230 merchants ready to boost local brands on big mainland platforms

Ayra Wang

Local merchants can expect to promote Hong Kong brands as high-quality and reputable products to more mainland customers on six major mainland e-commerce platforms via the Hong Kong Shopping Festival starting next Thursday.

Some 230 local brands will participate in the festival, organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, from next Thursday to August 31 on platforms such as Tmall, Taobao, JD.com and Douyin, offering discounts for as low as half-price.

Stephen Liang, assistant executive director of the HKTDC, said the event will help local small and medium enterprises "take the first step" in promoting their businesses on mainland e-commerce platforms.

"The festival will help Hong Kong brands make good use of the huge customer base in the mainland market and enhance brand awareness," he added.

An official campaign website will be launched featuring all joining merchants about their products and special deals throughout August.

The council will also invite some 20 mainland key opinion leaders to conduct live-streaming on major e-commerce platforms in late August to promote 60 local brands.

Austin Li Jiaqi, a popular live streamer on Taobao with nearly 50 million followers on the mainland, is among them. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po also shot a promotional video to introduce the event to the mainland audience.

Founder of local healthy product brand AUSupreme Leslie Choy Chi-fai said the festival will be a "precious opportunity" to learn how to attract more customers.

His brand has entered the mainland e-commerce market for eight years but Choy said it still faces challenges in promoting products as competition in the mainland market is intense.

General Manager of Taikoo Sugar Melody Keung, whose company also joined the festival, said Hong Kong products have advantages such as being "high-quality" and "reputable."

Meanwhile, the fourth Hong Kong Brands & Products Shopping Festival will be held at AsiaWorld Expo next Friday for four days, featuring over 250 booths across six thematic zones, such as beauty, health, food and clothes.

Ivan Sze Wing-hang, vice-president of the Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong, the festival organizer, said the event is expected to attract some 60,000 visitors and generate HK$60 million in business.

Sze also expected the number of tourists to account for 10 to 15 percent of total visitors for this year's event as the association will cooperate with travel agencies to attract more tourists from the Pearl River Delta. A catering zone will also be set up to sell made-on-spot cocktails and snacks.

A local cured meat retailing exhibitor Kwong Cheong Lung said the business is expected to increase by 20 to 30 percent this year with more tourists.

"We will launch new products such as sauce-flavored sausages to attract mainland tourists and we will add sealed zipper designs on the package to facilitate storage of our products," said the company.