(Yicai) Sept. 30 -- Taobao will start shipping products for free to its Hong Kong customers when they spend a minimum of CNY99 (USD14.10) as Alibaba Group Holding's e-commerce platform seeks offshore expansion with the gradual saturation on the Chinese mainland.

Taobao will invest CNY1 billion (USD142.6 million) to make Hong Kong a free shipping area starting tomorrow, it announced on Sept. 26. It previously had such offers only for clothing.

Three types of e-commerce platforms operate in Hong Kong. The first is local ones, such as HKTVmall; the second is national and international sites, including Taobao, Pinduoduo, and Amazon; the third is shopping websites set up by retailers like Japan's Uniqlo.

Online retail sales are still relatively low in Hong Kong, said Chen Zijian, head of the Hong Kong-Macao business segment of Taobao. "We haven't paid attention to rivals yet. The entry of every industry participant helps increase the e-commerce penetration ratio in the city."

In recent years, Chinese on-demand services giant Meituan and China's largest express delivery firm SF Holding increased their business input in Hong Kong.

Meituan entered Hong Kong as Keeta last year. It overtook Foodpanda and Deliveroo to become the biggest takeout delivery platform in the city in March, with a market share of 44 percent, according to data from market researcher Measurable AI.

Hong Kong consumers have also inquired about enhancing Taobao's mainland return policies and lowering related costs. Only around 20 to 30 percent of products available on the platform in the city can be returned, Yicai found.

Editors: Shi Yi, Martin Kadiev