The Hong Kong Shopping Festival (Chinese Mainland), organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), concluded with resounding success, generating over 115 million total views across online platforms—a 15% increase from last year. The event, held from August 1 to 20, featured more than 280 brands and 600 products, offering exclusive discounts and live-stream sales on Douyin, JD.com, and Taobao. This year's theme, “Hong Kong Highlights, One Click Away,” underscored the festival's goal of making Hong Kong products easily accessible to mainland consumers.
Building on this momentum, the HKTDC is expanding the festival to ASEAN for the first time, with the Hong Kong Shopping Festival (ASEAN) set to take place from September 21 to 27 on e-commerce platforms in Malaysia and Singapore. This strategic move aims to help Hong Kong enterprises tap into the region's rapidly growing e-commerce market. Algernon Yau, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the HKSAR, highlighted the government's commitment to supporting Hong Kong businesses in strengthening their competitiveness and seizing cross-border e-commerce opportunities. “This year, the Hong Kong Shopping Festival is expanding into the ASEAN region for the first time, facilitating Hong Kong enterprises to tap into another enormous e-commerce market,” Yau said.
Jacky Chung, Associate Executive Director of HKTDC, emphasized the festival's role in enhancing brand visibility and market access. “The strong reception once again demonstrates that Hong Kong brands and products are widely associated with trust and quality,” Chung said. “HKTDC has long been committed to creating diverse business platforms for Hong Kong companies. Building on its extensive promotional experience in the Mainland market, HKTDC is expanding into new markets this year.”
The Chinese Mainland edition incorporated diverse promotional strategies, including more than 30 live-streaming sessions that attracted over 10 million views. A new “Behind-the-Brand” origin-tracing live-stream series brought mainland live-streaming teams to Hong Kong, offering immersive tours of factories and retail stores. This initiative helped consumers gain deeper insights into production processes and brand stories, enhancing trust and engagement. Wai Yuen Tong, a health supplement brand that participated in the series, saw sales on its Tmall flagship store increase fivefold during the event. Vivian Tang, Executive Director of Wai Yuen Tong, noted that the live-streams built consumer trust and generated significant traffic.
Social enterprise Hello Cocoa, which employs staff with special educational needs, entered the mainland market for the first time through the festival. Through live-streaming and WeChat promotions, the brand achieved over 200,000 impressions, surpassing expectations. Founder Louie Lu expressed plans to participate in the ASEAN edition to further expand cross-border e-commerce presence.
The festival also supported participating companies in developing their own e-commerce capabilities. Hung Fook Tong, a third-time participant, leveraged exclusive discounts, live-streams, and social media seeding. Two of its products were selected by renowned influencer Li Jiaqi for a live-stream session, resulting in doubling sales compared to the same period last year. Audrey Poon, General Manager of Hung Fook Tong, credited the festival with strengthening the brand's image and e-commerce expertise.
Startup personal care brand Eco.babe participated in live-streaming for the first time, showcasing product features and usage scenarios. The brand's insect repellent saw a 50% year-on-year sales increase. Wesley Leung, Managing Director, highlighted the value of consumer feedback and sales data collected during the event, which will inform future product and market strategies.
To engage younger demographics, the festival introduced a designer toys category, collaborating with artists Moon Lau and Kalok Chow. This initiative generated topics that drew over 60 million views across Douyin, Xiaohongshu, WeChat, and Weibo, a 20% increase year-on-year. Natural Made, which leveraged last year's event to enter the mainland market, returned to launch its original IP “Poru-Poru,” achieving 2.5-fold increases in brand exposure and product save rates on Taobao. Kenneth Lee, Marketing Lead, praised the HKTDC's training programs for providing practical insights into platform algorithms and AI tools.
The upcoming Hong Kong Shopping Festival (ASEAN) will feature an official website and special campaign pages on Shopee and Lazada, showcasing over 350 products with exclusive offers. To assist Hong Kong businesses without existing e-commerce presence in Malaysia and Singapore, the event will introduce a limited-time online store, allowing companies to test market response and gain practical experience. This expansion marks a significant step in helping Hong Kong brands establish a foothold in the ASEAN market, leveraging the success and lessons learned from the mainland edition.
