Global home furnishing giant IKEA on Thursday opened a city-center store in Shanghai, the first of its kind on the Chinese mainland.

The three-story space is located in Jing'an District, downtown Shanghai, with a total area of about 3,000 square meters.

"The convenient location, unique visuals, digital innovation solutions and the all-round experience with shopping, eating and social activities will serve consumers a fresh new retail experience," said Francois Brenti, vice president at IKEA China.

The move is another step for IKEA to explore the integration of offline and online channels. In March this year, IKEA launched a Tmall flagship store and IKEA shopping app, to better cater to Chinese consumers' demand for online shopping.

Compared with existing stores, the new store is closer to the city center and is aimed to adapt to the changes in consumer behavior, according to Brenti. The newly opened store also integrates new online channels, using digital tools to simplify the offline shopping experience.