The third Hong Kong Shopping Festival started on Thursday as part of efforts to help Hong Kong's ailing retail sector.

The festival, organised by the Hong Kong Retail Management Association, is expected to last for two months and end in August.

Association chairwoman Annie Yau Tse said the hope is to take advantage of the summer despite a majority of Hongkongers travelling since tourists will also be coming to the SAR.

She said the cost of rents and labour are still high when compared to sales and that while offline shopping is becoming increasingly popular, there is still demand for physical stores.

More than 180 brands have participated and will be offering over HK$1.9 billion worth of vouchers on 13 platforms such as Alipay and Payme.

The association also said it aims to help push the development of a silver economy in alignment with the government's call, encouraging elderly consumption through discounts such as at Chinese medicine clinics or buying health products.

Its vice chairman Andrew Wong said there has been an increase in participation throughout the past few shopping festivals.

"I think this is the beauty about Hong Kong retail, so you can see there's more and more channels working with us, more industries working with us," he said.

"All together, we're just gonna make it [the Hong Kong retail sector] more attractive for our local customers and tourists."