Freightos, an online freight services company, is making its technology available to ecommerce sites and online marketplaces to make the chore of booking shipments as part of the on-site order-and-checkout process.

Alibaba.com, the international B2B marketplace operated by Alibaba Group, says Freightos is behind its own online freight marketplace that launched in June and streamlines the process of buying products and freight services simultaneously.

Jamin Dick, head of supply chain, North America, Alibaba.com

“Freightos is the main partner we have powering our freight marketplace, which is now a seamless part of our ordering process,” says Jamin Dick, head of supply chain, North America, for Alibaba.com.

He adds that online buyers on Alibaba.com can complete their shipping order by clicking into the Alibaba freight marketplace at ship.alibaba.com, where they can enter shipment details like cargo type, weight, dimensions, origin and destination, then choose services such as insurance and customs brokerage. Buyers then compare rates and services available from dozens of freight forwarders for air, ocean and ground-based shipping services; they can also sort the results by such criteria as shipping time and price. Buyers can also click for help from a customer service rep.

Driving up repeat bookings

The Freightos freight-as-a-service technology uses a system of application programming interfaces, or APIs, to connect with freight forwarders and carriers. “We’re seeing a great amount of repeat bookings,” Dick says. “Once customers start using the freight platform, they come back.”

Ruthie Amaru, CEO, Freightos

Alibaba.com is offering the freight marketplace service for shipments between China and the United States, Canada and multiple markets in Europe.

Tradeling.com, a B2B wholesale marketplace based in Dubai for the Mideast/North Africa region, has also deployed the Freightos FaaS platform, says Ruthie Amaru, CEO of Freightos. She notes that it can take “a matter of weeks” to deploy the Freightos platform, depending on the scope of features a website deploys. For example, she notes, a client website could start out with search and book capabilities, then add payment and shipment management features.

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