【2023 Hong Kong Online Marketing Platform Comparison】Mshop vs HKTV Mall │ Choose the Ideal Marketing Channel!

In the rapidly evolving landscape of Hong Kong’s e-commerce industry, online marketing platforms have become crucial avenues for businesses to expand their operations. However, there are various channels for online marketing, with joining an e-commerce platform and setting up a dedicated online store being popular choices. How can businesses choose the most suitable sales channel?

HKTVMall, hailed as Hong Kong’s largest online shopping platform, is often the initial choice for many businesses looking to expand their online presence. By becoming a franchise store on HKTVMall, businesses can increase their exposure and gain cognition. On the other hand, many businesses choose to directly establish their own dedicated online stores, synchronizing their online and offline product information and complementing it with dedicated mobile applications to enhance brand loyalty and foster repeat purchases.

This article will explore the advantages and disadvantages of joining an e-commerce platform and setting up a dedicated online store from multiple perspectives, helping you effortlessly select the right online marketing platform for your business.

Table of Contents
・HKTV Mall Franchise Stores
・The Place
・Mshop

HKTV Mall has accumulated over 2 million customers with daily user visits exceeding 500,000. In addition, HKTV Mall boasts a robust warehouse and logistics team, including 93 O2O retail stores. Here are the benefits of joining HKTV Mall:

1. Increased Brand Awareness: HKTV Mall is a well-known e-commerce platform in Hong Kong with a substantial customer base. By joining, businesses can leverage the platform’s brand support and reputation, gradually expanding their own visibility and attracting more consumers.
2. Ample Advertising and Marketing Support: As a franchise store, businesses can benefit from HKTV Mall’s advertising and marketing campaigns, increasing product exposure and boosting sales opportunities.
3. Strong Technical Support: HKTV Mall provides a stable online platform and powerful system technology support, including the construction and maintenance of marketing platforms and management systems. This allows businesses to focus on brand and product management and sales.

However, there are also disadvantages to joining HKTV Mall:

1. High Franchise Fees and Sales Commissions: Joining HKTV Mall requires payment of fees, including annual franchise fees and sales commissions per transaction, ranging from 3% to 10% depending on the product category. These costs can impose financial pressure on businesses, especially those starting to expand online sales with limited funds, potentially impacting their operations. Additionally, sales commissions can significantly affect businesses operating on thin profit margins, reducing their profitability.
2. Lack of Autonomy: Joining HKTV Mall means businesses must adhere to the platform’s rules and policies, such as price controls and centralized promotional activities. However, these rules and policies can change at any time, potentially restricting businesses’ operations and affecting profitability.
3. Difficulty in Standing Out: HKTV Mall features numerous similar businesses, leading to intense competition. Businesses need to develop competitive marketing strategies to capture consumer attention and foster brand loyalty.

In addition to franchising, in recent years HKTV Mall has introduced a new service called “The Place,” which allows businesses to open their own independent online stores. Here are the benefits of The Place:

1. Stable Traffic and Exposure: HKTV Mall has a large user base and stable website traffic. By opening a store on The Place, businesses can benefit from the website’s traffic and the large potential customer base of HKTV Mall, making it easier to increase product and brand exposure and enhance sales opportunities.
2. Free Advertising and Promotion: The Place is a subsidiary service of HKTV Mall, and HKTV Mall periodically promotes The Place. Additionally, The Place stores are displayed on the main page of HKTV Mall. Therefore, whenever HKTV Mall runs promotional advertisements to attract consumer traffic, the businesses with The Place stores can benefit from it.

However, there are also drawbacks to opening a store on The Place:

1. Logistics Self-management: After opening a store on The Place, businesses are responsible for arranging their own logistics and shipping. HKTV Mall does not assist with transportation and delivery.
2. Store Rating Reset: If a business transitions from an HKTV Mall franchise store to an HKTV Shop store on The Place, the store ratings and reviews accumulated on HKTV Mall will not be automatically transferred to the newly opened The Place store. All accumulated store ratings and reviews will be reset. This not only affects the store’s image but also has long-term implications for brand marketing strategies.
3. Limited Store Functionality: The Place is a subsidiary service of HKTV Mall and is not primarily focused on providing comprehensive e-commerce or digital transformation services. Therefore, the store functionalities provided by The Place may not be as comprehensive as those of general e-commerce platforms and may not offer customized services.

Mshop is an online store platform established in Hong Kong in 2013. It currently has over 10,000 businesses using its services, including several listed companies and well-known online stores such as PorterHK, Yalan Mattress, and Skyworth TV. Mshop provides comprehensive e-commerce system services, including online store systems, mobile shopping apps, in-store POS, and Facebook live streaming. Here are the benefits of using Mshop services:

1. Flexible Management: Opening an independent online store allows businesses to be more flexible in their brand, product, and marketing strategies. Merchants can adjust product displays, introductions, and promotional methods freely to meet market demands and consumer preferences.
2. Building Customer Relationships: Having an independent online store enables businesses to manage and build good customer relationships more easily. Merchants can analyze consumer preferences and shopping habits based on backend system records and reports, allowing for more precise marketing. This enables businesses to provide appropriate discounts effectively, increase purchase intent, and encourage repeat purchases. Additionally, merchants can utilize Mshop’s membership system and CRM system to establish exclusive member reward programs, enhance customer loyalty to the brand, and maintain regular contact with customers.
3. Professional E-commerce Services: Mshop is a platform specifically designed to help businesses open online stores, providing comprehensive e-commerce services. From stable store servers to the development of dedicated mobile applications and even assistance with government funding inquiries, Mshop caters to various business needs.
4. Customized Services: Mshop offers personalized website design based on the specific needs, ideas, and preferences of businesses. This allows brands to stand out among other online stores, attract consumer attention more easily, and increase product exposure.
5. Supportive Technical Assistance: Mshop provides Mshop Care customer support services, with each merchant being assigned a dedicated customer manager to assist with technical and online store-related issues.

However, there are also drawbacks to using Mshop services.

1. Requires Additional Advertising Resources: Compared to joining HKTV Mall or opening an HKTV Shop, businesses need to allocate additional resources for advertising or brand promotion to increase the online store’s exposure and visibility.
2. Requires More Brand Marketing Strategies: Compared to joining HKTV Mall or opening an HKTV Shop, businesses need to develop more brand marketing strategies to establish their own presence and increase product exposure, especially for startups without physical stores.

Many businesses actually choose to become HKTV Mall franchise stores while also using e-commerce services to open independent online stores. This approach allows them to leverage the support and reputation of HKTV Mall to increase brand recognition and product exposure. At the same time, they can utilize the functionalities of independent online stores to establish exclusive member reward programs and enhance customer loyalty to the brand.

However, whether joining an online shopping platform or opening an exclusive online store, businesses must first thoroughly understand the service details, including fees, online marketing packages and connectivity, technical support services, scalability, and related charges (such as sales commissions). By doing so, they can find the most suitable marketing channels for their brand and products.

If you are an online shop owner or a newbie interested in starting an online shop and have questions about the process or managing an online shop, feel free to schedule a consultation with Mshop, a professional online shop consulting service.

Mshop E-commerce platform provide comprehensive online shop management system, including online store systems, mobile apps, retail POS systems, Facebook Live, and more. It offers various features such as local payment methods, logistics, order management, inventory management, and membership management, assisting shop owners in handling daily operations. Customization services are also available to facilitate brand and business development. Looking for a more comprehensive online shop system? Contact the professional team at Mshop for an exceptional experience!

・【2024 HK E-commerce Platform Comparison】Finding the Best Online Store Platform

・【2024 HKTVMall】Franchising with HKTVmall: Pros and Cons Analysis

・Is Joining The Place Worth It? Analyzing the Pros and Cons of Franchising The Place