HK consumer watchdog calls out operators for eVoucher unhappiness and complaints

The Consumer Council has received 259 complaints relevant to electronic consumption vouchers, with many citizens complaining merchants have raised prices since the distribution of vouchers. 

In a report from The Standard, about 101 complaints were made related to the electronic payment platforms, with most of them involving failure of payment and their customer services. Octopus received 81 complaints in total, the highest among four operators. Alipay HK, Tap & Go and WeChat Pay HK received 60, 50, and 18 complaints respectively.

Also, price increases were seen in cooking oil and computers after the vouchers were distributed on 1 August 2021. Some merchants reportedly raised prices when some citizens used the vouchers to buy. It was reported that more than 20 complaints were related to price increases. As of 30 August, the Consumer Council received 30 complaints related to computers and electrical appliances, 26 related to the catering industry; 18 related to supermarkets, and 13 related to online shopping.

Chief executive of the Consumer Council, Gilly Wong, urged merchants in the city to handle customer service properly and cooperate with the operators to ensure that the distribution of the second and third batch of the vouchers can be implemented smoothly.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong government announced the figures of the value of total retail sales in July 2021. Hong Kong's value of total retail sales in July 2021 increased by only 2.9% year-over-year but online retail sales increased significantly, according to the latest figure from the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) of the Hong Kong government. 

C&SD released the latest figures on retail sales for July 2021. The value of total retail sales in July 2021, provisionally estimated at HK$27.2 billion, increased by 2.9% compared with the same month in 2020, lower than the estimated increase of 10% according to a report from 881903.com. Of the total retail sales value in July 2021, online sales accounted for 7.5%. The value of online retail sales in that month, provisionally estimated at HK$2.1 billion, increased by 29% year-over-year. 

Moreover, the revised estimate of online retail sales in June 2021 increased by 64.0% compared with a year earlier. For the first seven months of 2021 taken together, it was provisionally estimated that the value of online retail sales increased by 50.6% compared with the same period in 2020. After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the provisional estimate of the volume of total retail sales in July 2021 increased by 0.9% compared with a year earlier.

However, the value of sales of commodities in supermarkets decreased by 19.4% in July 2021 over a year earlier. This was followed by sales of commodities in department stores (-9.6% in value); food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco (-5.7%); electrical goods and other consumer durable goods, not elsewhere classified (-2.5%); and Chinese drugs and herbs (-2.3%).

On the other hand, some categories saw an increase in the value of sales. For example, the value of sales of jewellery, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts increased by 27.1%. This was followed by sales of other consumer goods, not elsewhere classified (+15.8% in value); wearing apparel (+30.7%); medicines and cosmetics (+0.5%); motor vehicles and parts (+25.0%); fuels (+12.8%); furniture and fixtures (+0.6%); books, newspapers, stationery and gifts (+9.8%); footwear, allied products and other clothing accessories (+30.5%); and optical shops (+8.9%).

Looking ahead, a government spokesman said the electronic consumption vouchers that the government began to disburse in August have helped stimulate consumption sentiment and will render support to the retail business in the rest of the year.

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