Opinion

The road to recovery: How e-commerce businesses in the region can gear up to recapture growth

Customers are the lifeblood of any e-commerce business so any customer relationship challenges must be urgently addressed

Although the convenience of shopping online has been a boon to many consumers during the pandemic, e-commerce businesses still reported tough challenges

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A delay in logistics and supply chains, for example, cancellation of cargo flights, or a factory temporarily closing down due to local anti-pandemic measures, creates a domino effect of more issues such as rising customer complaints. Photo: Shutterstock

Cameron McLean leads PayPal’s international business across 177 markets, which include parts of Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America.

Published: 7:15am, 8 Nov 2020Updated: 7:55am, 8 Nov 2020

With all the talk about the hit Hong Kong’s high street shops have taken during Covid-19, it is easy to believe that online merchants must have had a bonanza during the pandemic. However, this is not necessarily the case according to our survey: PayPal Hong Kong Merchant Survey: From New Normal to New Growth.

The survey interviewed senior executives of mid to large-cap, Hong Kong-based e-commerce merchants in the physical goods space. While it has been reported that the largest e-commerce “mega-retailers” have had bumper results, we found that the next tier down has faced a number of challenges beneath the surface.

Although the convenience of shopping online has been a boon to many consumers, e-commerce businesses still reported tough challenges, with 64 per cent of those surveyed expressing concern over the sustainability of their business. Among the areas of impact, logistics and supply chains were of paramount concern.