Alibaba's 1688 platform has unveiled a suite of AI-driven innovations and upgrades, including the '1688 AI Edition' app, the free enterprise inquiry tool '88 Cha', and a comprehensive AI overhaul of the existing 'Alibaba 1688' app. These developments mark a significant shift as AI, having transformed the entire consumer market, now targets the B2B sector, redefining the core logic of business-to-business transactions.

On July 30, 1688, Alibaba Group's sourcing platform for factory goods, hosted an AI matchmaking event titled 'Platform + Industry' in Zhejiang Province. Under the theme 'AI Driving the Digital and Intelligent Transformation of Industries', the event was guided by the Zhejiang Provincial Administration for Market Regulation and co-hosted by the Hangzhou High-tech Zone (Binjiang) Management Committee and Government, alongside the Hangzhou Municipal Administration for Market Regulation.

According to the 'Hao Wai Studio' at the conference, 1688 announced several AI-related enhancements: the launch of the '1688 AI Edition' app, the introduction of the free enterprise inquiry tool '88 Cha', and a comprehensive AI upgrade to the existing 'Alibaba 1688' app.

Regardless of whether they run a factory, engage in wholesale, or embark on a light entrepreneurship venture, B-end merchants can now collaborate efficiently with AI during 1688's comprehensive AI transformation. This initiative breaks business boundaries, making B-end operations lighter, more precise, and more profitable.

As the leading B2B platform with over 100 million annual active buyers and more than 1 million source factories, 1688's full AI transformation signifies the accelerated emergence of the 'AI to B' business model, positioning AI as a new growth engine for B-class businesses.

01 Comprehensive AI Transformation: Equipping B-end Merchants with Intelligent Tools

1688 is accelerating its comprehensive AI transformation, positioning AI as the infrastructure of the To B sector. At the conference, 1688 revealed frontline practices of AI to B, encompassing the AI transformation of three buyer-side products, three seller-side capabilities, and a new brand created through industrial collaboration. These initiatives make AI a tangible and usable business tool for B-end merchants.

On the buyer side, 1688 has introduced the 1688 AI Edition app and the free enterprise inquiry tool '88 Cha', while simultaneously conducting a full-terminal AI upgrade for the original Alibaba 1688 app and PC terminal.

How will the 1688 AI Edition benefit merchants in practice? 1688 CTO Huo Chengfu told 'Hao Wai Studio' that AI can unlock and capture users' scenario-based needs, preventing these needs from going offline. This enhances buyers' convenience and makes it easier for merchants to connect with business opportunities.

1688 CTO Huo Chengfu

Currently, both buyer and seller AI products are free. The short-term goal is to co-develop products and enhance user retention and scale. In the long run, 1688 aims to transcend the traditional advertising revenue model, evolving into a digital supply chain technology company focused on high-profit segments of the production and distribution smile curve to achieve monetization.

Leveraging large model capabilities, 1688 can dissect complex needs, such as combining spatial-temporal analysis to identify popular goods in street markets and night markets, accurately matching merchants with products, and forming a closed loop. Compared to platforms that merely provide knowledge or rely on third-party data, 1688 can control factory qualifications and delivery, creating an end-to-end service advantage and realizing a complete closed loop from demand to transaction.

Specifically, the '1688 AI Edition' app integrates AI capabilities throughout the business chain, encompassing five major functions: AI search, AI product selection, AI product creation, AI image search, and AI enterprise inquiry. As experienced users attest, AI is becoming a 'new business partner', capable of identifying business opportunities like a seasoned professional, promoting new products like a buyer, and even serving as a designer for original creations.

The free enterprise inquiry tool '88 Cha' further lowers the decision-making threshold, allowing users to access it for free on PC, Alipay, or WeChat Mini Programs. By inputting a simple description, users can inquire about a factory's qualifications and production capabilities and even generate industry research reports, transforming 'factory inspection' from a physically demanding task into a straightforward online process.

For merchants, the upgraded 'AI Digital Employee' will also prove invaluable. This 'virtual team' composed of business managers, product specialists, customer specialists, and promotion specialists will transcend their previous role as mere 'executors' responsible for product posting and information optimization, transforming into 'decision-makers'.

In specific decision-making, AI digital employees can provide product selection suggestions by analyzing market trends, formulate pricing strategies based on cost data, and even optimize traffic operation plans. With over 20 operational skills covering the entire process from business diagnosis to execution, their core value has shifted from 'efficiency improvement' to 'helping merchants make money'.

According to official disclosures, merchants employing AI-managed operations have achieved a store retention rate of 64%, a store visit and purchase rate of 27%, and significant improvements in GMV, store visits (Unique Visitors), and traffic acquisition.

Relying on Tongyi Qianwen and DeepSeek, 1688 has also created a 'Business Large Model', enabling merchants to directly reach out to C-class buyers who were previously unwilling to serve, difficult to serve, or impossible to serve through AI services—light entrepreneurs and side hustlers with high demands for novel styles, small orders, and fast responses.

In the future, 1688 will introduce an AI-edition merchant membership product for merchants, providing high-quality merchants with deeper intelligent services and precise traffic support to establish a virtuous cycle where 'good products are rewarded'.

At the industrial depth level, 1688 has launched the '1688 Source Selection' plan to deeply integrate AI technology into industrial clusters. Focusing on three major scenarios—health and wellness, transportation, and home living—this plan collaborates with source factories to use AI to insight into the needs of young consumers and assist in product design, aiming to create 100 'super products' and promote the transformation of manufacturing from 'OEM production' to 'brand co-creation'.

Behind all these developments lies 1688's clear AI strategic guarantee, with free tools lowering the usage threshold for small and medium-sized enterprises and delivering quantifiable results.

From buyer sourcing, merchant operations to industrial upgrades, 1688's comprehensive AI measures are simplifying B-end business: factories can rely on AI to handle small orders, entrepreneurs can use AI to find the right sources, and merchants can use AI to calculate the market.

02 The AI to B Business Paradigm Emerges: 1688 Demands AI-Driven Human Efficiency

As early as two and a half years ago, 1688 began exploring AI. Last year, it launched over 70 AI projects, dissecting every link of 'sourcing, product selection, inquiry, payment, and fulfillment' to test whether AI could enhance each one.

Following the popularity of DeepSeek, 1688 established an AI strategy promotion group to promote organizational youthfulness, swiftly reducing over 70 projects to 10 after the Spring Festival and prioritizing them.

1688's comprehensive AI transformation marks the accelerated emergence of the 'AI to B' business model, with AI comprehensively simplifying procurement and sales processes in the B2B sector. It not only amplifies the capabilities of individuals and factories but also makes 'light entrepreneurship' and 'side hustles' new trends.

Data shows that the number of active buyers on the 1688 platform increased by 55% year-on-year in 2024. Among them, the number of active buyers using the dropshipping distribution model, which eliminates inventory risks, increased by 75% year-on-year.

The trend of 'light entrepreneurship' offers young people another possible way to break away from workplace competition: their career paths are no longer limited to food delivery or ride-hailing. With the help of AI and flexible digital supply chains, everyone can become their own boss.

More importantly, flexible digital supply chains are becoming more agile due to 'AI+', significantly lowering the threshold for 'light entrepreneurship' and 'side hustles'. With AI, not only are individual capabilities amplified, but the future organizational form is also being reshaped: 'one person with multiple abilities', 'one person with multiple roles', and 'one-person companies' are becoming the norm rather than the exception.

The rapid increase in AI acceptance and application rates on both the supply and demand sides is also accelerating the adoption of AI to B.

As of February 2025, the number of annual active buyers on the 1688 platform exceeded 100 million. In addition to traditional categories such as daily necessities, clothing, and accessories, highly specialized products like sports and outdoor gear, small household appliances, and automotive accessories have gradually become core categories on the platform, with strong demand for AI-driven precise procurement. On the supply side, the proportion of AI applications among small and medium-sized enterprises has rapidly increased, especially among high-quality factories taken over by the second generation, which use AI to optimize R&D and create best-sellers, making the integration of 'AI + industry' the mainstream.

Furthermore, it is understood that under the AI to B business model, 1688 has internally set the clear goal of 'demanding AI-driven human efficiency'. Currently, AI's 'human efficiency' indicators as an intelligent agent are measurable and quantifiable. Data indicates that over the past year, AI technology has driven a 20% to 30% increase in key metrics such as platform conversion rate and repurchase rate; it is anticipated that by 2025, this increase will reach 50% to 100%.

In the process of AI's comprehensive penetration into industries, 1688 is facilitating the transition of 'AI to B' from concept to reality by lowering thresholds, enhancing efficiency, reconstructing logic, and adapting to needs. Even small businesses can operate more simply and intelligently with the help of AI.

Lead Image Source | Zhejiang 'Platform + Industry' AI Matchmaking Event