the digitalization strategy of covestro opens up new possibilities for doing business. in order to make the world’s chemicals easily accessible to business customers, covestro has started a cooperation with chinese internet giant alibaba. as of 23 april, the company offers its high-tech polymer materials in a flagship store on 1688.com, an online platform of alibaba. the platform is the biggest online business-to-business marketplace in china. the chinese economy shows tremendous progress also in innovation and digitalization over the recent years to which covestro is contributing. under the link covestrochina.1688.com, the high-tech material polycarbonate as well as pre-products for polyurethane foams, coatings and adhesives will become available.
“digitalization rapidly changes customer needs and preferences and offers new business opportunities, especially in the fast growing chinese economy,” said dr. markus steilemann, chief commercial officer and future ceo of covestro. “for us, china plays a more and more important role not only in terms of market size but also with regard to innovation in relevant markets and technologies. with the launch of an online store on alibaba we follow our strategy by innovating our business models in close cooperation with our customers.”
the main goal is to offer customers a reliable, official channel with a simple and efficient purchasing experience. with a maximum quantity order, the flagship store is more tailored to the needs of small and medium-sized customers. therefore, transactions will be of relatively small volume. this will allow covestro to listen, learn and continuously improve its offering.