Seizing Opportunities in Omni-Channel
Retailing
Retail industry is a key pillar of the Hong Kong economy. It is
one of the largest private sector employers providing a wide
range of jobs and services across the city. It is notable that our
economy’s well being is inseparable from a healthy development
of the retail industry.
The landscape of Hong Kong’s retail industry has been
undergoing very drastic change due to continued influx of
Mainland tourists under the Individual Visit Scheme since 2003.
However, such a development has exacerbated a number of
unfavorable factors impeding the growth of our retail industry,
such as skyrocketing rental, tight labour market, and escalating
operating cost.
In recent years, our industry has been put to even a greater test
in the wake of the much intensified competition for Mainland
tourists among various travel destinations. At the same time,
our competitiveness in brick-and-mortar retailing is also
threatened by the exponential growth of online shopping both
in the Mainland and international markets, which is fuelled by
relaxation of cross border trading by many governments.
The rapid rise of omni-channel retailing has reshaped virtually
every aspect of consumer behavior and shopping aspiration,
and the definition of service excellence has now been
changed from purely interactions with frontline staff to different
touchpoints that customers experienced via multi-channels
when they shop online or at physical store.
Despite some individual retailers are already responding to these
challenges in their own way, the Association observes that a
majority of our fellow retailers are not prepared to cope with this
paradigm shift in terms of mindset, knowledge and technology
knowhow, and in reality there is a huge technology adoption gap
in the local retail scene.
捕捉全渠道零售帶來的商機
零售業是香港主要的經濟支柱，也是擁有最多
私營機構僱主的行業之一，在本港提供各種職
位及服務。本港經濟繁榮與否，實在與零售業
的穩健發展密不可分。
自「個人遊」計劃於2003年推出以來，內地訪
港旅客人數不斷攀升，香港的零售業亦起了翻
天覆地的變化。然而，多個窒礙零售業增長的
不利因素，例如租金居高不下、人手緊絀及營
運成本上漲等問題，亦隨之而來。
近年多個旅遊勝地爭相吸納內地旅客，競爭愈
趨激烈，使本港零售業經歷更大的考驗。與此
同時，在多國政府放寬跨境貿易的帶動下，內
地及國際市場的網上購物業務呈爆炸式增長，
使本港實體零售的競爭力備受威脅。
全渠道零售急速冒起，幾乎重新塑造了消費者
各方面的行為及購物意欲。「卓越服務」的定
義，已由純粹與前線銷售員的交流互動，改變
為顧客在網上或實體店購物時從多個渠道體驗
不同的接觸點。
雖然個別零售商已使用各自的方式應對上述挑
戰，但協會觀察到，大多數零售同業在心態、
知識及科技知識上仍未準備好迎接此「新常
態」。事實上，本港零售業在科技應用上留下
了巨大的空白，有待填補。
In past periods of consolidation, many businesses took on
an effective strategy of “back to basics” by refocusing on
service quality and product innovation. This time around,
retailers are seen to put emphasis on serving local customers
in areas of enhancing CRM and shopping experience. Other
more aggressive business opportunities include expansion
in neighboring economies particularly Mainland market be it
retail expansion or e-commerce platform. Many businesses
see opportune linkage between young market segments and
e-commerce in a two-prone strategy, combined with more
affordable price-points offering (in the luxury sectors) and re-
allocation of resources in social media communication.
Experience has taught us that companies with a good sense of
crisis and risk management, those with a longer-term and more
integrated business models, those with more agile strategic
thinking will not just ride through difficult times more successfully,
but emerge to even better and stronger companies after a
market consolidation to take advantage of adjusted operational
overheads to the prevailing business conditions.
I take this opportunity to sincerely urge fellow members to
continuously participate in the Association’s activities and stay
connected in this big family; while inviting fellow retailers to
join the Association to enjoy exclusive offers and networking
opportunities in the year ahead.
回顧過往的整合期，很多零售商採取了有效的
「回歸基本面」策略，重新專注於服務質素及
產品創新。觀察所見，零售商目前著重服務本
地消費者，致力提高顧客關係管理及顧客的購
物體驗。有零售商更為進取，包括進軍以中國
內地為主的鄰近市場，以擴大零售業務或發展
電子商貿平台。很多零售商雙管齊下，適當地
連繫年青人市場分部與電子商貿，不但在奢侈
品市場分部以更能負擔得起的價格提供產品及
服務，而且重新調配資源發展社交媒體網絡。
借鑒經驗，我們知道那些具有良好的危機及風
險管理意識的公司、擁有長遠且一體化業務模
式的公司，以及擁有靈活策略思維的公司，不
但會成功跨過難關，而且會因善用當時市況下
調整經營開支的機會，當市場整合後，這類公
司往往會發展成為更穩健的企業。
本人藉此機會誠摯呼籲公司會員繼續積極參與
協會的活動，與協會這個大家庭保持更緊密的
聯繫；同時誠意邀請零售同業成為協會會員，
以在未來一年享有協會提供的獨家優惠及與業
界交流的機會。
Vice-Chairman’s Message
副主席之話
Ms. Malina Ngai, JP
倪文玲女士, JP
45
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Vice-Chairmen's Messages
副主席之話
Vice-Chairmen's Messages
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