WorldFirst, a one-stop digital payment and financial services platform for global businesses, especially SMEs in international trade, has expanded its digital e-commerce solutions in Australia to streamline global procurement processes for domestic businesses, helping to protect their bottom line and drive growth amid rising costs of business operations.
WorldFirst has launched a global sourcing payment solution Cross-border Pay in partnership with 1688, a major global wholesale e-marketplace under Alibaba Group, to enable Australian businesses to access a vast array of competitively-priced quality products from over 10 million manufacturers in China.
Cross-border Pay offers Australian buyers an option to make payments to 1688 sellers without the need to set up an onshore bank account in China.
•Easy set-up: With Alipay integration into 1688 buyers can connect and start sourcing within minutes.
•Direct and fast payment: Buyers can make payments directly from their World Account to 1688 suppliers. Payments typically arrive in seconds.
•Cost-saving: Save costs by sourcing direct from the factory and paying in foreign currency with highly competitive foreign exchange rates.
Whilst the Australian economy is seeing signs of cooling inflation, costs of business in Australia continue to rise. Coupled with higher interest rates weighing on consumer confidence and disposable incomes and eroded purchasing power, it is increasingly hard for Australian businesses to plan and invest, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia.
As a result, Australian businesses are searching for global sourcing opportunities which can provide a diversity on product and cost, while protecting against the impact of supply chain disruption.
1688 leverages its vast supplier and partnership networks to significantly enhance the cost-performance ratio for overseas merchants.
•Average product price on 1688 is 15% lower than other B2B marketplaces.
•Direct contracts with manufacturers drive down costs.
•Partnership with logistic companies support international shipping.
Jim Vrondas, Country Manager at WorldFirst Australia, said “Global sourcing allows Australian companies to increase the amount of prospective suppliers available to them which in turn provides a greater sourcing pool for quality control, rerouting opportunities to circumvent short term supply chain delays and compare costs across locations to ensure lowest cost, highest quality product.”
WorldFirst is the first official cross-border payment partner with 1688. Transaction volume of the solution grew at an annual average rate of over 70% from 2019 and 2023 on the back of robust international demand.
In addition to global sourcing, Jim also highlighted the opportunity for Australian businesses to benefit from selling their goods in foreign e-commerce sites through WorldFirst digital e-commerce solutions:
“1688 is good for online sellers, drop shippers, wholesalers, retailers and used by sourcing agents from around the globe. By reducing the cost of sourcing and shipping direct from the Chinese factory to an overseas warehouse, businesses can improve operating efficiency, increase profit margins and deliver faster fulfilment times to their consumers.”
In addition to digital e-commerce solutions, WorldFirst also provides a way to for SMEs to open a multi-currency World Account within minutes to open more than 10 local currency accounts, empowering them to seamlessly receive cross-border payments and manage funds across more than 100 global marketplaces through a single online portal.
The World Account is a single sign on user-friendly portal for sellers to manage their growing operations across borders and marketplaces.
WorldFirst has a strong track record in driving growth for e-commerce SMEs.
WorldFirst is the top payment service firm by transaction volume for China-based e-commerce businesses which sell on international e-marketplaces.
In January 2024, new customer acquisition of WorldFirst in South-east Asia increased 16 times and the overall transaction volume of its customers in the region grew by 90 per cent on year.
About WorldFirst
WorldFirst is meeting the needs of SMEs engaged in international trade to expand globally.
This includes global collection, making payments, currency conversion, risk management, and supply chain financing to help SMEs reduce costs and improve turnover efficiency to generate more revenue, and quickly capture global business opportunities.
WorldFirst, which employs AI and other cutting-edge technologies for risk control, prioritizes the safety and security of client funds above all else and has a leading fraud-prevention track record in the industry.
WorldFirst has served one million customers worldwide and is connected to over 120 marketplaces.
WorldFirst was founded in 2004 and joined Ant Group in 2019. To learn more about WorldFirstat https://www.worldfirst.com/au
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