CHINA’S mall sector is accelerating into the mobile era because of the fast development of online technologies and rapidly changing consumer habits, Mingtiandi, an independent China real estate intelligence firm, said in a report released yesterday.

These factors are already having a profound impact on the nation’s shopping culture and traditional retail, according to China Mall 2020, a white paper jointly released with Taubman Asia, a subsidiary of Taubman, which owns, manages and leases shopping centers in the US and Asia.

“China is uniquely positioned to build a modern, connected and relevant retail real estate sector by 2020,” said Michael Cole, author of the white paper and founder of Mingtiandi.

“Advantages that will drive this effort include leveraging major retail innovations driven by the rise of digital marketing technology, enhanced mall service and design, combined with a retail building boom, a large demographic of urbanites with increasing spending power and changing consumption patterns.”

China’s malls are now utilizing a powerful mix of digitally enabled strategies that leverage mobile, social media platforms and big data, the report said.

China’s retail sales totaled 27.2 trillion yuan (US$4.3 trillion) in 2014, up from 6.7 trillion yuan in 2005.