Upon completing her cosmetic license, Dalior Advanced Clinical Aesthetics (Dalior) co-founder and owner, Ximena Juarez, opened her first salon in Bellevue, Washington, USA. Dalior delivers non-invasive skin treatments targeted to the Latin community in their vicinity. Co-founded with her husband, Ximena knew she needed a trusted manufacturer to help deliver not only quality products, but beautiful products for her salon to ensure the right ambience and visitor experience. She immediately turned to Alibaba.com.

Platform’s Ease of Use

Ximena has been sourcing on the platform for eight years and is an expert on finding what she wants. She leverages the homepage’s easy search functionality to find several suppliers in a matter of seconds. “I know exactly what I'm looking for. So for example, I recently purchased a radio frequency micro-needling device. I typed in what I wanted and all of the suppliers come up within an instance – dozens of them,” she said. “I then talk to at least five-to-10 of them because they're all different and I need to see who's got the best quality and maintenance. It’s really easy!”

When searching the Alibaba.com platform, Ximena looks for specific products with specific customization. She often works with suppliers to understand and envision how the products will look in her salon – taking into account color, materials and feel, for example. The Alibaba.com easy-to-use platform, allows Ximena to deliver customized searches with dozens and dozens of suppliers, ensuring the product she is requiring will be delivered on time and at the best price point.

Building Buyer / Seller Relationships

Ximena admits she’s had an overwhelmingly positive experience on Alibaba.com, and the buyers and suppliers she’s worked with on the site are extremely professional. In fact, she’s even built personal relationships with the vendors which further cultivates her business relationships. “With all my years of working with Alibaba.com, I keep in touch with all the vendors I’ve worked with. Some of them send me little cards for Christmas, which is really thoughtful. They're always reaching out to make sure that I'm doing okay, that devices are working, and if I need anything else,” she said. “Nine out of 10 of the suppliers on Alibaba.com have been amazing.”

During her tenure on the platform, Ximena has had one order hiccup and had to file a Trade Assurance claim. With more than two million qualified suppliers on the site, Alibaba.com gives its buyers the extra peace of mind and protection in the wildly unexpected instance that the order is not as expected. Alibaba.com makes it right with Trade Assurance. This Alibaba.com order protection feature is free of charge, included with every purchase – regardless of manufacturer or supplier – and puts the buyer first. Ximena had to file a claim on an order that was delivered with an incorrect color. Given the premier experience she provides her customers in her salon, the color of the product needed to be exact – completely, 100 percent as she requested. Unfortunately, this order faltered on that and Alibaba.com honored her claim, giving her a refund for the incorrect products. Despite the inaccurate product, Ximena said: “Honestly, I had the best experience with Alibaba.com’s customer service team. It was crucial for me as a business owner to know that Alibaba.com has my back.”

Currently, every three-out-of-five products in her salon are sourced via Alibaba.com – this is expected to grow tremendously in the next few years. Dalior is growing its local presence with new locations and is already in the process of expanding its business to include a hair salon in the coming year. Ximena’s now reconnecting with her sellers and sourcing hair-cutting chairs and stations that will be used in the brand’s expansion. “It’s been a pleasure working with Alibaba.com and the amazing suppliers it has on its platform. I am thankful and will continue to work closely with the platform in Dalior’s next phase of growth.”