The first Hong Kong Shopping Festival to be held in the mainland next month is expected to be beneficial to helping local products enter the mainland markets, according to Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po.
However, he said there is still room for development in Hong Kong's e-commerce market, as online sales last year only accounted for 8 percent of the SAR's total sales volume - a sharp contrast to the mainland's 28 percent during the same period.
During the festival, featured products and discounts will be offered, and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council will launch advertisements on major mainland social media platforms to boost publicity for SAR merchants' online stores.
Also, Chan said that in late August, the HKTDC will invite around 20 well-known mainland influencers to host live streams on major e-commerce platforms, promoting dozens of Hong Kong brands to help introduce more mainland customers to the products."The shopping festival will demonstrate the advantages of the large-scale Hong Kong market and help medium and small-sized companies reach out to new mainland customers," Chan said.
Chan added the government has launched the "e-commerce easy" fund, which provides a HK$1 million subsidy for small enterprises to develop their presence in the mainland e-commerce market. The subsidy can be used to set up online stores, place advertisements on online marketing platforms, develop or optimize mobile applications, and introduce e-payment functions to their websites.wallis.wang@singtaonewscorp.com
