7 Observations of Digital Trends of 2021 in Hong Kong

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By Matthew Kwan

Here are my thoughts about the trends in 2021…

  1. For eCommerce, in 2020, we have seen a big growth of HKTV mall as the result of COVID in Hong Kong.  I think the momentum will continue in 2021 and its market share will remain high, though it will benefit the new comers of eCommerce as we are so used to the idea of online shopping.  However, it is too difficult to challenge its No.1 place by anyone in the near future from local Hong Kong Market.
  2. For Entertainment, as we are all “locked down” in our homes, YouTube will continue to grow as the biggest “free” entertainment channel in Hong Kong.  At the same time, I think Netflix will continue to thrive in Hong Kong even though Cantonese contents are not much nor attractive.
  3. For Dinning, even we have vaccines soon arrived in Hong Kong, I don’t think we can be anything back to “normal” so soon.  Hence, foodpanda & Deliveroo will still have a very active business throughout 2021.  At the same time, we will see a lot of restaurants, big & small, will continue implementing mobile apps, digital menu, automated ordering….
  4. For Social Media & Communications, we are seeing a huge migration from Facebook/IG to MeWe and Whatsapp to Signal in progress.  However, I don’t see an terminal effect on Facebook nor Whatsapp though the population in Hong Kong on these apps will be fragmented.  For those in business, it is quite impossible to drop Facebook/IG at this stage.  Nonetheless, I think YouTube will remain strong in Hong Kong as a source of information, learning platform, brand building tool, advertising channel…
  5. For Business, Work From Home or mobile/remote office will remain a major way of life.  Using Zoom/Teams/Meet/WebEx….is already a well adopted fact and it will still be an unplanned OpEx as a result of COVID.  There is still plenty of room to grow if you are selling webcam, video lighting…etc.
  6. For Payment, the use of mobile payment will continue to increase, other than Alipay/WeChat Pay, the payment apps from different banks especially those P2P apps like PayMe, BOC Pay…will be even more widely used alongside with Apple Pay, Google Pay…etc.
  7. For Retail, though there was a significant step ahead of online shop enablement in 2020, there is still a huge gap far from reality.  For those who are really ready for a O2O and offers Omni-Channel Shopping experience will win.