Shopping habits change

Shoppers are steering clear of bricks-and-mortar stores and switching to online purchasing, with e-commerce platforms that deliver daily necessities and fresh produce witnessing a significant increase in business.

JD Daojia, the on-demand retail platform of the Dada Group, said its overall sales revenue rose by 374 percent year-on-year during the Spring Festival holiday. Consumption of meat rose by 710 percent, vegetables by 440 percent and fruit by 380 percent, compared with the same period last year.

The consultancy Analysys Qianfan said transactions on the fresh-food platform Missfresh surged by 350 percent year-on-year during the holiday. Home delivery orders on Wumart's Dmall digital platform rose by 95.3 percent on a yearly basis, with sales volume up by 225.7 percent year-on-year.

Raymond Wang, partner at global consultancy Roland Berger, said: "The outbreak has further proved the importance of the internet and digital economy. For example, the e-commerce and online-to-offline, or O2O, business model has solved people's daily requirements, while the traditional retail industry has taken a big hit."

He said that in the medium-and long-term, the outbreak would enhance social efficiency and result in a higher access rate for the burgeoning digital economy in terms of O2O, remote working and online education."This is also a big opportunity for China's technology and business model innovation-the foundations of the digital economy," he added.