Revolution and Innovation in China’s Retailing Industry Since Reform and Opening Up

（Shanghai University，Shanghai200444，China）

Abstract：Since China's reform and opening up，China's retail industry has been greatly developed. During the past 40 years，it has experienced revolution in department store，supermarket and chain store，and the revolution aroused by ecommerce. The short interval between revolution in supermarket and department store is because of the rapid development of China’s economy；the update in business form of retailing is connected with economic development level，and the connection with the most advanced world retailing business form also shortens the update time period of China’s retailing business form. The revolution in supermarket and chain store are almost synchronous；the reason for that is that the development of supermarket needs chain operation，while the scope of revolution in chain store is much wider than that of revolution in supermarket. China’s fourth revolution in retailing is synchronous with the world；it has even been the leader of the fourth revolution. The fourth revolution in retailing is an all- round one with the greatest influences；there have been profound changes in retailing business form and operation pattern，such as the perfect integration of online and offline，the intervention of Internet giants，and the enduring driving forces provided by scientific technology. We can carry out research on the driving forces of innovation in retailing from the aspects of both consumers and enterprises：from the aspect of consumers，it concerns the advantages of price， the sound shopping experiences and the decrease of shopping cost；and from the aspect of enterprises，it concerns the decrease of cost，the improvement of efficiency and value creation.

Key words：revolution in retailing；innovation in retailing；e-commerce；O2O