Hong Kong’s HKTVmall teams up with logistics firm Zeek for instant delivery of groceries amid coronavirus pandemic
- HKTVexpress aims to deliver items to customers’ doorsteps within an hour of receiving orders
- Quick service will be available from 70 shops, each serving customers within 2km
Hong Kong online retailer HKTVmall has teamed up with a logistics firm to make inroads into the city’s fast-growing quick-commerce grocery delivery market.
HKTVexpress, the new wing of HKTVmall set up by businessman Ricky Wong Wai-kay, aims to deliver groceries to customers’ doorsteps with the help of logistics firm Zeek within an hour of receiving orders.
The service will be available from 70 online-to-offline shops across the city, with each serving customers within a 2km radius.
Jelly Zhou, CEO (Hong Kong) of HKTVmall, said the company aimed to expand the number of shops providing express service to 100 by the end of the year.
“Our competitors doing express delivery are only focused on restaurants, supermarkets and grocery products, but we are aiming to provide the convenience of [a wider] variety of product choice to customers,” Zhou said.
The Hong Kong-listed company planned to grow the number of retail pickup point partners to 6,000 from 800 by the end of this year, she said. It also hoped to include electrical appliances and fresh produce from some 4,200 merchants and suppliers.
Delivery platforms hit a sweet spot with ‘instant’ grocery services amid pandemic
She said each physical store of HKTVmall would serve multiple functions, including self pickup, physical grocery store and service point for express delivery.
Rather than placing a bulk order of items and waiting several days for their delivery, instant grocery services offer same-day delivery, with some platforms promising to serve within 30 minutes.
When customers place an order on the HKTVmall app using the “express” function, an automated bell will ring inside the physical store to alert staff to pack the item instantly. Workers from logistics startup Zeek will take the order from there and deliver it to the customers.
Food delivery apps were among the first to tap into the instant grocery segment in Hong Kong as the coronavirus pandemic provided them with an opportunity to fill in the need for on-demand items, as residents started to work from home.
HKTVmall’s business improved amid the coronavirus pandemic as e-commerce sales boomed. Its gross merchandise value in March was HK$525 million (US$67 million), down 1.1 per cent year on year, but still up 15.1 per cent month on month. Its latest gross merchandise value slipped by 0.8 per cent in April year on year.
Meanwhile, Foodpanda rolled out its Pandamart grocery service in Hong Kong in late 2019. The Singapore-headquartered delivery platform has 17 warehouses across the city and plans to open three more this year. Each location carries about 4,000 types of items and the company aims to deliver them as quickly as within 15 minutes.
Deliveroo launched its on-demand grocery service in Hong Kong last October. The Britain-listed company has partnered with brands such as convenience store chain 7-Eleven, the grocery arm of British brand Marks & Spencer and Japanese retailer Don Don Donki.
Hong Kong retail sales plunged a record 24.3 per cent year on year in 2020, as the pandemic dampened consumer sentiment and kept big-spending tourists away, but the slump finally turned around in February.
Covid-19 has been a ‘roller-coaster ride’ for Asia’s food delivery business
Online sales also recorded a marked increase this year, jumping 56.6 per cent year on year in February and growing 43.3 per cent year on year in March.
Lawmaker Peter Shiu Ka-fai, of the wholesale and retail sector, said online sales would continue to see strong growth as long as pandemic-related restrictions were in place.
“As long as the products are good and the services are affordable and fast, the quick-commerce market is expected to have healthy competition in Hong Kong,” he said.
