More than two-thirds of online consumers polled in six Southeast Asian markets have bought Hong Kong products in the past year, with home electronics being the most popular, according to a recent survey.
The survey, conducted by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council from June to July last year, gathered responses from more than 1,800 online shoppers aged 18 to 60 from Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Singapore.
The findings showed that 69% of respondents had bought at least one Hong Kong-sourced product in the past 12 months, led by Thailand and Indonesia.
Singapore e-shoppers had the highest spend per purchase and a higher median expenditure on Hong Kong products compared with other sources, in the categories of fashion, lifestyle housewares and sports goods.
While consumers from Thailand and Indonesia found Hong Kong goods to be less expensive, Singaporeans and Vietnamese appreciated the way the products blended Chinese and Western elements.
Shoppers from Malaysia and the Philippines preferred Hong Kong products because they were considered "more trendy."
"We cannot generalise with a single indicator when different products attempt to enter these markets, as they possess various features and target different age groups," said Irina Fan Yuen-yee, director of research at the council, in the preliminary result sharing on Monday.
"Companies must understand what customers want and what they believe our products can offer to meet their needs and expectations."
Consumer electronics, including telephones, televisions and cameras, were the most popular, accounting for 70% of bought products sourced from Hong Kong, followed by fashion at 38% and cosmetics and personal care items at 34%.
Shopee and Lazada were the leading regional e-commerce platforms, with customers saying they prefer using platforms for their large variety of options, promotion campaigns and informative product description pages.
The primary reason consumers switched to a brand's official website was the guarantee of authenticity.
Singapore customers spent 68% more on sports goods from Hong Kong brands than elsewhere, while Indonesia customers spent 65% more on consumer electronics from the city than others, the survey found.
The poll is the first by the council to look into the e-commerce industry of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), with the goal of helping the city's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) better understand the market and form business strategies.
As geopolitical headwinds such as the US-Hong Kong tensions intensify, the city has attempted to open up new markets to Asean and the Middle East for growth.
For years, the government has been trying to help SMEs develop e-commerce businesses. It started the "BUD Fund" in 2012 to offer firms support with branding, upgrading and domestic sales. A task force was set up to look into establishing the fund in January last year.
One of the fund's programmes, "e-commerce Easy", was expanded to include the 10 Asean member countries in addition to mainland China, aiming to help enterprises grow their customer base.
Asean is a trade bloc of 10 member states - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The bloc has been Hong Kong's second-largest merchandise trade partner after mainland China for over a decade. In 2023, trade was worth US$145 billion, accounting for 13% of the city's total trade with the world during the year.
Hong Kong is also an important entrepot for merchandise trade between Asean and mainland China. Re‑export trade between the two economies through Hong Kong reached US$65.5 billion in 2023.