Five trends driving China's e-commerce surge

China is growing from follower to leader in the world of e-commerce, with its consumers showing extraordinary flexibility and willingness to embrace innovation, said McKinsey & Company, a consultancy firm, in a report.

There is robust growth in the country's social commerce and online-to-offline services, a trend toward transforming physical retailers into mere "showrooms", and a dramatic increase in online food purchases and e-commerce users among rural regions, it said.

"Given the rapid rate of experimentation among China's businesses, and the rapid acceptance of new business models by its people, we believe China will lead the way in defining the next generation of social and mobile commerce experiences," said McKinsey.

Let's take a look at the five trends shaping the biggest e-commerce market in the world in 2015.

1. Getting social, going shopping

Wang Shanshan, a 27-year-old mother of two, opened an online cosmetic shop on WeChat, where she has nearly 5,000 followers. She checks delivery orders at home in Huai'an city, Jiangsu province on Jan 31, 2015. [Photo/IC]

Social platforms like QQ and WeChat are not only helping 500 million users in China to communicate and access entertainment, they are also shaping behaviors in significant ways, according to the McKinsey iConsumer report.

The survey shows social engagement and purchasing behavior are so intertwined that Chinese interviewees rank their friends' recommendations, both online and offline, as the most important factor in their online shopping decision.

The consultancy expects to see more companies directly selling recommendation-driven products such as cosmetics, healthcare and insurance through social network platforms.

"We believe that mastering social marketing and becoming the first pilot advertisers on platforms like WeChat will separate the winning retailers from the rest," said the report.