FOCUS - RETAIL MARKETING SEMINAR 2000: Hong Kong shoppers unmoved by e-tailers

<p>Hong Kong does not represent a significant market for e-tailers, </p><p>speakers at the Retail Marketing Seminar 2000 said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>They said that this was because shopping was too convenient and because </p><p>there was so much choice already. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But they did say that many of the markets elsewhere in Asia-Pacific </p><p>would be more conducive to e-tailing because retailing was not as well </p><p>developed. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The seminar in Hong Kong - sponsored by Hachette Filipacchi and </p><p>organised by MEDIA and Asian Brand News - also focused on a number of </p><p>other topics. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>About 150 people listened to how Lane Crawford changed its image to be </p><p>more appealing to a younger market while keeping its brand essence, and </p><p>how Mannings is today better off than it ever was because of its </p><p>expansion strategy in the late 1990s during the height of the Asian </p><p>financial crisis. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The sector analysis dealt with the state of the supermarket industry in </p><p>Hong Kong and how local consumers gave great importance to convenience </p><p>as well as price. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Speakers consisted of Hachette Filippachi MD Amanda Turnbull-Ashe, </p><p>Husband Retailing MD Paul Husband, Lane Crawford's senior VP of sales </p><p>and marketing Bonnie Brooks, Wellcome's marketing director Douglas </p><p>Brown, Mannings CEO Caroline Mak and Strawberry Net MD Rodney Miles. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>