-commerce and technology conglomerate, Alibaba Group, has announced the launch of A100, a strategic partnership program that offers companies a holistic one-stop solution to accelerate their digital transformation.
Members of A100 will reportedly develop a deep and longstanding working relationship with Alibaba businesses across multiple functions and platforms to co-create the best values that are efficient, effective and sustainable in the digital era.
The A100 initiative was announced at the inaugural ‘Alibaba ONE Business Conference’ in Hangzhou.
The A100 program is built on the Alibaba Operating System, which was showcased at the conference. The creation of the Alibaba Operating System is a part of company’s natural progression from an e-commerce provider to an integrated global technology company.
As Alibaba has expanded its business from pure e-commerce into digital entertainment and local services, the power of its infrastructure has grown to cover sales, logistics, supply chain optimisation, payments, marketing and a wide range of supporting services all powered by cloud-based technologies.
With those strong cloud-computing capabilities, the infrastructure is able to process a massive flow of data, offering insights and analytics instrumental to better meeting customer needs and growing their business. New Retail is a key interface through which businesses can tap into the Alibaba Operating System.
The Alibaba ONE Business Conference also highlighted the success of New Retail – a model pioneered by Alibaba to integrate online and offline retail through digitising store-based operations. New Retail has gained strong ground in the past two years, with over 1,200 brands having digitised and upgraded more than 200,000 offline stores into smart stores.
Alibaba is now offering the Alibaba Operating System to companies of all sizes through the A100 program, which lets them choose from an exhaustive menu of services to enhance their business operations. Alibaba will establish a cross-platform integrated account-serving team to supervise the implementation of A100 and will start with partners already in the company’s ecosystem. The program will gradually expand to other brands looking to optimise their digital operations.
“With over 600 million monthly active users and nearly 30 business units specialising in enterprise services from digital retail, mobile payments and digital marketing to IT infrastructure and more, Alibaba is the leading partner for businesses within China and around the world,” said Alibaba Group CEO, Daniel Zhang.
“Collaboration with Alibaba helps companies and brands capitalise on growing consumption by China’s middle class. The A100 initiative, powered by the Alibaba Operating System, will be a one-stop shop for businesses to access a comprehensive range of enterprise services in the digital era.
“Many partners have gained enhanced operational efficiency and business growth through a deep partnership with Alibaba. Synergies generated by our ecosystem are creating new avenues for sales and distribution, and catalysing product innovation to capture opportunities in lifestyle upgrades across China. We look forward to adding many more global and Chinese domestic companies to the A100 strategic partnership program in the near future,” he said.
Last year, Alibaba and US-based coffee company, Starbucks partnered to transform China’s coffee industry.
(Image: Alibaba Group CEO, Daniel Zhang, speaking at the Alibaba ONE Business Conference in Hangzhou.)