Online prices of liquid soap, disinfectants, toilet paper soar in Hong Kong as coronavirus fuels panic buying, even robbery
- The median price of liquid soaps including disinfectants soared by more than 113 per cent, while all-purpose cleaning wipes now cost 214 per cent more
- Panicky online buying triggered dramatic price swings for toilet paper by 82 per cent
If online prices provide an accurate measurement, then Hong Kong should be known as the City of Very Clean Hands, judging by the soaring costs of liquid soap, disinfectants and wipes.
Prices on Hong Kong’s leading online retail sites – the ones looked at included HKTVMall, Wellcome and ParknShop – have been much more volatile than on those in mainland China, Euromonitor’s analysis of prices during the first 41 days of 2020 found. The big changes are seen as the menace posed by the coronavirus becomes clear in late January.
On the mainland, cleaning wipes’ prices have fluctuated just 15 per cent, the report said. And the cost of liquid soaps including disinfectants has risen no more than 36 per cent.
“Coronavirus is having an unprecedented impact on consumer markets in China and Hong Kong due to the number of individuals working from home or unable to leave their homes,” said Euromonitor head of research Jared Conway and senior research analyst Daegal Leung in a research note. “This has placed a tremendous burden on the infrastructure of e-commerce retailers as consumers look to purchase necessary goods from their home and remain dependent on their country’s delivery infrastructure and supply chains.”