While innovative shopping methods and improved logistics have led to the online retail sector witnessing significant growth, brick-and-mortar stores have also undergone innovation to bring a better shopping experience to customers.

(Photo/Xinhua)

Live streaming video sales gained momentum in 2019. On Nov. 11 last year, China’s annual Single’s Day shopping spree, more than 50 percent of merchants on Taobao, China’s largest e-commerce platform, sold their products though live broadcasts, bringing the volume of transactions made through broadcasts to nearly 20 billion yuan on that day.

Online retail giants have not only explored the market potential in small cities, towns and villages, but have also attempted to bring a better experience for consumers in megacities, with many online retail platforms promising to deliver goods to consumers’ doorsteps within one hour.

Technologies such as 5G and AI have improved the stock management and logistics of online retail platforms. Luan Xuefeng, deputy head of Suning’s logistics center, said that it takes about 20 minutes for products to be collected and shipped from their self-operating warehouses.

Luan added that in just two hours, robots at the warehouse can do the same work that it would take people a whole day to do.

China's retail industry has marched into a critical period of reform and transformation and will form a market pattern that integrates online and offline channels, experts pointed out.

The new type of offline retail stores aims to bring a fresh experience to consumers, something that is missing in online stores. New World City, a traditional shopping mall in Shanghai, has become popular with customers by introducing experience-oriented products such as rock climbing and indoor aquariums.