Online shoppers in Hong Kong spend an estimated HK$87.6
million (about US$11.4 million) a month, an ACNielsen survey has
found.
While the figure indicates that the Internet is already a billion dollar
business in the territory on an annualised basis, the upside potential
is still huge since just five per cent of respondents who described
themselves as frequent surfers were responsible for the spending
spree.
"This appears to be the beginning but as people start to feel more
comfortable making purchases online, we will likely see spending
increase over time," Mr Johnny Tsin, director of customised research at
ACNielsen, told CReATION.
Online shoppers spent an average of HK$1,152, with 14 per cent
spending more than HK$4,000.
The ACNielsen survey also found that about 1.6 million people in Hong
Kong accessed the Internet once every two days.
Frequent Internet users aged 15-34 formed the core of online consumers,
accounting for 78 per cent of an estimated 76,000 users.
"With this youthful slant, business-to-consumer ecommerce has a very
long way to go, because as these young people gain in socioeconomic
status so will their spending power grow.
"We will soon see a new generation growing up shopping on the 'Net,"
said ACNielsen executive director of customised research, Helen Lok.
One key finding of the survey was that about a third of frequent Web
surfers relied on recommendations by friends, relatives or colleagues in
choosing Internet sites to visit.
Word-of-mouth was even more important than editorial recommendations (22
per cent) and advertising in offline media (18 per cent).
"This presents a great challenge to ISPs and portals as they formulate
their marketing strategies.
"The whole business of websites and portals is so fluid that
word-of-mouth travels faster and has a stronger impact on surfers than
anything else," said Mr Tsin.
"Service providers must have rich and fresh content and quality service
to command goodwill."
