Kenneth Dwi Putra, Buyer Growth at Alibaba.com, explained why trust is the real currency that closes cross-border deals, not only price.

Jakarta, 15 April 2026. In a ballroom packed with Indonesian entrepreneurs, exporters, and SME owners, Kenneth Dwi Putra took the stage at the Trade Assurance Launch Indonesia. Behind him, a single sentence lit up the screen: Inside the Buyer’s Mind. Then he asked the room a question that made the crowd fall silent.

“Imagine transferring tens of thousands of dollars maybe fifty thousand, maybe more to a supplier you have never met. For goods you cannot touch. From a country thousands of miles away. How would you feel?”

The answer is almost always the same: fear. Fear that the money will disappear, that the quality will not match the promise, that the container will never arrive. That long before any price negotiation is where every international trade deal begins. And that is why, as Kenneth told the audience, a seller’s job is not simply to provide a product. It is to remove that fear.

Every Cross-Border Transaction Starts With Fear

We often talk about export from the seller’s side: how to find buyers, how to boost visibility, how to negotiate prices. But we rarely pause to ask what is actually happening inside the mind of an international buyer when they decide to purchase from Indonesia.

On stage, Kenneth sketched the profile of John Smith, a coffee buyer searching for Indonesian specialty coffee in bulk to stock his soon-to-open stores. He finds an Indonesian supplier profile that looks interesting. The photos are appealing. The price is competitive. But when a USD 50,000 invoice appears on his screen, the distance between interest and action suddenly feels vast.

“He does not know you,” Kenneth said. “He cannot taste the coffee first. He does not know whether your warehouse exists, whether the shipment will arrive on time, or whether the goods will match the sample.”

In an instant, a business decision becomes a leap of faith. A $50,000 leap of faith. Buyers like John will not take that leap unless they see something that reassures them.

Global Demand Is Real. The Question Is: Can Buyers Find You?

Before diving deeper into trust, Kenneth shared a piece of good news: global demand for Indonesian products is surging.

The numbers on the screen were not projections. They were real searches happening right now. “Indonesian Specialty Coffee” was searched more than 4,200 times in a single month from New York. “Sustainable Teak Furniture” appeared 2,800 times from Dubai. “Natural Coconut Oil Bulk” showed up 3,100 times from Rotterdam.

Beyond that, Indonesia ranks first globally for searches related to “sustainable furniture supplier.” In natural resources, artisanal goods, and sustainable products, Indonesia is not just competitive, it is the reference point.

For Indonesian SMEs and mid-sized producers, these figures are proof that local products. From Toraja coffee to teak furniture, from natural coconut oil to ethnic crafts already have markets waiting overseas. The challenge is not creating demand. It is making sure the right buyers discover your products in the right way.

“This is not about whether a market exists,” Kenneth said. “The market already exists. The question is: when that buyer types those keywords, does your brand show up? And if it does, do they immediately feel safe enough to reach out?”

Understanding the buyer’s mind is no longer optional in export strategy. It is the foundation.

High-Value Buyers Do Not Browse, They Filter

One of the most striking insights from Kenneth’s session was that major buyers do not behave like casual consumers. They do not open a marketplace and click on products at random. They filter first.

In the same room, he walked the audience through the buyer profiles most active on Alibaba.com. Wholesale traders and resellers; manufacturers and ODM buyers sourcing raw materials; corporate procurement teams; e-commerce entrepreneurs such as Amazon FBA sellers, Shopify merchants, and dropshippers; importers and regional distributors; and retail chains looking for seasonal or niche merchandise.

These are decision-makers with budgets, targets, and risks they must justify. So when they search for a supplier, they are not looking for the cheapest option. They are looking for the most trustworthy one.

“In modern global trade,” Kenneth said firmly, “safe beats cheap. Buyers will pay more if the supplier successfully reduces their risk.”

That sentence reframed the conversation for many in the room. It is not always the lowest price that wins. It is not the biggest discount that closes the deal. It is the feeling of safety.

The Three Silent Questions That Decide the Deal

Kenneth went on to describe what he calls the silent deal breakers, the questions buyers rarely ask out loud, yet the ones that determine whether a deal happens at all.

First: Is this supplier real? Does the company actually exist and hold the right licenses?

Second: Is my payment protected? If something goes wrong, can I get my money back?

Third: Will my order arrive as agreed? If quality or shipping falls short, who guarantees it?

If those three questions are not answered within seconds of viewing your profile, Kenneth warned, the deal is lost before the conversation ever begins.

That is why Gold Supplier, Trade Assurance, and ratings and reviews are not just icons on a profile. They are a digital handshake, the bridge that closes the trust gap between buyers and suppliers separated by oceans.

Trade Assurance: Turning Uncertainty Into Confidence

Midway through the session, Kenneth reintroduced the mechanism that has protected millions of transactions on Alibaba.com. Trade Assurance.

Since its launch in 2015, Trade Assurance has covered more than 160 million orders, involved more than 200,000 suppliers, and protected more than 280 million products. Today, 37 million buyers worldwide use it as their primary filter when sourcing on Alibaba.com.

But the numbers are only half the story. What matters more is what buyers experience: access to verified partners, secure payment from order to delivery, protection against quality and shipping issues, and an integrated dispute-resolution mechanism. Real feedback from other global buyers lets decisions be based on proven performance rather than guesswork.

“Trade Assurance is not ordinary insurance,” Kenneth said. “It is a universal language that tells the buyer: if you trade with this supplier, you are not alone. There is a system that makes sure the agreement is honored.”

For Indonesian sellers, this is a paradigm shift. You are no longer fighting alone to convince a buyer abroad. You have a trust infrastructure working for you as long as you know how to use it.

From Insight to Action: Three Steps to Build Trust

Once you understand the buyer’s mind, the next question is how to apply it to your business.

First, verify your business identity. Make sure your seller profile includes complete company information, legal documentation, and responsive contact details. Buyers look for signals that you are a real entity, not an anonymous account.

Second, optimize your communication experience. Answer buyer questions quickly, clearly, and transparently. Send samples on time. Explain your production process, shipping estimates, and quality policies.

Third, use Trade Assurance as a marketing tool. Do not hide this advantage at the bottom of your profile. Display it prominently so buyers see that transactions with you are protected. When a buyer sees that protection icon, what they feel is not convenience but certainty.

Why Alibaba.com Events Are Worth Your Time

By the time Kenneth’s session ended, the queue of questions from the audience was still long because every sentence felt like a revelation. That is what makes events like Trade Assurance Launch Indonesia more than product launches. They are where global business strategy is broken down into concrete steps. Indonesian entrepreneurs learn that exporting is not only about sending goods abroad, it is about building trust strong enough to convince someone on the other side of the world to press Pay Now.

For those who were not in the ballroom, the good news is that these insights are still within reach. The same platform, features, and community are now available to Indonesian sellers serious about growing globally.

And if one lesson stood out from Kenneth’s session, it is this: export success is no longer decided by who is cheapest, but by who is most trusted. In an increasingly competitive global market, trust is the most valuable currency.

Time to Build Your Digital Handshake

Understanding the international buyer’s mind is the first step. The next step is making sure your business appears as a safe, credible, and competitive choice.

Start with one simple thing: make sure your seller profile carries every trust signal buyers look for. Verification, transparency, and transaction protection. In the digital trade era, your product may attract the buyer, but your trustworthiness closes the deal.

If you want to turn uncertainty into confidence, and buyer fear into repeat orders, now is the time to join thousands of Indonesian sellers who have already built their digital handshake. Every day, buyers like John Smith type the keywords that could lead to your products. Make sure your business is ready when they find you.