Alternative payments account for 43.3% of e-commerce purchases in Hong Kong

Over 90% of Hong Kong consumers have shopped online over the past 6 months.

Alternative payment now account for over 2 in 5 or 43.3% of e-commerce purchases in Hong Kong, according to a survey conducted by data and analytics company GlobalData.

Hong Kong’s e-commerce market grew by 13.7% in 2022 and is now worth $26.1b (HK$203.7b). It is expected to be worth $29.1b (HK$227.4b) in 2023.

E-commerce sales in Hong Kong have been growing at a robust pace, supported by rising internet and smartphone penetration, robust online payment infrastructure, and increasing consumer confidence in online transactions, noted Kartik Challa, senior banking and payments analyst at GlobalData.  

“The pandemic accelerated this shift in consumer preference from brick-and-mortar to online channels. Furthermore, online shopping festivals such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Singles’ Day have also contributed to the overall growth of e-commerce in Hong Kong,” Challa said.

Over 90% of consumers in Hong Kong reported having shopped online in the past six months, while only 6% of respondents indicated that they had never shopped online, GlobalData’s survey found.

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Alternative payment solutions Alipay and WeChat Pay are reportedly increasingly used for online purchases, driven by the popularity of Chinese e-commerce sites among Hong Kong consumers. 

International payment solutions such as Apple Pay, PayPal, and Google Pay are also present in the market.

Following alternative payments are payment cards, which account for 37.3% of the total e-commerce transaction value in 2022.

Convenience, pricing benefits such as cashback, discounts, reward points,and its installment payment options entice Hong Kong customers to use cards.

Cash on delivery now only accounts for a mere 5% of e-commerce purchases, GlobalData reported.