HK retail sales shows improvement, online sales sees significant rise

Retail sales in Hong Kong increased by 10.5% in May 2021 and online sales recorded a significant increase of more than 50%, while the upcoming e-voucher scheme is expected to stimulate local consumer sentiment. 

According to the Census and Statistics Department, the value of total retail sales in May 2021, provisionally estimated at HK$29.6 billion (US$3.8 billion), increased by 10.5% compared with the same month in 2020. While the first five months of 2021 taken together, it was provisionally estimated that the value of total retail sales increased by 8.9% compared with the same period in 2020.

When comparing May 2021 with May 2020, the value of sales of other unclassified consumer goods increased by 27.4%. This was followed by sales of jewellery, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts (54.8% in value); wearing apparel (12.6%); food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco (0.5%); medicines and cosmetics (19.3%); footwear, allied products and other clothing accessories ( up 9.4%); Chinese drugs and herbs (up 18.8%); and optical shops (up 13.4%).

However, the value of sales of commodities in supermarkets decreased by 3.5% in May 2021 over a year earlier. This sector enjoyed a huge increase in previous studies as dine-in services were limited last year. 

Of the total retail sales value in May 2021, online sales accounted for 7.4%. However, the value of online retail sales, provisionally estimated at HK$2.2 billion (US$283 million) had an impressive growth as it increased by 53.1% compared with the same month in 2020. For the first five months of 2021 taken together, the value of online retail sales increased by 53.1% too compared with the same period in 2020.

A government spokesman said although retail sales volume increased further in May on a year-on-year basis, it remained far below the pre-pandemic level due to a number of reasons, including travel restrictions worldwide and Hong Kong received very few visitors. 

Speaking of the e-voucher scheme, the spokesman said it will help stimulate local consumer sentiment but the entire retail industry will still face challenges due to the lack of visitor spending. 

The imminent e-voucher scheme will open for registration on 4 July. Four digital payment providers, including AlipayHK, WeChat Pay, Octopus, and Tap & Go, offer goodies to lure consumers to platforms.

In an earlier event in collaboration with Sino Group, Venetia Lee, GM of Alipay for Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, believed that Hongkongers were willing to use mobile wallets now and electronic payment was getting prevalent. However, Hongkongers would just use mobile wallets if there were discounts or promotions, it was different from the situation in China where the Chinese public can "hardly live without it." 

Related articles
AlipayHK and Sino Group create 6 zoned VoucherLand experience
Financial secretary: Voucher schemes pave the way for wider use of e-wallets in HK
HK retail malls run promos to ensure brand recall before e-voucher scheme kicks in