Nandini Roy Choudhury, writer
Brief news
- Alibaba launched Accio, an AI-powered search engine for small businesses in Europe and the Americas, enhancing purchase intent by 40% over traditional methods.
- The tool supports multiple languages and utilizes data from 50 million businesses, offering insights on consumer trends and procurement options.
- Alibaba’s international division continues to innovate with AI, aiming to improve productivity and enhance its e-commerce offerings.
Detailed news
BEIJING — On Tuesday, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba introduced an artificial intelligence-powered search engine designed for small businesses in Europe and the Americas to find supplies.
This initiative aims to utilize technology similar to ChatGPT to boost sales. According to Kuo Zhang, president of Alibaba.com and vice president of Alibaba International, initial tests indicated that businesses’ purchase intent using the new tool rose by 40% compared to traditional search engines.
The product is named Accio, inspired by the spell from the Harry Potter fantasy series that is used to summon objects. The initial version is web-based and offers support for English, German, French, Portuguese, and Spanish, as stated by the company.
By utilizing a few text or image prompts, businesses can leverage Accio to discover wholesale products, complete with insights on consumer popularity and projected profits, as demonstrated in presentations observed by CNBC.
Illustrations provided involved assisting a sports entrepreneur in developing a range of pickleball products. Upon concluding the search, the tool presents several procurement options for the business to engage in direct discussions with each supplier.
Zhang mentioned that the technology employs generative AI from Alibaba’s Tongyi Qianwen large language model, but he refrained from confirming if the product incorporates AI from additional companies.
An LLM is a model of artificial intelligence that has been trained on extensive datasets. A model facilitates generative AI applications, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which produces human-like responses to user prompts. Indeed, numerous businesses remain in the experimentation stage with AI, and many companies have yet to discover a method for monetizing the technology.
Zhang stated that Accio utilizes data from 50 million businesses on Alibaba International’s platform, along with publicly available industry information. The tool features 1 billion product listings and documents that span industries in over 100 markets, sourced from Alibaba.com, the company’s business-to-business platform catering to clients beyond China.
The company stated that the largest group of buyers consists of businesses located in Europe and North America.
In October, Alibaba’s international division unveiled an enhanced version of an AI translation tool designed to assist merchants in connecting with customers across different countries. The company asserted that the technology’s translation abilities surpassed those of Google, DeepL, and ChatGPT.
In recent years, international business has experienced significant growth; however, Alibaba’s primary source of revenue continues to be its domestic e-commerce platforms, Taobao and Tmall. In August 2023, management informed investors that “the Taobao app has the greatest potential to become a comprehensive smart portal for life and consumption powered by AI.”
A survey by Bain & Company revealed that during the weeks-long Singles Day shopping festival that concluded on Monday, over half of more than 500 merchants on Chinese e-commerce platforms like Alibaba and JD.com utilized a generative AI-enabled tool.
These features encompass AI for customer service and content generation. The survey revealed that 56% of respondents indicated that AI tools had a “high positive impact” on enhancing productivity.
If all goes according to plan, Alibaba will release its quarterly earnings on Friday.
