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Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) around the world have an increasingly sunny outlook on their business prospects, a survey commissioned by Alibaba Group’s B2B e-commerce marketplace Alibaba.com shows.

More than two-thirds (69%) of SME decision-makers are more optimistic about growth opportunities than they were six months ago, while 45% of businesses plan to launch one or two new product lines in the next year.

In addition, more than half of those surveyed (52%) said they were working with online B2B marketplaces to source new, exciting or innovative products.

“Our research highlights strong growth in optimism amongst SMEs across the world, as they embrace digital sourcing channels and look to enhance their product offerings,” said Kuo Zhang, President at Alibaba.com.

The survey of over 2,000 SMEs in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the U.S. was conducted by Censuswide last month, and its findings jibe with an increase in purchases on Alibaba.com.

Orders on the platform rose 69% year-on-year during the first week of its online trade show Super September.

The virtual event connects some 48 million buyers with 200,000 suppliers from around the world to help them discover new products and services.

Super September is a boon for smaller businesses in particular, giving their owners access to the latest launches and tech developments with just a few clicks.

“We’re always pushing to help level the playing field for SMEs, giving them greater access to suppliers and products, as well as industry insights that will further their business goals,” Alibaba.com’s president noted.

The online event runs until the end of the month.

September is for SMEs

Online and off, September has been a big month for SMEs as Alibaba.com hosted its second annual CoCreate conference and unveiled an artificial intelligence-powered sourcing agent.

The in-person event, which ran from Sept. 5 to 6 in Las Vegas, saw over 1,900 attendees hear from industry experts, grow their professional network and take part in more than 20 specialized master classes.

“We designed this year’s event with one goal in mind—we want to show U.S. SMEs how global trade can be simplified, in terms of innovation, customization and margin boosting,” Rah Mahtani, Head of Marketing for North America at Alibaba.com, said in a statement.

To this end, the platform also took the conference as an opportunity to introduce an AI sourcing tool designed with SMEs in mind.

Alibaba.com’s AI Sourcing Agent increases sourcing efficiency and makes it easier for small businesses to navigate cross-border trade.

The tool enables natural language queries when searching on the platform, and offers proactive sourcing assistance and recommendations. It also provides product comparisons to help users make informed decisions.

“Solutions like our AI Sourcing Agent are paramount as we continue building a global network of diversified suppliers and making global sourcing simpler,” noted Zhang.