What is a Verified Supplier on Alibaba.com?

When it comes to B2B trade, especially cross-border B2B trade, trust is key between buyers and suppliers. Wholesale orders can cost thousands of dollars, so buyers need to be confident in where they are spending such large amounts of money.

That’s why Alibaba.com has introduced the Verified Supplier membership for global sellers this year, a program that verifies the legitimacy of individual suppliers’ operations.

In this article, we will discuss everything you need to know about the Verified Supplierprogram on Alibaba.com. We’ll start by exploring what a Verified Supplier is and what benefits come with this membership program. From there, we will provide detailed instructions on how to become a Verified Supplier.

What is a Verified Supplier?

Verified Supplier is the membership tier for high-quality suppliers on Alibaba.com. This exclusive designation is meant to create more trust amongst buyers.

The program provides suppliers with on-site verification services from an independent, professional certification institution. By using a third-party verification consultant, buyers can rest assured that the Verified Supplier status is not issued with any bias, and the findings can speak for themselves.

Verified Suppliers can be identified through the “Verified Supplier” tag on Alibaba.com. The tag is viewable to buyers in the platform’s search results, on product pages, and on suppliers’ company profiles.

Members of the Verified Supplier program also have access to exclusive perks and benefits. These include on-site audit videos, extra product showcases, exclusive mini-sites, registration priority for promotional events, and opportunities for greater organic search exposure.

World's leading inspection companies

Alibaba.com partners with two of the world’s leading inspection companies, including SGS and TÜV Rheinland.

SGS is a global leader in testing, inspection, and certification. This company is recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. SGS’s services are accessible to wholesalers and manufacturers all over since the company boasts 96,000 employees and 2700 offices and laboratories worldwide.

TÜV Rheinland is another inspection company that Alibaba.com uses for the Verified Supplier review process. This company was founded nearly 150 years ago, making it one of the oldest inspection companies in the world. TÜV Rheinland has over 20,600 employees and 241 laboratories across 56 different countries.

What are the benefits for Verified Suppliers?

Alibaba.com offers a slew of benefits for Verified Suppliers, ranging from building trust with potential buyers to exclusive access to special features.

Here’s a complete list of benefits and perks that Verified Suppliers have on Alibaba.com.

Earns trust with buyers

Since each Verified Supplier is thoroughly vetted by a third-party inspection company, sellers with this designation appear more reliable to buyers.

There are a few Verified Supplier perks that further solidify this reliability and trustworthiness amongst buyers. They include exclusive “Verified tags, downloadable assessment reports, and verified videos.

Exclusive tag to differ from Gold Suppliers

Verified Suppliers are set up apart by the exclusive “Verified” tag. This tag is visible to buyers in search results, on each product detail page, on business cards, and on your supplier Mini Site company profile.

This tag is different from the Gold Supplier tag, so verified suppliers can be easily recognized with just a glance.

Verified Suppliers’ product capability, service capability, R&D capacity, quality control, and trade capabilities are all highlighted with a “Verified” tag as well since the verification process takes these aspects into consideration. This provides even greater confidence to your buyers.

Detailed assessment report downloads

The Verified Supplier verification process results in a comprehensive assessment report from a reputable, third-party certification company. Verified sellers can display this assessment report for buyers on their Mini Sites.

Access to this sort of documentation is worth its weight in gold. It gives buyers an intimate look at the ins and outs of your business’s operations. This level of transparency ultimately leads to greater trust amongst buyers and helps generate more business leads.

Verified videos

Verified Sellers also have the option to submit video footage to the inspection companies to be cataloged as another “Verified” element on their Alibaba.com storefronts.

These videos provide an inside look at your business’s operations and showcase your facilities as reliable and dependable to buyers. This saves time for buyers and suppliers alike since it can eliminate the need for on-site visits.

Additional membership benefits

In addition to the trust-building benefits that come with being a Verified Supplier, there are a handful of other perks that are included with the Verified Supplier membership.

These include an Exclusive Pavillion on Alibaba.com, more access to global buyers, and access to professional services.

1. Exclusive Pavillion: Source from Factories

“Source from Factories” is a new designation on Alibaba.com that is replacing the “Premium OEM Factories” tag. This signifies that the products are coming directly from where they are manufactured.

Aside from signifying reliability on your storefront, the Source from Factories tag lands Verified Suppliers on a special pavilion on the Alibaba.com website. This page can be accessed from the marketplace’s home page with just one click.

If you go to the Alibaba.com home page and scroll to the “Customized Products” window, you’ll find the “Source for Factories” section. This page is populated with products from Verified Suppliers.

2. More access to global buyers

The exclusive pavilion is just one of many ways that Verified Suppliers boost their visibility to global buyers. Verified Supplier members can get 4-star direct/5-star direct. This means that by participating in the program, these sellers become 4 or 5-start suppliers and receive a traffic boost on featured products for 6 months.

Plus, Verified suppliers can send priority silver and gold quotations in response to RFQs. These specialized responses are designed to capture the attention of inquiring buyers. They also receive 60 showcase spots to boost product listings in the search results.

3. Extra professional services

Verified Suppliers have access to additional professional services to help them with their businesses, including a Verified Supplier Center, 1-on-1 consulting, and a Learning & Development program.

The Verified Supplier Center includes a comprehensive tool collection and entrance to multiple online events. The tools in the Verified Supplier Center are more advanced than the general tools on the My Alibaba dashboard.

Verified Supplier members receive VIP 1-on-1 consulting from industry specialists. This comes in the form of monthly guidance and instructions for improving selling initiatives on Alibaba.com.

Verified suppliers will soon be eligible for a special Learning & Development program. This consists of exclusive classes created by Alibaba.com that are specifically designed for Verified Suppliers. These classes will help suppliers make the most of the Alibaba.com marketplace so that they can make more sales and boost their revenue.

Verified Suppliers vs. GGS Suppliers

Global Gold Supplier (GGS) is another membership tier on Alibaba.com. This is the most popular tier for suppliers on the platform, but it is a bit more basic than the Verified Suppliers membership.

Here are the exclusive perks that Verified Suppliers have access to but GGS members do not:

• Display a thorough assessment report from a professional third-party inspector on your company profile
• An on-site audit video of your production facilities (worth USD $15,000)
• Exclusive Mini Sites
• Reliable customer service from the support team at the Alibaba.com headquarters or your local Alibaba.com office
• A guaranteed four-star rating for new members through “Star Direct” (saves on time and the labor costs normally spent on the upgrading process)
• 60 showcases per year (which is valued at USD $21,744 per year) and 10 sub-accounts (GGS suppliers are only allowed 20 showcases per year and 5 sub-accounts)
• Personalized consultations provided by a service specialist 12 times a year with additional in-depth analyses performed four times a year
• Registration priority for website promotions or when launching exclusive scenarios (such as priority access to Source from Factories- replacement of Premium OEM factories)
• RFQ quotation priority (USD $3,600 value)

The GGS membership is still very valuable for those who are unable to invest in the Verified Suppliers program. However, the perks that come with the upgrade to Verified Supplier status provide a great value for the investment.

How to become a Verified Supplier

Becoming a Verified Supplier on Alibaba.com is fairly straightforward. Here’s how the verification process works.

1. Verification request

The first step to becoming a Verified Supplier is to initiate the process with a verification request. You can do that by navigating to “Shop” > “Verification Process” in the “My Alibaba” dashboard.

Make sure you include the correct address and contact information so that the process runs seamlessly. You must also complete the payment when prompted in order to get things in motion.

2. Inspection process

Once you’ve initiated the verification process, a third-party inspection company will contact you to make an appointment for your on-site audit and inspection.

From there, prepare the documents required for your on-site audit. It is a good idea to prepare your warehouse, as well. Make things tidy and organized ahead of your inspections so that the inspectors can do their job.

After the inspection is complete and your store has been verified, you’ll receive the written assessment report. This report will be shared with buyers who visit your online storefront.

3. Complete Mini Site setup

After you’ve passed the inspection and have completed the verification process, it is time to configure your exclusive Mini Site storefront. You can add graphics, videos, and other media that represent your brand.

Make sure to book your video shoot so that the timeline for your media asset production aligns with your intended Mini Site launch.

FAQs about Verified Suppliers

There’s so much to learn about the Verified Supplier membership on Alibaba.com. Even though we’ve covered a lot of ground, you may still have a few outstanding questions.

We’ve put together a few frequently asked questions about Verified Supplier on Alibaba.com. Let’s check them out.

Is Verified Supplier open to all markets?

The Verified Supplier membership is not open to all markets at this time.

Since we work with third-party inspection partners (including SGS and TUV) to provide local inspections, only suppliers in China, Italy, South Korea, Vietnam, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and Turkey can become Verified Suppliers.

We have plans to expand this program to other markets in the future. Some of these markets include Germany, the United States, and Japan.

What will be reviewed during the verification process?

The Verified Seller verification process involves the review of more than 100 items. This may seem like a lot, but this process is designed to confirm that our Verified Sellers are the best of the best.

These 100 items fall into 8 different categories, including:

• After-sales guarantee
• Company profile
• Main products
• Management quality
• Production capabilities
• Research and development capabilities
• Service capabilities
• Supply chain capabilities

After a comprehensive review, the certification institution will issue an extensive report to accompany your verification. This report will be accessible to interested buyers on your company profile.

Sell on Alibaba.com

The Verified Seller program is one of many perks of selling on Alibaba.com. Trade Assurance is another program that is set in place to help build trust amongst buyers and ensure a positive experience on the platform.

Alibaba.com also includes a variety of tools designed specifically to facilitate cross-border trade. These include auto-translated messages, a wide variety of supported payment methods, and other localization capabilities.

Open a seller account on Alibaba.com to start selling in no time at all.