Tips for Running an E-commerce Business in Hong Kong

Established as a colony of the British Empire, Hong Kong is a city and also a Special Administrative Region in the People’s Republic of China. Once upon a time, Hong Kong was just an area with a scanty population. Now, the city has become the biggest financial hub in the continent of Asia and a notable port for commercial activities. With limited natural resources, the city has decorated itself with many sterling attributes that make it a great place for people to buy and/or sell products and services. Owning a physical store in Hong Kong comes with its challenges and e-commerce has proven to be a better option for entrepreneurs. If you have such a desire to run an e-commerce business in Hong Kong, here are some tips that you will find very beneficial. 

1. Register Your Company: Hong Kong allows entrepreneurs to connect with customers and investors from different parts of the world. The city also has tax laws that are favorable to these entrepreneurs. However, you need to register your company before you can begin operation. Setting up an online business happens to be much easier than registering a traditional company and your best option is to register your business as a Private Limited Company (Ltd). Registering as an Ltd creates a unique identity for your business and gives it a strong public perception. It also ensures that you have a reliable structure as well as a limited liability as to the owner of the business. As a business owner in Hong Kong, you only get to pay tax on profits that are made within the region. Capital gains tax, withholding tax, and even value-added tax will not be part of your worries.
2. Create a Virtual Account: After registering your business in Hong Kong, you can proceed to create an account for business operation. A virtual account allows you to initiate and receive payments from all over the world in very little time. Since you are running an e-commerce business, you want a solution that allows you to transact business faster and satisfy customers better. A bank account will introduce extra costs when you are making international trade. But virtual accounts allow you to receive payments from anywhere in the world with little or no extra charges. Virtual accounts allow your clients to pay you in their local currency and you can open multiple virtual accounts to ease payments. By having a network of virtual accounts, you can integrate all of them into one bank account. That way, you can avoid correct conversion fees.
3. Create a Bank Account: After opening your virtual account, you need to connect all of them to your bank account. A bank account allows you to monitor your finances, track your expenses, and measure your profit. As a new business, you need to register your Hong Kong business account. To verify your bank account, you will need to provide certain documents in compliance with the banks’ policies and other Anti Money Laundering regulations.
4. Do Research: Before entering a market, you need to make sure that you are familiar with existing models and trends of that market. Learn about different businesses that you can collaborate with to provide better solutions for your customers. This includes delivery services, integration services, and so on. Shopify, BigCommerce, and Payoneer are examples of comprehensive that you work with to automate your business processes. You can study your competitors in the market and use their operations to find better solutions to achieve customer satisfaction.
5. Get Started: After doing your research, opening accounts, and registering your business, you need to get started with e-commerce. Think bout your target audience, where is the best place to find them? If your target audience are the Chinese, Alibaba or Taobao will be a great place to launch your business. However, if you are targeting a global market, you might want to consider setting up on marketplaces like Amazon or Shopify. Apply to your preferred marketplace to become a seller. Go through the registration process and provide all the necessary information that you will be required to give. With all of these, you have your e-commerce business up and running in Asia’s financial hub, Hong Kong. Hurray!

E-commerce business has its benefits over a traditional store. It allows you to attend to multiple customers in a faster time. Your customers also do not need to leave their house to place an order or get their wares delivered. Hong Kong provides a great market to establish an e-commerce business and you can utilize the tips in this article to get your business running.