Office Depot, Alibaba in online store partnership
Office Depot said Monday it's partnering with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba to launch a co-branded e-commerce website to help small- and medium-sized businesses in the U.S. sell their products.
Office Depot CEO Gerry Smith said the strategic collaboration was prompted by their customers who want "more choice in the market" and need an expanded set of products and services to help their businesses grow.
News of the tie-up boosted shares of the American company.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ODP | THE ODP CORP. | 50.85 | -0.06 | -0.12% |
"U.S. businesses can now access a wide array of products and services through Office Depot and Alibaba.com’s collaboration, which will empower them to compete and thrive," Smith said in a statement.
Office Depot said the deal would give Alibaba access to its 10 million customers and 1,800 sales agents across the U.S., while Alibaba's global network would help it expand its global reach to more than 150,000 suppliers.
Last November, Smith hinted that a partnership of this sort was coming, telling FOX Business that the company was starting to "pivot" towards becoming a "business services company."
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“We’re going to look for partners of driving products into [the business services] platform and we are always looking for opportunities,” he said.