First Hong Kong e-commerce festival to help city brands expand into mainland China to be held Hong Kong is to hold its first e-commerce shopping festival next month to help city brands expand into mainland China, the city’s finance chief said on Sunday. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po highlighted in his official blog that there was “considerable room for growth” in the online retail market. Chan pointed out that although the city’s online retail sales increased by nearly 60 per cent to HK$32.5 billion (US$4.2 billion) between 2020 and 2023, it only accounted for 8 per cent of total retail sales in 2023. “There is a considerable room for growth when compared to 28 per cent recorded on the mainland in the same year,” he said. Chan added he hoped the Hong Kong Shopping Festival, to be organised by the Trade Development Council on mainland e-commerce platforms, could help small and medium enterprises boost their profiles and learn more about the market operation across the border. “It could help Hong Kong small and medium enterprises reach out to new customer segments and expand into the mainland market, injecting new momentum into their business … and further boost the reputation of Hong Kong brands,” he said. “Mainland consumers could also directly gain access to high quality and genuine products from Hong Kong.” Chan highlighted that Hong Kong products and services were seen as high quality and efficient on the mainland and had strong brand value there and across the region. The campaign will feature more than 230 city brands, including clothing, cosmetics, household goods, food and drink, digital and health products, with special deals on offer. The Trade Development Council will advertise the products on major social media and e-commerce platforms to help drive visitor traffic and invite about 20 major influencers to broadcast live stream promotions. Chan added that authorities had also introduced a variety of measures to help small and medium enterprises tap into the huge e-commerce market. The government last week launched the “E-commerce Easy” project, designed to provide small and medium enterprises with a maximum of HK$1 million to set up online stores, advertise their products on third-party online sales platforms and develop mobile apps and online payment options. The government also allocated HK$500 million to Cyberport, the city’s technological business park, in 2023 to help retail and catering businesses with digital transformation, including setting up electronic payment systems, online promotions and customer management. More than 330 ready-to-use digital solutions are now available for businesses to choose from. Hong Kong’s retail sales dropped by 11.5 per cent year on year to HK$30.5 billion in May, after a 14.7 per cent fall in April. The consecutive double-digit decrease was blamed on a continued trend towards consumers spending across the border. City authorities have promoted the mega event economy and the concept of “tourism is everywhere”, suggested by Xia Baolong, Beijing’s key official on Hong Kong affairs, to treat every part of the city as a potential spot to attract visitors and boost consumption. Beijing earlier also raised the duty-free shopping allowance for mainland Chinese tourists visiting Hong Kong and Macau to as much as HK$16,100 per trip and expanded the individual visit programme to a total of 59 cities. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3271298/first-hong-kong-e-commerce-festival-help-city-brands-expand-mainland-china-be-held (ICE HONG KONG)

Fonte notizia: South China Morning Post