Alibaba will invest over $100 mn in development of its new AliExpress solution

Sunday, Alibaba.com announced the launch of AliExpress, an e-commerce platform offering smaller-quantity orders, instant online transactions, and an escrow service to protect buyers and sellers.

AliExpress represents an additional tool to serve its small business customer base. The new solution focuses on larger quantity orders including prototype and custom manufacturing. AliExpress directly addresses the needs of businesses that need smaller quantities available for immediate shipment.

Alibaba.com will invest more than $100 million in the development of AliExpress to ensure it delivers the features and services that will help small businesses succeed.

Escrow service delivers an important asset for customers on AliExpress. Escrow payment protects all users who transact online at AliExpress by holding the buyer’s payment in a separate account and alerting the supplier that payment has been made so they can safely ship the goods.

Alibaba.com intends to continue the development of such kind of business, so it plans offer a number of special promotions for customers on AliExpress throughout the next month.

GaGa Deals, including drastic discounts on select products in a limited timeframe was launched yesterday. Other promotions will be announced on the site and emailed to Alibaba.com members.