When consumer goods retailers look at the numbers, it is easy to see why there is so much optimism about the emerging consumer markets in Asia.

Within a five-hour flight radius of Hong Kong, more than two-thirds of the world's population resides. Experts say this vast consumer market holds tremendous opportunity and will become the world's greatest trade bloc as government barriers and logistics problems subside in the face of electronic commerce.

How then should online retailers tackle this market?

The wrong approach, said Simon Hsu, chairman and chief executive officer of Hong Kong-based E-Commerce Logistics (ECL), is to employ the English language customer service models popular in the West.

Online retailers, multi-channel catalogue sellers and Internet plays - especially leading American brands seeking to reach beyond their borders - should be sensitive to cultural and language barriers that make up much of Asia, he said.

To get a better understanding of the problem, Mr Hsu encourages retailers to imagine the on-line shopping experience from the point of view of a typical Asian consumer.

To purchase popular American brands, Asian consumers have to view a Web site - typically available only in English - and then endure long shipment delays and charges that can strip the value out of online buying. If the consumer has a question about the product, the toll-free numbers listed on many e-retailer's Web sites simply do not work when calling out of Asia. Even if the consumer picked up the long distance charges, most call centre staff do not speak Mandarin, Korean and Japanese.

Realising the problem facing most English-language online retailers, Mr Hsu, a former investment banker, formed a logistics and fulfilment company which addresses the key transport and communication issues. At the heart of the company's operations is a 60-seat call centre which provides support, in a variety of regional languages, to customers who may have trouble navigating the online ordering process.

"Our main target is serving Asian-based customers," Mr Hsu said. "Without the back end we have, foreign retailers can hardly tap into this market."

Launched in March, ECL is a HK$50-million venture between a group of public and private investors. The company is currently operating at 40 per cent of its capacity of 5,000 packages per day capacity, said Mr Hsu.

Staff at the Tsuen Wan-based call centre can walk a customer through the steps and even answer simple questions about a product's features.

When an order is placed, the transaction is processed via the online retailers Web site and by ECL's in-house server.

The request is then sent to ECL's adjoining 100,000-square-foot warehouse, where a team of workers pick and pack the order and arrange for transportation. Deliveries within Hong Kong are made by the company's own fleet of trucks, while regional orders are sent via express courier service and guaranteed to arrive within 48 hours.

Although several so-called e- fulfilment companies provide warehousing and order packaging services, few have taken the service model to the personalised level offered by ECL.

Billing itself as a "turn key" solution provider, ECL appears to be positioning itself at the mid-point between the logistics and call service arena. The company is targeting the growing need for an Asian "back end" that can merge seamlessly with the front end of a US e-retailer's site.

It is all part of developing the regional focus that makes customers feel comfortable when purchasing via the Internet. Mr Hsu, a Taiwan native who worked in the United States for several years, estimates that only 10 per cent of Asians region-wide feel comfortable speaking English.

Despite the hype surrounding the dotcom craze earlier this year, Mr Hsu reaffirms his faith in the transformational power of the Internet. In describing ECL, he cautions the firm is not an Internet company, but rather a traditional business with one foot in the old economy and an eye on the future. "I really believe e-commerce is going to be a new channel of sales and marketing."

Mr Hsu encourages foreign e-retailers to consider attaching an "Asian click" on their existing Web sites and making 20 per cent of the company's best-selling merchandise available for immediate distribution in Asia. New clients who choose to distribute through ECL must pay up front for the service, with costs averaging 10 per cent to 12 per cent of the retail value of items sold.