Taobao, a leading social eCommerce platform under Alibaba Group, earlier established a Hong Kong channel (hereinafter referred to as “Taobao Hong Kong”) to cater for the need of the local market. It enables Hong Kong consumers to conveniently purchase products through cross-border transactions from the comfort of home. Adhering to its mission of “making it easy to do business anywhere”, Alibaba Group launched Tmall Hong Kong in 2021 to provide comprehensive support to local and international merchants wishing to develop eCommerce business in Hong Kong and capture enormous business opportunities, as well as to bring comprehensive shopping experiences to consumers in the city. Empowered by new eCommerce technology, a broad selection of products and diversified delivery services, the platform appeals to a wide range of consumers and offers a highly engaging online consumer journey.

Immense Market Potential in Hong Kong

Hong Kong enjoys an ideal location in Asia, enabling businesses to tap into a multitude of opportunities available in the region. Through its geographical advantage, the city serves as one of the leading eCommerce and logistics hubs in Asia and is supported by its world-class information and communications technology infrastructure, high household broadband and smartphone penetration, and enhanced payment and logistics infrastructure. CK Chan, Head of Hong Kong and Macau of Tmall Taobao World, said, “With its sophisticated commercial infrastructure and increasing consumer confidence in online transactions, Hong Kong’s eCommerce ecosystem is taking shape and has great potential to drive retail growth. The high concentration of international brands and sophisticated consumer groups create a favourable market for us.”

The launch of Tmall Hong Kong is one of Alibaba Group’s major strategic moves in Hong Kong. According to Chan, Tmall Hong Kong is positioned as a trusted, premier shopping destination. It is a business-to-consumer (B2C) platform that showcases a wide array of local and well-known international brands to Hong Kong consumers. Taobao Hong Kong, in turn, is a business arm of Alibaba Group developed over the years to adopt a consumer-to-consumer (C2C) model, offering products from small-to-medium-sized merchants in the Mainland. Chan added that, “Taobao Hong Kong is conducive to driving customer traffic to support merchants on the new platform, while Tmall Hong Kong helps improve product selection and enhance shopping experience. Their complementary roles offer a diversified online shopping experience to consumers and bring synergistic benefits to Hong Kong’s eCommerce industry.”

Curating a Powerful Shopping Platform

Tmall Hong Kong aspires to meet consumers’ ever-growing demand for premium products. Over 5,000 international and local brands have established online stores on the platform, offering a thorough eCommerce experience with access to a wide variety of products, including apparel, electronic gadgets and appliances, groceries, and furniture. The platform also provides extensive support to help merchants grow their businesses. Chan said that, “Merchants can benefit from our strong user base, manage their online stores with unique brand identities and enjoy relatively competitive platform commissions. We look forward to working with more partners to deliver a seamless consumer experience by integrating both online and offline retail and building a brighter eCommerce landscape together.”