Recently, I sat down with the National Retail Federation (NRF) President and CEO Matt Shay to discuss Alibaba’s work to connect American brands, retailers and SMEs with new growth opportunities abroad. For Matt, the NRF, and its members, 2020 has been an especially challenging time. To adapt during the pandemic, businesses have had to turn to e-commerce and global markets to diversify and grow their businesses.

I am proud to say that Alibaba has stood with these companies to help them through this transition. With many storefronts closed during the pandemic, Alibaba has empowered American companies by digitizing their businesses and helping them reach global markets. We are continuing to invest in building our digital capabilities, offering new and innovative tools and strategies to help American brands generate sales, engage with customers, rebuild their businesses and recover.

Alibaba recently launched its inaugural Digitization Sprint for U.S. Manufacturers, which will give manufacturers the support they need to digitize and grow globally. We are also working to protect the hard-earned intellectual property of small and medium-sized businesses through the Alibaba Anti-Counterfeiting Alliance.

Last week we unveiled plans for our 2020 11.11 Global Shopping Festival (also known as “Singles Day”). It’s is not only the world’s largest shopping event — last year’s sales topped $38 billion in 24-hours. Singles Day provides an opportunity to showcase American brands, retailers and SMEs that are adapting, thriving, and reaching new customers through Alibaba’s platforms.

This year we will host a live virtual event Global Opportunities: Understanding 11.11 on November 11th for U.S. audiences to learn about the Chinese consumer market and to hear directly from some of the U.S. brands that are selling their U.S. products there. The U.S. small business winners of our first-ever 11.11 Go Global Pitch Fest will talk about their first 11.11 experience. You can see more information about the event and register here.

While Alibaba has been helping American brands grow globally for more than two decades, today this work is more important than ever. We look forward to helping thousands of  American brands find growth and new customers this November and into the future.  I will be back in touch after the event to share details of their success.