PIERS and Alibaba.com Join Forces to Help U.S. Exporters

NEWARK, New Jersey, Dec. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- PIERS, the Standard in Trade Intelligence, and Alibaba.com, a leading global e-commerce platform for small businesses, today announced a partnership to help U.S. companies expand their products and services to the global marketplace.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121219/NY32610LOGO )

PIERS has long been known as the standard in trade intelligence from its 40 year history of collecting waterborne bills of lading, solidifying it as the world's most comprehensive database of imports, and the only provider with complete export trade activity. This trade intelligence matched with Dun & Bradstreet's core company information, creates a complete picture of a company and their trade.

As a result of the new partnership, Alibaba.com will leverage PIERS' deep trade intelligence and offer businesses in their database a free Verified Membership on the Alibaba.com platform which will elevate the international presence of U.S. small businesses. Alibaba.com's Verified Membership program is an authentication process that bolsters sellers' trust and credibility on the platform. In addition, the Verified Membership status on Alibaba.com allows sellers to showcase their products and services to more than 29 million buyers worldwide. They also receive priority ranking in search results above millions of other unverified members.

"We are seeing an increased interest from Alibaba.com buyers in partnering with international suppliers. Through the Verified Membership program, we hope to foster a more trusted and diverse online trade environment and provide international sellers greater visibility," said Annie Xu, general manager of Alibaba.com, Americas. "Our partnership with PIERS will allow us to help U.S. small businesses to tap their export potential and gain greater access to global trade opportunities." 

PIERS continues to work with its partners in the Appalachian Regional Commission, the U.S. Small Business Administration and the State International Trade Organization to support the National Export Initiative. This latest partnership with Alibaba.com further exemplifies PIERS dedication as the only provider of complete U.S. exports, to continue its investment to help U.S. businesses expand.

"PIERS and its partners are committed to supporting the National Export Initiative and are focused on developing intelligent, growing practices to make it easier for small businesses to market their products globally," said Wael Jarous, Senior Vice President of PIERS. "We are very excited about this partnership with Alibaba.com. The time is right to present a solution that ultimately provides a foundation for a rebuilding economy. We believe this can be a game changer for U.S. exports."

The free Verified Member authentication process is being offered for a limited time only. To submit your business through the PIERS verification process for Verified Membership status on Alibaba.com register here.

About PIERS
PIERS is the most comprehensive database of U.S. waterborne trade activity in the world providing information services to thousands of subscribers globally. Launched more than 35 years ago, PIERS was the first venture in digital global trade intelligence and quickly became the industry standard for accuracy, reliability and insight. Our unique infrastructure and proprietary technology allow us to not only publish import data, but also complete coverage of U.S. export transactional data. PIERS is a division of UBM Global Trade, and a sister company of The Journal of Commerce.  For more information, visit www.PIERS.com, or call 1-800-952-3839.

About Alibaba.com
Alibaba.com (www.alibaba.com) is the leading global e-commerce platform for small businesses operated by Alibaba.com International, one of Alibaba Group's seven major business groups. Upgraded from the previous Alibaba.com International Core Business Unit in July 2012, Alibaba.com International aims at creating the go-to English-language platform for cross-border trade and purchases as well as helping small businesses worldwide expand to overseas markets. As of June 30, 2012, Alibaba.com had 29.4 million registered users from more than 240 countries and regions and showcased 2.5 million supplier storefronts.