Nation ranks first in online shopping, PwC poll shows

China remains in a class of its own in terms of the use of mobile technology to shop. One in four Chinese shop on a mobile phone or smartphone at least once a week, compared with 9 percent for global respondents.

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According to the survey, shoppers also increasingly want personalization based on their past purchases, and retailers are getting better at delivering it through such means as daily deals.

"China is more advanced in its use of mobile in the shopping experience than arguably anywhere else in the world, yet few retailers are bringing a digital experience to the physical store," said Colin Light, who leads the digital consulting practice for PwC covering the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.

Increasingly, PwC found, people are using brick-and-mortar stores as "showrooms" instead of places to buy, and retailers need to embrace this trend by providing more links between showrooms and online shops.

According to Qi Xiaozhai, dean of the Shanghai Commercial Economic Research Center, brick-and-mortar stores can give consumers more knowledge about brands, and a pleasant shopping experience at a well-organized outlet can't be replaced by e-commerce platforms.

The survey also found that consumers want to give feedback. More than 90 percent of the 900 China-based respondents and 55 percent of the some 15,000 global respondents provided either positive or negative comments about their experiences with a product or brand on social media.

"Companies must think about their investments in social media to enhance consumer engagement," said Carrie Yu of PwC's Hong Kong retail practice.

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