Sun Hung Kai malls to give away nearly US$1 million in cash vouchers to woo back coronavirus-wary shoppers
- Sun Hung Kai will hand out HK$10,000 worth of cash vouchers to the biggest shoppers at its malls
- Mall operators rewriting the playbook to get coronavirus-worried shoppers back into stores
How desperate are Hong Kong mall operators to lure coronavirus-wary shoppers back? One is offering close to US$1 million worth of cash vouchers to shoppers in July to get their shop-’til-you-drop juices flowing again.
The effort comes as malls scramble to keep stores from putting out the dreaded “going out of business” sign. The coronavirus pandemic has made Hongkongers wary of unnecessary outings and destroyed tourism. One in five shops in Central is boarded up.
Recent moves by the city’s government to give each resident HK$10,000 and ease social distancing restrictions have prompted landlords to rewrite their playbooks.
Sun Hung Kai plans to give out cash vouchers totalling HK$7 million (US$903,208) in July at its shopping centres, which include APM in Kwun Tong, Harbour North in North Point and New Town Plaza in Sha Tin.
Hong Kong’s biggest developer by value has a plan that will cover July’s four weekends plus the one public holiday. On each of those days, the shopper who buys the most at each of its 24 shopping centres will be rewarded with a cash voucher worth HK$10,000.