Second Hong Kong Shopping Festival Achieves Over 100 Million Impressions, Boosting SME E-commerce Expansion

The second Hong Kong Shopping Festival concluded successfully in August 2025, with total impressions exceeding 100 million across the official website, e-commerce platforms and social media channels, representing an 11% increase compared to the previous year. Organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) with full support from the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the festival featured nearly 260 brands and over 500 products from Hong Kong small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), offering mainland consumers a month-long one-stop discount promotion.

The festival's enhanced presence on major platforms including Taobao, JD.com, and Douyin utilized various promotional strategies such as full-screen ads, keyword searches, push notifications, and lucky draws to drive traffic to event pages and associated online stores. The campaign received support from renowned artists and over 30 mainland influencers who conducted live-streaming sessions for more than 80 brands, attracting over 10 million total views. Social media discussions on platforms like Douyin and Xiaohongshu surpassed 50 million views, with buzz spreading across WeChat, Weibo, and other online communities.

Health supplements and food and beverage products gained significant popularity during the promotional period, demonstrating mainland consumers' confidence in the credibility and quality assurance of Hong Kong products. Several best-selling items ranked in the top five across categories including snacks and nuts, health supplements, and outdoor footwear and apparel. The festival's impact extended beyond immediate sales, with participating companies reporting substantial growth in brand visibility and consumer engagement.

Wah Yuen Foods (H.K.) Co., Ltd., a long-established snack manufacturer participating for the second consecutive year, reported a 50% increase in sales during the event, with their Satay Beef Slices becoming the best-selling item. Global Development's trendy outdoor sportswear brand ADVT experienced a twofold increase in sales compared to the previous year, despite summer typically being a slow season for windbreakers, generating RMB 400,000 in sales across nearly 10 live-streaming sessions.

The success of the Hong Kong Shopping Festival has encouraged several SMEs to explore establishing cross-border online shops to penetrate the mainland market. Aximed Hong Kong Limited, a health supplement brand that participated through the HKTDC Design Gallery's cross-border online shop, doubled its sales compared to the same period last year using customized marketing tools including WeChat promotion and Xiaohongshu seeding.

The HKTDC launched the E-commerce Express this year, with the Hong Kong Shopping Festival serving as the flagship event. This year-round promotional program provides enhanced support for SMEs entering the mainland market through e-commerce, offering capacity-building seminars, business consultations, outbound missions, business matching, and market news. The initiative aims to help Hong Kong SMEs seize opportunities in the mainland e-commerce market, which shows strong potential according to HKTDC research indicating that 78% of respondents had purchased Hong Kong products online in the past year.

The festival also facilitated better understanding between mainland e-commerce professionals and Hong Kong brands, creating more opportunities for collaboration. The successful market test during the event has provided valuable insights for participating companies to refine both product offerings and marketing approaches, with several businesses planning to use the Greater Bay Area as a strategic base for expanding into first-tier cities such as Shanghai and Beijing.