General
Mobile shopping in Hong Kong and has now become a vital part of local consumers’ online purchasing habits, with more than two in every five of them having made purchases via their mobile device in the last three months, according to the latest Mastercard Online Shopping Survey.
The survey was carried out across fourteen markets in Asia Pacific — Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. A total of 8,738 consumers were polled online in November 2016.
Results show that well over three quarters (80%) regarded security of payment facility as a key consideration when shopping online.
The survey revealed that 44% percent of local consumers made a purchase through their mobile phones in the three months preceding the survey, up from 43% in 2015 and 38% in 2014, when the survey was first launched. An additional 14% did not make any purchases but intend to do so in the first half of 2017.
Convenience (55%) continues to be the key driver for mobile shopping, followed by the growing prevalence of apps (42%) that make it easier to shop and the ability to shop on the go (26%).
Regarding their mobile shopping habits, half of local consumers said they had downloaded a shopping app on a mobile device in the last six months. Clothing/accessories (34%) remain the key category purchased through mobile phones, followed by cinema tickets (26%).
Purchase of airline tickets shot up to 21% in 2016, compared to 10% in 2015, while transactions on hotel accommodations (21%) and personal care/beauty-care products (120%) remained relatively stable.
In terms of tools, group buying (29%) is increasingly used in Hong Kong, followed by digital wallets (17%) and financial investment apps/ in-social network marketplace apps (15% each).
The majority of consumers in Hong Kong (88%) made at least one purchase online in the three months preceding the survey, representing a 4% increase from 84% in 2015. Four in five local consumers revealed plans to shop online in the first half of 2017.
