Issue No. 20 - Apr 2009
Creating Business Opportunities in Times of Economic Challenge:
One-stop Direct Mail Service to Reach Guangdong Visitors to Hong Kong

In the face of financial tsunami, many SMEs in Hong Kong are struggling for survival. To unlock more business opportunities, they look to sharpen their competitive edge and at the same time proactively promote abroad their products or services.  From the launch of the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS), Mainland China remains Hong Kong’s primary visitor source market. IVS visitors accounted for 57% of total visitor arrivals in Hong Kong last year, and the upward trend in the number of visitors from Guangdong Province continues, generating tremendous revenue to our tourism industry which covers catering, retail, recreation, entertainment, online shop, education and other services.

IVS to Furnish Boundless Business Opportunities

Recently, the Central Government announced two additional measures to further facilitate Mainland residents to visit Hong Kong under IVS.  From 1 April 2008, eligible residents of Shenzhen may apply for one-year IVS endorsement for multiple visits to Hong Kong.  As for those residents living in Shenzhen but with household registration in other places, they may also apply for IVS endorsement in Shenzhen from 1 May 2009 onwards.  Various trades expect that these measures will bring in about 10 million visitors and billions of revenue to Hong Kong.

Low Cost, High Return Way to Reach the Target Customers in Guangdong

The market for individual visits from the Mainland is enormous. Considering the prevailing business environment, it is crucial for SMEs in Hong Kong to take advantage of a low cost, high return way to promote their products and services to these potential customers. With this in mind, Hongkong Post collaborates with China Post to launch the "Hong Kong-Guangdong Direct Mail Service".  By capitalising on our professional resources, we aim to facilitate SMEs in Hong Kong to reach the target customers in Guangdong Province.

The "Hong Kong-Guangdong Direct Mail Service" offers one-stop direct mail service, including mailing list selection and rental, printing, delivery and reporting. This Service now covers Shenzhen and Dongguan, and will subsequently extend to other major cities in Guangdong Province. Users can take into account their business nature and marketing strategies to set criteria for mailing list selection.  Hongkong Post will, with the aid of the comprehensive mailing database of China Post, help the users select their target customer segments for direct mail promotions.

In the case of merchants in Hong Kong selling high-end audio products, their target customers are high-income males of young and middle age. They may use a combination of criteria including (1) high income; (2) male aged between 30 and 50; and (3) residing in garden residential areas or upmarket properties to select the most suitable target customer segment, thereby creating effective promotions and boosting brand-name awareness to attract customers.

The "Hong Kong-Guangdong Direct Mail Service" maintains a mailing list database covering personal particulars of over 1.3 million Shenzhen residents and 2 million Dongguan residents as well as information of 0.3 million Shenzhen enterprises and 0.16 million Dongguan enterprises.  Users can set their own criteria for selecting target customer segments to fit different promotional needs.

Online Shops Benefit from IVS

We see rapid developments in e-commerce and that China has become the world’s second largest internet market.  In Hong Kong, many SMEs also run online businesses.  To boost sales, they can use the “Hong Kong-Guangdong Direct Mail Service” to promote their online products to the target customers in Mainland China.  On the other hand, they can provide even better services by allowing IVS visitors to place orders online and pick up the products during visit to Hong Kong. For those with retail outlets or showrooms, they can take the advantage of direct contact with IVS visitors to build good customer rapport for effective promotions.

The "Hong Kong-Guangdong Direct Mail Service" has attracted a diversity of customers in Hong Kong, mainly from catering and retail sectors, hotels and service apartment management companies, advertising consultancies and educational institutions as well as other commercial service providers such as business and property trusts.

For more details about the "Hong Kong-Guangdong Direct Mail Service", please visit Hongkong Post website (http://www.hongkongpost.com/dm/eng/postal/newservices.htm) or call our hotline on 2921 2277.

1