Hong Kong shoppers are beginning to embrace online shopping mostly from overseas vendors, results of a FedEx survey show.

About 86 percent of shoppers surveyed said that they made at least one online purchase every year from abroad.

The survey interviewed approximately 500 online shoppers in Hong Kong as part of a global study. In Hong Kong, 61 percent of the respondents said they spent at least 10 percent of their monthly budget on online purchases, with one-fifth spending at least $500 annually buying merchandise from overseas suppliers.

"The many items popular among Hong Kong online shoppers include clothing and accessories, books, food and beverages, home decorations and consumer electronics," said Anthony Leung Ming-tim, managing director of Hong Kong and Macao at FedEx Express.

"While shoppers browse and makes purchases on e-commerce websites of other regions, the US, the Chinese mainland and the UK pop up as top three choices globally," Leung added.

The survey show that Hong Kong online shoppers rate prompt and reliable delivery as the top consideration, with 74 percent of the respondents saying that they expect the merchandise to be delivered in good order within one week.

Major multi-brand online vendors are preferred, said 64 percent of the online shoppers surveyed, while 16 percent said that listed named brand vendors as their top favorite. Only 6 percent of those surveyed said they shop online at the major brick-and-mortar retailers' websites.

Leung noted that only seven percent of the online shoppers surveyed said they would visit the websites of small- and medium-sized sellers. This is discouraging news to the many local e-commerce platforms because they are mostly of smaller-scale than their foreign counterparts.

"Hong Kong e-retailers must work harder to enhance their competitiveness by improving credible shipping and after sale services," Leung said.

The results of another survey that targets mainland e-commerce operators by Rackspace, a managed cloud company, show that many working at the mainland e-commerce sector are looking abroad for growth, with 34 percent saying they planned to expand overseas.

"Many mainland enterprises consider Hong Kong as a good platform for them to expand overseas. Hong Kong has its own advantages such as its excellent telecommunications infrastructure and its East-meets-West culture, making it much easier for mainland companies to consider Hong Kong as the stepping stone to 'go global'," said Michael Johnson, marketing director of APAC at Rackspace.

agnes@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 02/17/2015 page8)