The fourth Asian E-tailing Summit (AES), organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development (HKTDC), from December 9 to 11, featured more than 40 business professionals from e-tailing service giants, online retail platforms and brand representatives. More than 11,000 viewers from 43 countries and regions joined the global live streaming of online webinars and presentations which examined the current business practices of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and shared global success stories and solutions, helping enterprises capture the opportunities brought by digitisation.

The summit kicked off with the keynote session, "Cross-border E-commerce in the New Digital Era", featuring heavyweight speakers from the United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Malaysia and Taiwan, including corporate representatives from FedEx, KPMG, Dubai South, eRomman, Priceza Co, SAP.

The second day of the summit featured webinars covering a range of topical issues in the e-tailing industry, including mobile commerce, personalised customer experiences and omnichannel retailing.

On the summit's final day, several e-commerce elites provided advisory services to companies interested in setting up their own e-commerce platforms. Jonathan York, Consulting Manager, Euromonitor International, analysed how companies can succeed in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) market through e-commerce and explored the digital consumer mindset in the region. Frankie Ng, Hong Kong Lead, Shopify, shared how the brand uses a blend of technology and strategy to win in the increasingly competitive online environment, while Harrace Lau, Co-founder of eOneNet, introduced a 10-step internet success system to help companies turn around their online business and expand globally. And Fione Tan, President, 28Mall, helped business owners wishing to enter this market resolve problems relating to cross-border logistics, customs clearance and import duties, local customer services and last-mile deliveries.