China’s Alipay Wallet is offering merchants and developers access to programming tools that will enable them to create online storefronts within the app – a move designed to attract more mobile commerce users.

According to parent Alibaba, the payments firm has been looking for merchants for its wallet app since June and has now attracted more than 1,000.

Alipay Wallet is the wallet app for online payments giant Alipay. It already enables payments at physical stores and other kinds of transactions such as paying for public transport.

In addition to selling goods and services, participating retailers can access data analytic tools that enable them to personalise recommendations for their customers.

Alipay Wallet is available to a wider range of merchants, including those on the Taobao Marketplace and Tmall.com