The first shopping mall established in Shanghai after the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC) 75 years ago has witnessed the growth of consumption levels of the Chinese people and the increasing diversification of business forms in the world's second largest economy.
Located in the city's landmark Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street, the Shanghai No.1 Department Store is the first state-owned shopping center established after 1949. It used to be the first choice for older generations of people in Shanghai to buy things.
"At that time, the goods were relatively scarce. The No.1 department store was the top brand in Shanghai. Half an hour before the store opened, huge crowds of customers were already waiting outside all the entrances, all trying to be the first one in," said Shao Kaiping, 69, who used to work at the department store.
The shopping center was called "our own store" by Shanghai people in those years. With up to 35,000 categories of goods available, it was worthy of the name of "China's largest department store" at that time.
"Purchasing famous, quality and time-honored local products, as well as scarce commodities such as home appliances and bikes required ration stamps at that time. So, the No.1 Department Store, as the largest window for serving consumers, saw demand exceeding the supply," said Zhao Weigang, general manager of the store's commercial center. As the fast-growing Chinese economy drives people to seek richer consumption options and personalized products, the popular shopping center has been upgrading itself. Nowadays, it has expanded the business area to 70,000 square meters and has become a major complex for leisure and entertainment.
The century-old Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street has also been keeping up with the trend to stay competitive and unleash new potential. The more than 1,500-meter-long commercial street now gathers various emerging business forms, such as ACG (anime, comics and games)-themed shops, exhibitions and immersive performances, and is the destination for international and domestic brands to set up their first stores.
In the past 75 years, Chinese people's consumption concepts and patterns have changed a lot.
In 2023, the total retail sales of consumer goods in China increased from 27.7 billion yuan (about 3.94 billion U.S. dollars) in 1952 to 47 trillion yuan (about 6.68 trillion U.S. dollars), becoming the second largest consumer market in the world.
The per capita disposable income of Chinese residents has increased by 75.8 times over 1949, and the per capita consumption expenditure has increased by 35.5 times over 1956.
Today, people don't have to rush to stores to compete for the scarce goods. They just stay at home and shop online to get products from all over the country and even the world.
In 2023, there were more than 900 million consumers shopping online in China, with more than 400 million packages handled by express delivery every day.
The country recorded a national online retail sales of 15.4 trillion yuan, ranking first in the world for 11 consecutive years.
Shanghai department store witnesses consumption upgrading in past 75 years
