CoCreate 2025 in London: Alibaba's redesign of global B2B commerce through AI-powered procurement solutions

AI transformation in B2B commerce? The end of traditional purchasing? How Alibaba is forever changing procurement for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

With CoCreate 2025, which will celebrate its European premiere in London on November 14, 2025, Alibaba.com is bringing more than just an event to the continent: it's a strategic move to replace the often outdated and inefficient processes of global procurement with AI-powered intelligence. What has been a complex, resource-intensive obstacle course for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – finding, negotiating, and verifying international suppliers – is set to become an intuitive and data-driven process.

At the heart of the event is a live demonstration of a new era of sourcing. Instead of passively navigating endless catalogs, entrepreneurs can use tools like Alibaba.com AI Mode and the Accio AI Sourcing Agent to articulate their needs in natural language and receive curated, verified supplier lists in no time. This event is a carefully orchestrated ecosystem that combines direct access to leading global suppliers, thousands of free product samples to minimize risk, and a network of successful entrepreneurs and influencers.

Fueled by a $1 million funding program, including a pitch competition with substantial prize money, CoCreate 2025 addresses the most pressing challenges facing European companies: the need for robust, diversified supply chains, increased efficiency, and access to global markets that previously seemed reserved for large corporations. In collaboration with its partners, CoCreate acts as a catalyst, providing European SMEs with the tools not only to survive but also to grow globally in the age of digital transformation.

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Europe's largest B2B event as a catalyst for the digital transformation of SMEs

The CoCreate 2025 event, taking place on November 14, 2025, at the Intercontinental Hotel at the O2 Arena in London, marks a turning point for European SMEs. With this European premiere of an event already successfully established in Las Vegas, Alibaba.com is bringing its flagship program to the European continent for the first time. What might initially appear to be just another industry trade fair is, in fact, a strategic move to fundamentally transform the outdated structures of global B2B commerce. Xpert.Digital has been invited to CoCreate as a partner of Accio and, as an industry specialist, will play a key role in connecting German-speaking and European entrepreneurs with Alibaba.com's innovative solutions.

The event kicks off at 9:00 AM with a high-profile opening keynote address by the President of Alibaba.com, setting the tone for a full day of innovation presentations, networking events, and hands-on workshops. Bringing together more than 30 leading Alibaba.com suppliers from around the world, showcasing nearly 1,500 best-selling products across more than 25 different industries, this event is more than just a product showcase. It's a meticulously curated ecosystem for redefining the global sourcing landscape.

The structural innovation: From passive shopping to intelligent procurement

At the heart of CoCreate 2025 lies a fundamental transformation of procurement logic for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Traditionally, international product sourcing has been a time-consuming and resource-intensive process requiring in-depth industry-specific knowledge, multilingual buyers, and a robust network of contacts. SMEs, particularly in Europe, faced the challenge that every new product category, every expansion of their product range, necessitated an intensive research, negotiation, and validation phase.

The event presents a radical simplification of this process through the practical demonstration of thousands of in-demand products from over 200 factories worldwide. Visitors can take home more than 6,000 free samples to test products in their own operational context. This is a risk reduction method that can shorten traditional procurement processes by weeks or months.

The key innovation is the opportunity to test Alibaba.com AI Mode and the new Accio AI Sourcing Agent in the dedicated Next-Gen Sourcing Center. These tools represent a conceptual revolution in how buyers interact with global supply chains. Designed by Alibaba International as an AI-native business-to-business search engine, Accio has already achieved impressive metrics. In its first month since launching in November 2024, Accio reached over 500,000 users from small and medium-sized enterprises worldwide. The platform processes natural language queries and already catalogs millions of suppliers globally, providing access to more than 7,600 product categories, built on over 200 million industry-specific parameters for global trade.

The effectiveness of this new procurement method is demonstrated by impressive conversion data. The Accio Inspiration feature has increased the supplier conversion rate by almost 30 percent, measured from the initial search to the request for a quote. The platform achieved a Net Promoter Score of over 50, a value that indicates high customer satisfaction and a strong willingness to recommend. These metrics suggest that AI-driven procurement not only delivers efficiency gains but also improves the quality of business relationships.

The economic arithmetic of supplier diversification

For European SMEs, diversifying their supplier sources has become critically important. Geopolitical uncertainties, supply chain disruptions exposed by the pandemic, and rising protectionism have created a new imperative: companies must become more resilient to shocks while remaining cost-efficient. CoCreate 2025 addresses this dilemma by providing the opportunity to get to know a large number of verified suppliers, a process that would normally take months.

Alibaba.com's global supplier pool comprises over 200,000 verified suppliers across 76 different industries, with access to over 200 million product offerings. This network of scale enables SMEs to overcome traditional sourcing barriers. Building a truly global ecosystem of suppliers has traditionally been the domain of large corporations with dedicated procurement teams, established international contacts, and substantial financial resources. CoCreate 2025 now makes this opportunity accessible to smaller market players as well.

The event offers multiple layers of networking opportunities. At the Sourcing Genius Bar and during the so-called Happy Hours, participants can connect with more than 150 SME influencers and entrepreneurs who have successfully scaled their businesses. This is not a traditional networking session, but a structured format that brings together entrepreneurs with proven track records. The influencer component is strategically important: they act as multipliers of best practices and trusted advisors within their ecosystems.

The competitive aspect as a catalyst for innovation

A key structural element of CoCreate 2025 is the CoCreate Pitch, the final battle between 30 finalists for a combined prize of US$400,000, which is part of a broader US$1 million funding program. This is not just a PR spectacle, but an economically significant filter for innovation and entrepreneurship. The 30 finalists will pitch to a high-profile panel of global investors and be evaluated in two separate categories: General Entrepreneurs and Athlete Entrepreneurs, the latter identified with the support of the International Olympic Committee.

The prize structure signals a well-thought-out strategy for fostering entrepreneurship that goes beyond simply distributing money. In the European format, ten winners will each receive $20,000 in direct cash prize money plus $10,000 in credits and in-kind support. The Grand Prize Winner will receive $100,000 in cash prize money plus $100,000 in credits and support. This structure incentivizes not only the creation of new businesses but also their integration into the Alibaba.com ecosystem.

The pitch component has a strategically influential impact on the innovation landscape. By providing massive visibility to global investors and manufacturers, Alibaba creates a market mechanism that identifies and promotes high-potential entrepreneurs. The fact that the event is part of a $1 million initiative demonstrates Alibaba's serious intention to function not only as a marketplace but also as a catalyst for genuine economic development.

Artificial intelligence as the great equalizer

The technological pillar of CoCreate 2025 is remarkable. The Alibaba.com AI Mode and the Accio AI Sourcing Agent represent a new class of AI applications that do not aim to optimize existing processes, but rather enable new processes that were previously economically impossible.

AI Mode functions as an intelligent search interface that translates natural language queries into highly precise search results. Instead of a buyer struggling through keyword navigation, they can express their requirements in German, English, or other languages, and the system finds matching suppliers. This is not a marginal efficiency gain, but a fundamental transformation of accessibility.

The Accio Agent represents an even more advanced step: an AI system that tracks inquiries, coordinates payments, and proactively provides supply chain updates. This automates not only the search process but also post-transaction coordination, an area traditionally associated with significant administrative costs and error rates.

An Alibaba.com survey across the US, UK, Germany, and France revealed that 64 percent of procurement decision-makers plan to integrate AI into their sourcing strategies by 2025. This signals massive market potential. However, the survey also highlights a significant hurdle: many companies are unaware of concrete use cases for AI in sourcing or lack confidence in its application. CoCreate 2025 serves as a live demonstration, reducing skepticism through direct experience.

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The partnership model and the role of Xpert.Digital

A strategically important aspect of CoCreate 2025 is the involvement of specialized local partners. Xpert.Digital was invited to the event as a partner of Accio. Xpert.Digital acts as an industry hub focusing on digitalization, mechanical engineering, logistics, and photovoltaics. This is not a marginal role, but rather a central cornerstone of the European strategy.

The Xpert.Digital platform possesses in-depth knowledge across various industries and can therefore develop tailored strategies precisely aligned with the requirements and challenges of specific market segments. This is particularly valuable in Europe, where strong industry clustering and specific regulatory requirements shape the market.

The collaboration with Xpert.Digital signals a well-considered understanding that global scaling is not achieved through the mere replication of processes, but rather through strategic partnerships with local experts. Xpert.Digital acts as a cultural and industrial translator, enabling a global platform to be adapted to the local contexts of European SMEs.

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The B2B e-commerce transformation wave of 2025

CoCreate 2025 is taking place in a context of enormous B2B e-commerce transformation. Gartner predicts that by the end of 2025, around 80 percent of all B2B transactions will take place online, a dramatic increase from the current 30 percent. This is a structural shift driven by technological enablement and changing business expectations.

The trend toward the consumerization of B2B e-commerce is central to this. 73 percent of B2B buyers prefer online retail due to its efficiency and reliability. Even more significant is that 75 percent of B2B customers state they would switch suppliers if the new supplier offered a better online buying experience. This means that digital competence and user experience are now a core competitive factor in the B2B sector, not a secondary competency.

By 2025, AI-powered personalization will be a key B2B e-commerce trend. 66 percent of B2B buyers expect a fully personalized experience when purchasing products, 57 percent desire personalization when searching for products, and 72 percent when using the product or software. This places demands on platforms that go far beyond traditional catalog management. Accio and Alibaba.com AI Mode address precisely these needs.

Supply Chain Resilience and the New Imperatives

A subtle but critically important context for CoCreate 2025 is the resilience transformation of supply chains. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent geopolitical tensions have established a new standard: supply chains must be not only cost-efficient but also resilient to crises. This means that companies can no longer rely on single-source or duopoly-like supplier structures.

Supply chain diversification is not merely a mitigation tool, but can lead to genuine strategic advantages when properly orchestrated. A company working with 200,000 verified supplier options can not only react to crises, but also proactively explore different geographic, technological, and pricing strategies. Transparency and accessibility of supplier data thus become strategic assets.

Supply chain and logistics experts emphasize the crucial shift from silos to holistic approaches. Modern technologies can aggregate data from various areas to provide a comprehensive view of the supply chain. CoCreate 2025 offers a testbed for this philosophy by making more than 6,000 samples from over 200 factories available and simultaneously providing AI-powered analytics tools to identify patterns and implement optimizations.

Procurement cost accounting and the ROI case

The economic logic of CoCreate 2025 is compelling. Traditional procurement research for a new product segment typically costs a European SME several thousand euros in time, travel expenses, and the risk of failure. A buyer has to attend trade fairs, contact suppliers, conduct complex negotiations, test samples, and go through quality control processes.

CoCreate 2025 condenses this entire experience into a single day, with tickets costing visitors only around £79. More than 6,000 free samples dramatically reduce the risks of product validation. Direct discussions with 30 leading suppliers eliminate middlemen and translation complexities. For an SME looking for new product categories or wanting to diversify existing supply chains, this represents a massive increase in efficiency.

The AI ​​Mode and Accio Agent, on the other hand, offer a continuous advantage after the event. A buyer using these tools can explore supplier options in minutes that would traditionally have required weeks of research. The 30 percent conversion increase achieved with the Accio Inspiration feature translates into concrete business successes: more closed supplier relationships, faster time-to-market for new products, and therefore higher overall profitability.

The influencer ecosystem as a trust infrastructure

An innovative element of CoCreate 2025 is the Sourcing Genius Bar, featuring over 150 SME influencers and entrepreneurs. This is not simply networking in the traditional sense, but rather a structured infrastructure of trust. SME influencers, like Xpert.Digital, are entrepreneurs who have demonstrably achieved scaling success, often through the use of global supply chains and e-commerce platforms.

These influencers act as credibility boosters. A new entrepreneur who encounters an established figure in their segment who can say, "I have successfully followed this path," receives not only practical advice but also a form of social proof that lowers the psychological barriers to entering global trade.

In the B2B influencer landscape of 2025, two levels play a significant role. At the top level are macro-influencers with over 100,000 followers, often with a broad target audience and high costs. Below that level are micro- and nano-influencers with 10,000 to under 10,000 followers, who often have higher engagement rates and more specialized target groups. CoCreate 2025 appears to be strategically focusing on the micro-influencer level, as these are more directly accessible and have deeper credibility within their niches.

The global dimension: From micro-multinationals to true players

A particularly fascinating aspect of Alibaba's vision is the concept of micro-multinationals: small companies that can effortlessly operate on a global scale. This isn't just a marketing phrase, but represents a genuine economic transformation. Traditional understanding holds that global operations are only possible for established companies with substantial resources. This is no longer true.

A small European company with 10 employees can interact with hundreds of suppliers worldwide through Accio and Alibaba.com, analyze market trends in seconds, source new products in hours, and begin scaling in days. This is not an exaggeration: the technology makes it possible. CoCreate 2025 and the more extensive $1 million funding program signal Alibaba's serious intention to turn this vision into reality.

Alibaba.com has over 50 million SME buyers and sellers already active on the platform. If even a fraction of them utilize AI Mode and Accio features, we would be talking about a transformation affecting millions of businesses worldwide. CoCreate 2025 is a catalyst for this adoption.

The Regulatory and Compliance Dimension

An often overlooked aspect of global B2B trade is compliance complexity. European SMEs, particularly in regulated sectors, must navigate extensive requirements regarding supplier certifications, quality control, environmental standards, and other regulatory obligations. A supplier may offer excellent prices, but without the necessary certification, they are unusable.

Accio's Deep Search feature addresses precisely this need: it identifies compliance and reliability suppliers and delivers AI-curated shortlists already filtered according to relevant criteria. This is of immense practical importance for European companies. CoCreate 2025 offers an opportunity to test these capabilities live and understand how they can be integrated into your own compliance infrastructure.

A redefinition of the rules of the game

CoCreate 2025 in London is not just another industry trade show. It's a strategic event that challenges and redefines the fundamental structures of global B2B commerce. By combining physical networking, hands-on product demonstrations, AI-powered procurement automation, and business development through pitch competitions, Alibaba is creating a comprehensive ecosystem that empowers SMEs to operate on a global scale.

For European SMEs, particularly in Germany, the partnership with Xpert.Digital signals that local expertise and global platforms don't compete but rather work synergistically. German SMEs possess deep industry expertise; what they lacked was access to global supply chains and AI-powered tools to navigate them. CoCreate 2025 offers precisely that.

In a context where 80 percent of all B2B transactions will take place online by the end of 2025, where 64 percent of sourcing decision-makers are planning AI integration, and where supply chain resilience is not optional but essential, CoCreate 2025 can be understood as an event operating precisely at the intersection of these transformative forces. For those who understand and capitalize on this moment, it offers a catalyst for genuine business transformation.

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