Early last year the people of Hong Kong and the world abruptly packed their bags and headed home. And the move is unlikely to be completely reversed as the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The homecoming has driven a fundamental and permanent shift in consumer purchases, boosting suppliers of home-related goods and services from indoor plants to in-house education.
In line with these trends, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is launching a new public fair, the Lifestyle ShoppingFest, which will run from 28 April to 2 May at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC).
The fair features more than 400 exhibitors, presenting a broad selection of products and providing local consumers with a unique one-stop shopping experience. The event will also help suppliers tap the retail market and capture new opportunities during the pandemic.
HKTDC Deputy Executive Director Benjamin Chau noted a change in Hongkongers’ lifestyle, which is marked with a greater emphasis on personal and household hygiene, cooking at home, stay-at-home time with kids, watching livestreaming videos and shopping online.
“Our brand-new Lifestyle ShoppingFest caters to this new way of life for local people. It brings together global delicacies, fine jewellery, trendy accessories, branded fashion, cosmetics and healthcare items, household products and baby products, encouraging local spending and providing an enjoyable shopping experience,” said Mr Chau.
The fair features eight themed zones – Glamour & Style, Tasting Journey, Healthy Living, Home Inspiration, Play & Learn, Digital Life, Baby Essentials and Pet Care.
Travelling the world from home
Among home-hygiene products, the show presents an air steriliser with a three-stage filtration system, and a “magic water mop” set featuring technology that separates clean and dirty water.
With cooking at home becoming part of the “new normal”, visitors are offered a wide variety of quality food ingredients, including Italian pastas, cheese and truffle sauce, along with highly practical quality cookware such as titanium pots.
While overseas leisure travel remains off limits, the fair offers on-site photo spots featuring popular tourist destinations or icons from abroad, including a life-size Le Petit Prince model from France.
“Korean Street” highlights popular cosmetics, snacks, anti-epidemic supplies and music performances from the country.
Global delicacies are another key focus at the fair, including Korea’s Haenam organic GABA rice as well as instant abalone porridge and NihonshuOendan “KAKEYA” Sake from Japan. European gourmet choices include Extra Brut Champagne from France, XO cognac in an Eiffel Tower-shaped bottle, Italian sparkling wine, Spanish frozen suckling pig, and much more.
“Jade Street” offers luxurious jade jewellery, South Sea pearl jewellery and a range of diamond and gems, while popular cosmetic brands such as Dior, Estee Lauder, LA MER, SK-II, Sulwhasoo and TOM FORD BEAUTY will also be available.
Local brands
The Hong Kong People and Brands Pavilion showcases products from leading local brands such as Abalone King, Luk Yu Chinese tea bags and Nutzen appliances, along with items as diverse as tea leaves, rice, home appliances and bedroom supplies. The Hong Kong and Kowloon Provisions, Wine & Spirits Dealers’ Association Limited and Nam Pak Hong Association together present 45 food exhibitors, with four “flash sale” promotional campaigns to be held each day.
About 20 Hong Kong fashion brands are taking part, including winning designers from various editions of the Hong Kong Young Fashion Designers’ Contest (YDC), such as Arto Wong, Charlotte Ng, Jason Lee and Wilson Choi, who will present locally designed fashion items and accessories. “Chill Market” will also feature local original designs and let the public know more about Hong Kong brands.
Shopping privileges
The HKTDC will stage a number of fun-filled activities at the fair, including a demonstration of Chinese cooking by Chef Wong Man-chung from the Full House Seafood Chinese Restaurant.
Representatives from the Centre for Food Safety will share tips on how to enjoy a healthier diet with less salt and sugar, while experts from the Hong Kong Jewellery and Jade Manufacturers’ Association and the Diamond Federation of Hong Kong will give tips on how to buy and appreciate jade and natural gems.
Rope-skipping demonstrations and making STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) educational toys will be among the fun activities offered for parents and kids.
Various products will be offered at special prices at the fair. Lucky draws will be held to encourage shoppers to make purchases. Customers may redeem one lucky draw coupon for every HK$200 spent. Prizes on offer include staycation packages from Hong Kong Ocean Park Marriott Hotel, and food and beverage coupons from Hotel Alexandra, Novotel Hong Kong Century, Outback Steakhouse, SOHO East and The St Regis Hong Kong. Other prizes range from gourmet items to lifestyle fashion accessories and healthcare products. Visitors can also bid for such products as fashion jewellery and watches, home appliances and household products at low prices.
To help small and medium-sized enterprises grasp new business opportunities and overcome the impact of the pandemic, the fair will strengthen its online-to-offline promotions. The HKTDC is partnering with Bonjour Hong Kong to introduce a range of products, and all the livestreaming shows will be broadcasted at Bonjour and the HKTDC Exhibition Channel on Facebook.
In addition, the HKTDC is collaborating with e-commerce platform Boutir to offer exhibitors the chance to open an online shop with a three-month free service to help them get established as an online operator. Furthermore, representative from Carousell, a large-scale e-commerce platform, will share online shopping tips for visitors to the event.
The HKTDC will work closely with the HKCEC to deploy comprehensive measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, keeping exhibitors and visitors safe.
The Lifestyle ShoppingFest opens at 10.30am next Wednesday. Adult tickets are HK$10 each, and child tickets HK$5 each (for children under 1.22m tall or primary school students). Visitors aged three and under, or 65 or over, will be admitted free of charge.
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HKTDC Lifestyle Shopping Fest
