A new O2O platform is taking Hong Kong brands to China.
Registered by Hang Fung (Hong Kong) eCommerce in November, Travelnomall.com opened for business four months ago offering online-to-offline (O2O) shopping for Chinese consumers.
Pitching itself as a “Hong Kong-invested Hong Kong goods centre, operated by Hong Kong people”, Travelnomall has obtained certification from the Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency (HKQAA), a third-party body that provides professional certification and monitoring for the sale of goods, customer services, logistics and warehouse services.
HKTDC Research, a Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) publication, has discussed the features and working model of Travelnomall with Hang Fung VP for business development, Caine Pan…
Emphasising its Hong Kong origins, the brand name Travelnomall in Chinese, Ziyouxing, has the same pronunciation as that of the Chinese term for “individual travel”, inspired by China allowing mainland residents to visit Hong Kong as individual travellers.
There are eight categories for goods sold on Travelnomall: mother and baby, beauty and cosmetics, health and supplements, imported food, watches and jewellery, life and household, fashion, and “Hong Kong youth creativity”. About 90 per cent of the goods are made in Hong Kong or carry Hong Kong brands like Eu Yan Sang, Luk Fook, Memorigin, Sa Sa, Vita Green and Wai Yuen Tong. International brands include Dermagram Swiss cosmetics, Penfolds wine from Australia and Sulwhasoo skincare from Korea.
Exports to imports
In recent years, some Hong Kong and international brands have set up manufacturing plants in China, and their goods may be sold as imports through cross-border eCommerce platforms as long as they leave the mainland as exports.
Pan explains: “Products manufactured in the mainland carrying Hong Kong brands or international brands must be exported from China to Hong Kong or Southeast Asia, then – like other foreign-made goods – apply to China Customs for filing as imports.
“With approval, the goods can then be sold through a cross-border eCommerce platform. For example, Travelnomall applies for filing on behalf of a British brand of baby products after its Asia-Pacific distributor has exported the goods from China. This way the sales can be done through Travelnomall.”
Unique to Travelnomall is a dedicated zone showcasing the works of outstanding young Hong Kong designers, blending Hong Kong’s culture and creativity into product design, and helping the designers develop the mainland market. Major product categories include clothing, gifts and household items. To support the designers, their products sold through Travelnomall and its physical store will be charged at cost.
Travelnomall offers two types of sales models – direct shipping from a warehouse in Hong Kong, and bonded warehouse delivery. The direct-shipping warehouse is in Yuen Long while the mainland bonded warehouses are in Nansha’s Longxuedao, Guangzhou.
One-stop service
Travelnomall provides suppliers with one-stop management services, applying on their behalf to China Customs for filing as imports. After securing approval, products are put up for sale online with product information and photos uploaded. Information provided by online shoppers in their transactions with Travelnomall (including order, payment and delivery details) will be communicated real-time to China Customs, with clearance handled by Travelnomall.

 
Meanwhile, Travelnomall’s third-party logistics partner Alog Technology Logistics (Guangdong) will package and distribute the ordered goods.
Orders that select direct shipping from the warehouse will be delivered in five to 12 working days. These goods are transported from the Yuen Long warehouse across the border on Hong Kong-China direct cross-border trucks via Huanggang port to Guangzhou’s Baiyun Airport for customs clearance.
When orders specify bonded warehousing delivery, goods take two to three working days to reach the customer.
At the moment, about 90 per cent of goods being sold in Travelnomall specify direct shipping from the warehouse. Pan says Travelnomall charges only a proportion of the consignment of goods (the percentage varies on the merchandise category), with no extra fees for filing, customs clearance and logistics.

Integrated shop
As well as its online platform, Travelnomall has a 4000 sqm shop in the Nansha Free Trade Zone’s new Puzhou high-tech development park. It is an integrated cross-border shop, with its goods being divided into “dutiable” and “cross-border”.
Consumers buying dutiable goods can pay by cash, debit or credit card, and take instant delivery. While dutiable goods are cleared as general import, direct co-operation between Travelnomall and brands/suppliers enables agent fees and logistics costs to be optimised, resulting in a lower price for dutiable goods compared with other retail outlets. For display only in the shop, cross-border goods can be bought from Travelnomall online and shipped directly to buyers.
Close to tourist attractions and venues in Nansha such as Nansha Grand Hotel, Nansha Marina, Nansha Passenger Ferry Terminal and Tian Hou Temple, Travelnomall’s experience store attracts visitors from Guangzhou and other mainland cities during holiday periods.
“A daily average of more than 10,000 visitors was estimated in the store during the Golden Week in May,” says Pan. “With the opening of phase two of the store, covering 10,000 sqm, Travelnomall will expand the categories of goods available.”
He says improved infrastructure, including the opening of a fourth Metro line at the end of this year, will attract more people to the store.
To meet consumer demand, the company is said to have plans to open experience stores in 50 cities around China in the next three years.
All goods sold on Travelnomall have been verified by HKQAA and have source records.
Consumers can use their smartphones to scan the unique QR code on any product to confirm it is supplied by a registered organisation. It will also give a link to the supplier’s registered information as well as the item’s HKQAA certification.
Pan says that as Travelnomall is still in the development stage, more high-quality products will be sourced in the future. While focussing on online sales, the platform is developing a WeChat Mall presence and plans to launch app sales. To promote itself, Travelnomall is using social media such as WeChat and Weibo.