On August 2, Alibaba International announced that it will launch an AI-powered B2B search engine in September, focusing on global B2B e-commerce, targeting small and medium-sized business owners around the world, with the intention of changing the global procurement process. This AI search engine has learned more than 1 billion pieces of commodity and industry information on the whole network, and will start gray testing in August, and will be officially launched in September, so that overseas small and medium-sized business owners can experience it.
Alibaba wants to be a professional AI search engine in the B2B e-commerce industry
Compared with the traditional search engine through keyword matching to get answers, the difference between Ali International B2B search engine is mainly that it can translate and convert natural language into e-commerce professional vocabulary to help merchants complete some of the shortcomings of professional knowledge.
In short, if you are a business owner who wants to source goods all over the world, as long as you ask in the "big vernacular" in Ali International's new AI search engine, it will understand your needs more accurately through dialogue with you, recommend a variety of options for you, and take the initiative to compare and summarize the advantages and disadvantages, and finally help you complete the transaction and fulfill the delivery.
The biggest difference between it and the current Google search experience is that the current Google search is only passively answered, and the content of the web page is mechanically matched with the keywords, which cannot really understand people's needs, so the recommendation will not be accurate; However, the AI search engine launched by Alibaba International can know your intentions more accurately and recommend the most suitable results through an active dialogue experience.
This new AI search engine will change the way small and medium-sized enterprises operate and trade, which is expected to greatly increase the market demand for global trade and bring more overseas business opportunities for Chinese merchants.
Ali International said that in the future, the search engine will also integrate the information of various suppliers, compare the advantages and disadvantages of different indicators, and directly summarize the buyers. In addition to providing supplier information, the search engine will also help merchants communicate with suppliers, automatically follow up and participate in the whole process of procurement and trade.
Some industry insiders believe that the launch of this product is a subversion and iteration of the current B2B procurement experience, and may also have the opportunity to become the next generation of B2B Google in the AI era.
|The AI search track is getting more and more crowded
AI search is considered to be the most promising field for the birth of killer applications, and it is now the darling of large-scale models, and it is also the most feature-intensive track for different track technology companies to launch AIGC.
For example, in China, Quark, a subsidiary of Alibaba, upgraded the "super search box" and launched a one-stop AI service centered on AI search; Tencent Ingot announced the launch of the deep search function; Zhihu launched the AI search function "Zhihu Direct Answer"; DingTalk has also launched an AI search function.
In the e-commerce industry, the AI search function has also attracted the attention of the platform. It is reported that in September last year, Taobao launched the consumer-oriented AI intelligent assistant "Taobao Ask"; Amazon officially launched Rufus, an artificial intelligence shopping assistant, for all United States users in July this year. Users can ask Rufus how to choose a certain product, and get suggestions and product recommendations for the factors they need to consider when purchasing. At the same time, Rufus will also get order updates for users. Although Rufus will not carry ads initially, Amazon does not rule out adding new elements in the future based on user value.
At present, SHEIN's AI e-commerce application mainly focuses on predicting trend trends and e-commerce image generation The Symphony AI suite is designed to help marketers write scripts and create videos to help advertisers improve the quality of their ads. While many cross-border merchants spontaneously use AI tools such as ChatGPT, vertical AI tools launched by more cross-border platforms are also developing rapidly.
The launch of the AI search engine by Ali International means that Ali will take another important step on the road of AI e-commerce. For Alibaba International, the new experience brought by AI will also be an important growth point for its global e-commerce business.
Jingtai Investment Advice
This is an opportunity to watch for investors who are optimistic about the future development potential of Alibaba International in the B2B e-commerce field. However, there are a number of factors that need to be considered before making a specific investment decision:
Focus on long-term development: Investors should focus on Alibaba's long-term growth strategy rather than short-term stock price fluctuations, given that the search engine could have a positive impact on the company's business model going forward.
Assessing market competition: While Alibaba International has a first-mover advantage in this area, it still needs to assess the competitive pressure from other tech giants, as well as market acceptance.
Pay attention to market feedback: Pay close attention to the market feedback during the grayscale test and after the official launch of the search engine to evaluate its actual performance and popularity.
Consider Diversifying Your Portfolio: While Alibaba International has demonstrated strong growth potential, investment decisions should be based on a comprehensive portfolio consideration, including but not limited to diversification of risk and balanced return expectations.
