Rep Data works with Alibaba.com to uncover data on small business growth factors

Results from a new Alibaba.com B2B survey were recently announced, indicating that small businesses in the United States that turned toward digitalization saw greater sales growth than their analog counterparts. The company, which is part of the Alibaba Group, provides a leading e-commerce platform for businesses. They turned to Rep Data to help them find the right B2B respondents for their large quantitative research project, which encompassed 2,401 respondents. We sourced this niche B2B survey audience using a double opt-in online panel sample, secured through our custom recruitment methodology. 

Alibaba.com had originally surveyed American small businesses pre-pandemic, in December 2019. This latest wave of the study, conducted in December 2021, found that “digitized businesses are faring better, exporting more, planning to invest more and are significantly more confident about the future of their business than offline companies.” 

Rep Data was the perfect partner for this project, as one of our areas of expertise includes highly targeted B2B survey respondents. For this particular study, the sought-after audience was decision makers at U.S. companies of 500 employees or less that buy or sell physical goods and materials with other businesses. Very specific parameters like this can make it difficult for more traditional online sample companies to meet quotas and feasibility requirements. Our custom approach to recruitment helped us meet their tight time constraints, and ensure higher quality. 

Alibaba.com team members had worked with Rep Data in the past, and found that we were able to deliver on very niche sample audiences like the one for this project. In addition, they knew from experience that our multi-pronged approach to data quality was sure to deliver the premium results and outcomes they needed. Because of our unbiased, unique method for filling even the most narrow quantitative research respondent requirements, we were able to deliver a large sample in under two weeks. 

The company reported some of the top-line findings from the survey earlier this month, indicating that small business decision-maker respondents that we secured for the research project are optimistic about the economy (74%), up from 62% pre-pandemic. In addition, they found that many “re also expanding their digital commerce and exploring international channels: about half (47%) of U.S. B2B SMB trade is now through ecommerce, a nearly 12 percentage point jump in two years, and 70% of SMBs are conducting international B2B trade, compared to 59% in December 2019.”

Do you need help finding high-quality, niche sample for your next market research project? We can help.