42 million SMEs to be supported by Alibaba Group

In a move to help 42 million Chinese small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) Alisoft, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alibaba Group, is offering free Internet-based management software. The initiative is aimed at making it easy for SMEs to conduct their business on the web.

The new software known as "Shopkeeper(TM)" includes an accounting and finance module and an inventory management and a customer relations management module. The first module is available immediately while the other two will be launched in May 2009.

Alisoft plans to invest up to RMB1 billion over the next three years to cultivate the SME-focused software industry, and further drive usage of Internet-based software, or "software-as-a-service". Thus SMEs will be able to use Shopkeeper(TM) for free within this three year period.

With Shopkeeper(TM) businesses can monitor their operations and financial status in a way understandable to business owners who do not have technical financial backgrounds. The application can also be accessed from mobile phones and supports online payments acceptance from Alipay, the online payment solution leader in China and a wholly owned subsidiary of Alibaba Group.