This Day, That Year

Item from March 10, 1987, in China Daily: Supermarkets in Beijing have been losing consumers, and some have closed down because they failed to make a profit.

In February, Haidian Supermarket, the oldest in Beijing, was finally closed after four years, Market News reported yesterday.

Photo shows the deserted Shuiduizi supermarket in Beijing.

After a period of robust recovery, stores are once again losing customers, this time due to the onslaught of online marketplaces.

In November, the 130-year-old English retailer Marks & Spencer said it will shut all of its 10 stores in the Chinese mainland.

Also last year, Japanese department store Ito Yokado closed three outlets in Beijing.

Parkson China, the first foreign-invested retailer in the country, has shut down about 10 stores in five cities in the past five years, and the group's financial reports said that stand-alone department stores' profitability has been declining steadily.

To meet the changing shopping habits of Chinese consumers, traditional retailers have been investing in e-commerce.

Marks & Spencer opened stores on Tmall and JD, two of the largest online marketplaces in China.

E-commerce has seen explosive growth over the past years, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

In 2015, e-commerce turnover jumped by 27 percent year-on-year to 20.8 trillion yuan ($3.01 trillion), it said.