Last week, Alibaba declared that its cross-border e-commerce unit Kaola updated its product traceability system to embrace blockchain, reported Beijing News. The shopping platform is utilizing Ant Financial’s blockchain technology to register customs clearance, logistics details, and product registration. 

Alibaba acquired Kaola from NetEase in a $2 billion deal, last year. Kaola is one of the greatest e-commerce platforms trading imported goods in China. Leveraging blockchain, Kaola will implement a traceability icon on the order page after a customer purchase the item. 

 For physical tracking of goods, imported products will be marked with a two-dimensional code, possibly a QR code, and anti-counterfeit fingerprints such as laser etching or chemical tagging. The blockchain will trace the journey of goods from its suppliers to its online listing and on to the consumer. 

Zhao Jiechen, supply chain quality manager of Kaola, said to Beijing News: “The biggest significance of blockchain for traceability is to let consumers know where their goods come from, where they have been, and where they are, and use technology to make information more transparent.”

The blockchain rise of the traceability solution will include all of Kaola’s products, and moving forward, third party merchants on the platform and foriegn direct mail services will also utilize the blockchain. Alibaba intends to scale the solution to include 62 countries and regions, 2,897 categories, and 7,432 brands. 

Alibaba is no newcomer to the blockchain, and founder Jack Ma has stated that he is bullish about the distributed ledger technology. The e-commerce giant has earlier worked with Ant on a rice traceability blockchain. 

Alibaba Cloud has a BaaS (Blockchain as a Service) offering, which promotes Ant Blockchain, Hyperledger Fabric, and Quorum.

Additionally, Alibaba runs a blockchain for charities, named ‘Charities on the Chain’ to render transparency to beneficiaries, donors, and keep track of donations.