Hong Kong retailers face checkout & fraud pressure

Hong Kong retailers face mounting payment and fraud pressures as Singles' Day marks the start of the peak shopping season, according to new consumer and merchant research from payments company Adyen.

The findings suggest checkout performance and fraud prevention are becoming central concerns for retailers handling heavy transaction volumes across Singles' Day, Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year.

More than half of consumers surveyed, or 51%, said they wanted a seamless shopping experience across online and in-store channels. Another 45% said they expected real-time product visibility before visiting a shop, reflecting demand for retailers to better connect stock information and customer journeys.

The figures point to a broader expectation of consistency across digital and physical retail. Those expectations become more visible during periods of intense seasonal demand, when high traffic can expose weaknesses in payment systems and fulfilment processes.

Checkout pressure

The research also highlighted how payment errors can quickly affect customer behaviour. Among consumers surveyed, 12% said they would switch to a competitor immediately after a payment issue at checkout.

Women were more likely than men to abandon a purchase altogether after an error, at 29% compared with 22%. Younger shoppers were also less tolerant, with 36% of Gen Z saying payment errors damaged their perception of a brand, compared with 22% of Gen X.

On the merchant side, every retailer surveyed said they had been affected by payment performance issues. About 36% said they had lost sales because of failed or slow transactions, 31% cited in-store queue abandonment, and 26% pointed to abandoned online checkouts.

Online-only retailers appeared to be under greater strain. Among those merchants, 37% said payment issues had reduced customer trust, compared with 23% of cross-channel or physical-only retailers.

The pressure comes as consumer expectations around convenience continue to rise. More than one-third of respondents said they wanted technology that made shopping faster and more convenient, while a similar share expected more tailored personalisation.

Both trends increase the need for retailers to manage payments and customer data efficiently during busy trading periods. In practice, checkout systems need to stay stable and responsive while processing high volumes without adding visible friction for customers.

Fraud concerns

The study also pointed to a rise in fraud during peak trading periods. Refund fraud showed the largest increase over the past year, with 55% of affected merchants ranking it among the three biggest fraud increases they had faced.

Phishing scams affected 40% of merchants, while identity fraud and chargeback abuse each affected 38%. Consumer data showed a similar pattern, with 33% saying they had received phishing or scam messages and 14% saying they had been targeted by refund, prize or loyalty scams.

For retailers, those figures suggest the seasonal uplift in sales also raises exposure to losses, disputes and customer distrust. Merchants that fail to control fraud risk may face not only direct financial damage but also weaker consumer confidence at a time when repeat business matters most.

Younger shoppers

The findings also indicate that younger consumers are shaping changes in retail expectations. Millennials placed greater emphasis on seamless experiences than other generations, with 57% identifying this as important, compared with 48% of both Gen Z and Gen X.

One in five consumers said they expected better shopping experiences through social and emerging platforms. That adds another layer of complexity for retailers, which are increasingly expected to support sales and customer engagement across a wider range of channels while keeping payment journeys consistent.

Adyen based its consumer survey on 1,026 Hong Kong residents aged 18 and older and its merchant survey on 324 Hong Kong retail merchants at senior manager level or above with annual turnover of at least HK$150 million.

"A retailer's peak season hinges on the final click. Friction at checkout costs sales. Speed and security are baseline expectations. By unifying data and modern payment infrastructure to prevent fraud without disrupting genuine customers, businesses can confidently scale through peak demand and turn single-purchase shoppers into lifetime value," said Kai Tang, Head of Hong Kong at Adyen, commenting on the findings.