Patrick Sostmann, general manager Europe, Alibaba.com, shared how the platform was empowering European SMEs at CoCreate, London, on 14 November 2025.
Sostmann told delegates the aim was to make business, supply chain, payments, entrepreneurship and selling easy within an eco-system of trust.
Sostmann said alibaba.com made it easy to do business anywhere as its AI tools support communications in 20 languages and offer instant translation.
On the supply side, he said the trend to move from ‘just in time’ to ‘just in case’ was aided by alibaba.com as the platform enabled buyers to find suppliers very quickly. Further, the company has more than doubled the number of European products to 2m, offered by 15,000 suppliers.
“That’s quite a leap and a case for making business easier for you,” he said. Sostmann referenced allibaba.com‘s expansion in Europe with the acquisition of Visable, the German B2B operator, which owns the wlw and europages platforms. That brought a trusted European supplier into the fold, he said.
The company’s Trade Assurance scheme, meanwhile, simplifies and secures payments and provides guaranteed refunds, he added. Buying is also enhanced with exclusive benefits for premium buyers, he said.
As well as making entrepreneurship easy with events like CoCreate Pitch, allibaba.com made selling easy for suppliers, Sostmann told delegates.
He referenced two businesses, which have extended their reach to new buyers on allibaba.com.
Paris-based fragrance supplier, L’Artisan Des Parfums, has expanded internationally. The company’s Wissam Chahed said the business was now selling in the UK and Gambia, for example. The company offers a fragrance line plus the option of customised packaging and perfumes.
Chahed highlighted the benefits of the partnership. “They take a very small cut – that’s why it’s interesting to work with Allibaba on the financial plan,” he said.
AS Creation, a German-based wallpaper manufacturer, is also reaching new global buyers through allibaba.com. The 50-year old company has been selling on the platform for three years, selling to new buyers in Africa, Australia and Asia, the company said. The partnership had opened up new sales avenues, outside of its core DIY channel, including a gym in Australia and a print reseller in Dubai.
Attindas, the personal care brand specialising in incontinence products for adults, is new to the alibaba.com platform too, selling for just one year with the brand. Exhibiting at CoCreate, the $1.1bn US-based business, which supplies major supermarkets, pharmacies and healthcare sectors, was meeting a different kind of supplier at the event – smaller family businesses and entrepreneurs.
Ignor Olano, international and export sales, senior manager, was impressed by the dynamism of the event. “You never know where the opportunity is and the amount of contacts is huge,” he said.
