Alibaba.com highlights an 88% increase in buyers seeking sustainable products over the past year
Alibaba.com, one of the world’s largest B2B e-commerce marketplaces, a business unit of Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA), released top insights on sustainable product demand from buyers worldwide from 2022 to 2023. As a leading hub for e-commerce buyers looking to purchase cost-effective, eco-friendly products, Alibaba.com is using this data to help SMB and suppliers alike recognize the global need and increasing demand for sustainable product offerings.
Global Growth in Demand Spans Product Sectors
According to Alibaba.com data, the top product categories for YoY growth globally are:
- Personal care & house cleaning (+56.9% YoY)
- Beauty (47.6% YoY)
- Household kitchen items (45.4% YoY)
- Mother & baby products (41.6% YoY)
- Household appliances (34.9% YoY)
A key indicator of growth for sustainable product demand includes a large uptick in keyword searches relating to sustainability on Alibaba.com’s request for quotation (RFQ) feature, which allows buyers to share their requirements for product design and manufacturing and receive pricing details from desired suppliers. Alibaba.com saw an 88% global increase in keywords such as “sustainable,” “eco-friendly,” “biodegradable,” “zero-waste,” “renewable,” “organic” and “reusable” over the past year.
The top five countries purchasing sustainable products on Alibaba.com are the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Germany.
“Earth Day provides a unique opportunity for us to reflect on the growth of both awareness and sourcing of more sustainable products,” said Rah Mahtani, U.S. Chief Marketing Officer for Alibaba.com. “We have been extremely encouraged to see such a significant increase in both search and purchase of eco-friendly products. Sustainable buying from the end consumer has a ripple effect in the broader global supply chain and we encourage our buyers to make product decisions that best fit the needs of their customers. In this case, it’s a bigger focus on sustainable products. We’re pleased that Alibaba.com has become a reliable, central location for buyers to find more than six million sustainable sourcing and products worldwide.”
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United States Sees Rise in Demand for Beauty, Mother & Baby Products
Alibaba.com’s data also shows where consumer sustainability trends are headed in the United States, with the top three best-selling products being:
- Sustainable shampoo bars (+73% YoY)
- Organic face serum (+62% YoY)
- Eco-friendly toys/fabrics (+42% YoY)
Global Sustainability Standards
This report includes YoY data, spanning from March 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023. In accordance with global and regional sustainability standards, Alibaba.com used sustainability framework from the following recognized organizations to categorize products as sustainable:
- Global: Global Recycle Standard, Recycled Claim Standard (RCS), Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100
- United States: Energy star, BPI, Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
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European Union: Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS), Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), Energy related Products directive (ErP), DIN-Geprüft, OK Biobased, OK Compost, OK Home Compost
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