HONG KONG | With e-commerce continuing to take a stronger hold globally, Mainland China has emerged as the clear market leader, providing enormous opportunities for Hong Kong’s SMEs.
To help these companies seize new opportunities and develop their e-commerce capabilities in the mainland, the HKTDC has launched the second edition of the Hong Kong Shopping Festival by rolling out expert-led seminars.
These seminars will cover practical topics such as operating strategies and features for online shopping platforms, commonly used payment tools, effective fan base building, collaboration plans with influencers, marketing skills, and live-streaming production.
One-on-one consultancy services will also help SMEs access the latest information and enhance their competitiveness, enabling them to enter the rapidly changing mainland e-commerce market.
Stephen Liang, Assistant Executive Director of the HKTDC, said that e-commerce has continued developing rapidly and become a key driving force for global trade and economic growth.
The HKTDC has been supporting government policies by promoting business digital transformation, encouraging local SMEs to embrace e-commerce and offering various activities to support them through the required business transition.
He added that trade relations between Hong Kong and the mainland were incredibly close, giving local SMEs a significant advantage.
Many local companies struggled to create promotion plans for their quality brands and products that addressed the preferences of their target customers. This was mainly because they did not fully understand how the mainland e-commerce market operated.
Some SMEs also faced operational challenges such as pricing strategies, inventory management and the terms of collaboration with influencers, preventing them from fully capturing the opportunities presented by e-commerce.
The newly launched HKTDC seminars directly addressed the significant difficulties local SMEs face in e-commerce.
The HKTDC will hold the second edition of the Hong Kong Shopping Festival in August to deepen Hong Kong businesses' understanding of mainland e-commerce platforms and give them practical experience.
“This will give local SMEs a better understanding of e-commerce operations and help them formulate strategies appropriate to their products and brands, laying a solid foundation for entering the e-commerce sector,” said Liang.
“Additionally, one-on-one consultancy services will be offered, with mainland e-commerce or online marketing experts advising local SMEs on market development strategies that can help to promote their particular products or brands."
The festival has been divided into four parts: the newly added seminars and one-on-one consultancy services, the return of the popular Discount Month and live-streaming e-commerce sessions from last year.
It will also introduce customised marketing and channel services, such as incorporating more channels through “planting seeds” strategies. This will allow local SMEs to choose the most suitable services based on their product features, helping them better understand marketing methods in the mainland e-commerce market.
In addition, the HKTDC Digital Academy and Design Gallery’s (DG) cross-border e-commerce shops on Taobao and JD International have been offering comprehensive support to Hong Kong SMEs to leverage diverse e-commerce and digital marketing channels to explore mainland opportunities.
