Deep Hong Kong discounts for Singles’ Day shopping event as businesses aim to boost takings in sluggish economy

Businesses from malls to an airline sign up for shopping extravaganza, billed as the world’s biggest
But business academic Terence Chong warns that Singles’ Day sales will not boost profits of retailers if people opt to buy from mainland Chinese merchants online

Hong Kong economy

Oscar Liu

Published: 8:30am, 10 Nov 2023

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Hong Kong businesses ranging from a major online retailer to an airline will capitalise on the world’s largest online shopping extravaganza on Saturday with deep discounts to boost sales in the city’s sluggish economic environment.

Many of the merchants signed up for the annual Singles’ Day sales push for the first time and other retailers have branded their special offers as “11.11” promotions, with major marketing efforts across social media platforms.

Some economists said competition for customers had already heated up, as had spending in the wake of a flood of offers.

But Terence Chong Tai-leung, the executive director of Chinese University’s Lau Chor Tak Institute of Global Economics and Finance, said Singles’ Day sales would not boost the profits of Hong Kong retailers if people opted to buy from mainland Chinese merchants online.

Terence Chong, the executive director of the Institute of Global Economics and Finance at Chinese University, predicts Singles’ Day may not be as successful as hoped. Photo: May Tse

“Local merchants with shops are likely to record business growth during the month they offer discounts, but sales before and after the shopping event are relatively lower,” Chong said. “In general, they don’t make extra sales after the promotion is over.

“It’s more like a vibe and gimmicks. People will not go out and shop in particular on November 11.”

Singles’ Day is an unofficial mainland celebration and shopping event designed to celebrate people who are not in a relationship.

This year’s event comes as Hong Kong’s economic expansion is set to slow. On Friday, the government lowered its full-year forecast for gross domestic product growth to 3.2 per cent, down from the 4 to 5 per cent estimated in August

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Start-up Greater Bay Airlines, in its first Singles’ Day sale, offered fares as low as HK$490 (US$63) for a return ticket on its new route to Manila, and deals on existing services to Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, Taipei, Seoul, Osaka and Tokyo.

“To help raise the awareness of the airline, we roll out different promotion campaigns from time to time,” said Gloria Slethaug, the airline’s general manager.

The economic downturn has caused many retailers and e-commerce platforms to take advantage of the huge popularity of Singles’ Day by introducing their own November discounts in a bid to boost sales.

Alibaba Group Holding, the e-commerce giant which owns the South China Morning Post, turned the November 11 event, also known as “Double 11”, into an online shopping event in 2009 and a cultural phenomenon on the mainland.

HKTVMall is among those rolling out discounts and offers for the shopping festival. Photo: Dickson Lee

Alibaba’s “Taobao Tmall 11.11 Global Shopping Festival” site saw double-digit growth in gross merchandise volume in Hong Kong compared with the previous year during the first sales period, which ran from October 31 to November 3.

But the e-commerce giant did not disclose the figures for last year.

The second phase of the promotion will start at 8pm on Friday and run until 11.59pm on Saturday.

As there are so many business operators offering promotions on Singles’ Day, some have joined the Taobao initiative. Many of the promotions are available through online and offline sales channels.

Online retailer HKTVMall has offered existing users e-vouchers worth HK$3,000 from November 2 to December 30. The vouchers cover a range of everyday necessities and lifestyle goods, including personal care, sports equipment, fashion accessories and kitchen appliances, as well as purchases at supermarkets.

The platform recorded a monthly gross merchandise value on order intake of HK$711 million in October, a month-on-month increase of 3 per cent. Monthly active app users also rose 2.3 per cent to 1.67 million.

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Cheung Suk-kuen, 53, a stay-at-home mother of three children, said the HKTVMall offers were attractive and she had stocked up on Japanese rice and laundry detergent, saving HK$100 for every HK$300 purchase.

“I wasn’t aware of the mainland’s Singles’ Day sales until my friend told me about it.” she said. “And I’m surprised the app offered me steep discounts because I did not realise Hong Kong is also offering some great deals this month.”

Retail chains in the city were also making special offers to boost sales online and offline. At the Sasa cosmetics shop on Kai Chiu Road in Causeway Bay, some items were marked as much as 72 per cent off.

Yuki Yung Ching-yu, a 28-year-old receptionist, was among a dozen people queuing at the cash register on Thursday. She bought nine items for about HK$1,500 and said her biggest bargain was an Origins soothing lotion at HK$108, originally priced at HK$390.

“I also got a bottle of La Mer treatment lotion at HK$688 after a 51 per cent off discount, she said. “Of course I will still be hunting for great deals online on November 11, but I just can’t resist shopping when I see a big discount at the store.

“The earlier you buy them, the earlier you can enjoy them.”