HONG KONG – More and more retailers in Hong Kong are planning to develop their online businesses to explore new opportunities within Hong Kong and the Asia Pacific, as the city braces for a retail “winter” amid a slowing economy.

The growing trend of online retailing in the city has attracted a number of e-commerce solution providers to seize on business opportunities. One of these is Singapore-based Shopmatic, which on Friday announced the launch of its Hong Kong business operations to strengthen its Asia network.

Hong Kong is known for being the city with the highest internet penetration in the region with a strong IT infrastructure, as well as for having a solid and rapidly growing e-commerce appetite and e-shopper population.

According to the 2015 eCommerce Consumer Monitor survey conducted by global payments technology company Visa in February of that year, nearly 90 percent of Hong Kong consumers shopped online in 2014, while a third of the e-shoppers had made online purchases during the week that the survey conducted.

Shopmatic claims to provide the entire ecosystem for online store owners, from setting up websites to shipping and data collection, enabling Hong Kong online stores, and small and medium-sized enterprises to sell products and services online at a monthly subscription rate of $38.

Besides Hong Kong, Shopmatic has already set up overseas business in India. Plans are to expand into other countries such as Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines later this year.

Source: China Daily Asia