Retail sales revenue rises despite crowded shops and poor service

Retail sales revenue has more than doubled in the past 10 years, but growth in the number of shops and staff is lagging far behind, the latest statistics suggest.

Shop workers say consumer demand is outpacing supply, leading to crowded stores and poor service.

Figures from the Hong Kong Retail Management Association show that retail sales revenue more than doubled from HK$172.9 billion in 2003 to HK$445.5 billion in 2012.

Meanwhile the number of shops climbed a more modest 13.5 per cent to 63,909 in the same period, and the number of people employed in the industry rose 22 per cent to 260,246.

"That's why it is so crowded in shops, and customers have nobody to serve them," the association's chairwoman Caroline Mak Sui-king said.

Mak said the industry was less diverse than in the past as landlords tended to rent their premises to a small selection of chain stores catering to mainland tourists. The government should find more land for shopping malls and look into the possibility of importing labour to support long-term growth, she said.