Many of Hong Kong's e-commerce merchants are expanding to customers outside the city, according to a new report from e-commerce solutions provider Shopline.
About a third (34 percent) of Shopline's Hong Kong customers will be involved in cross-border sales in 2023, an increase of 7 percentage points year-on-year, according to the Hong Kong e-commerce white paper released by Shopline on Thursday. .
Macau is Shopline's top destination for cross-border sales, accounting for 37% of total sales last year, with the US market in second place at 14%. The UK and Taiwan came in 3rd and 4th place respectively.
The trend boosts sales amid market challenges as Hong Kong's economy has not recovered to pre-COVID-19 levels and competition from mainland China's online and offline rivals intensifies. It reflects Hong Kong retailers' interest in finding new ways to do things.
China promotes cross-border e-commerce at forum as exports increase
China promotes cross-border e-commerce at forum as exports increase
The potential for cross-border trade is demonstrated by the huge popularity overseas of Chinese online retailers like fast fashion brand Shein and Pinduoduo's sister platform Temu.
“We are looking at the possibility of crossing the border.” [sales]'' said Lenny Lee, head of product at Shopline Hong Kong, adding that the company is developing new features to help merchants improve their cross-border gross merchandise value (GMV).
The white paper shows that artificial intelligence (AI) tools can improve overall sales performance, with merchants using Shopline's AI tool Smartpush seeing a 25% increase in conversion rates and a 4x increase in GMV. is shown. Leverage generative AI to customize email content for potential customers and adjust marketing strategies based on automated analysis of consumer data.
Ruby Chan, Marketing Director at Shopline, said: He added that AI allows sellers to save on labor costs as they can respond to inquiries from different time zones 24 hours a day.
Another continuing trend noted in the white paper is live commerce sales. According to the data, merchants using Shop Live saw nearly nine times more order volume in 2023 than the previous year compared to merchants not using this feature. This resulted in order volumes for these merchants increasing by nearly 30% and sales revenue increasing by nearly 40% year-over-year, reflecting the high conversion potential of live commerce.
