Turning search into action with Alibaba International’s AI Sourcing Agent Sponsored Content by Alibaba International
As the world of global sourcing continues to grow, businesses—and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular—face a variety of challenges in their sourcing operations. Global sourcing is here to stay, and businesses around the world are continuously looking for ways to simplify the process. With that end goal in mind, Alibaba International recently launched Accio, a new AI search engine, aimed to simplify the lives of SMEs around the world through conversation, automation and a wealth of knowledge. Since its launch, Accio boasts over 500,000 SME users, and more than 50,000 SMEs globally actively used Accio to source inspiration for Black Friday and Christmas inventory stocking during the peak e-commerce sales season in November and December 2024.
An active guide, not a passive search engine
One of the most time-consuming elements of a business operation is identifying potential sourcing partners and then narrowing the list down to the best choice for your business. With the new search engine, this process can now be as easy as a game of “20 questions.”
The platform user can start with a broad question or search related to their sourcing needs. Accio will return initial answers, but unlike traditional search engines, its functions do not stop there. After the initial query, users can engage in something of a conversation with the AI by asking questions or adding additional qualifiers to the results to help further narrow down Accio’s outputs. Additionally, the tool may provide additional suggestions along the way.
The conversational nature of Accio allows businesses to narrow down their sourcing options without conducting multiple searches and trying to compile the results into one file. At the end of the day, reducing the number of searches and overall research that a business leader needs to reach a decision about their sourcing operations will benefit businesses of all sizes, but it will be most impactful for SMEs, saving them precious time and resources.
A decision-maker’s own personal industry expert
AI tools are only as good as the information they have access to. With this in mind, Alibaba International developed the pool of knowledge for Accio from more than 1 billion existing product listings and the organization’s 25 years of industry expertise. The search engine indexes millions of suppliers globally, with the goal of connecting SME buyers to the right partners who can help turn their product ideas into thriving businesses. Covering over 7,600 product categories, Accio is extensively trained on more than 200 million industry-specific trade parameters.
Additionally, Alibaba International tapped into a less thought of pool of information to train the AI. The new search engine leverages user-generated content (UGC) such as product reviews and comments from the Alibaba International platform to help users get experience-based insights for a product or potential sourcing partner. This information can be crucial to help decision-makers identify service providers who fit the mold for what their business needs in a sourcing partner.
Not only does Accio provide users with information based on the above sources, but users can also be rest assured that the responses they receive are viable. Alibaba International is leveraging Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) features to ensure that the information provided is substantiated. If Accio doesn’t have substantiated answers, it will acknowledge that rather than offering unsubstantiated guesses. All in all, users will walk away from Accio with what they need to feel confident in their decisions.
Turning answers into action
Being able to source answers and information is one thing, but how can AI make the sourcing process even more simple? Turning that information into actionable steps to help businesses cross the finish line in identifying the right sourcing partners.
Once a user has narrowed the results down to options they deem viable as potential sourcing partners, Accio can create requests for quotations (RFQs) and distribute them to the prospective suppliers. After receiving responses, business decision-makers can then turn back to Accio to compare the offers and see the bigger picture.
Alibaba International’s search engine does not operate in a silo, either. For example, if a buyer wants to meet with a global supplier before committing to a contract but may be facing a potential language barrier, Accio can leverage existing Alibaba International AI features allowing real-time video translation for more than 15 languages.
Making online global sourcing easy and accessible
Accio was designed with the end user in mind. The conversational nature of searches and its ability to provide support and execute on multiple steps of the sourcing process illustrates how it was designed with the purpose of making the lives of business decision-makers easier. The world of online global sourcing can be intimidating, but Accio breaks it down by turning conversation into action and opening up a world of opportunities for SMEs and large businesses alike.
