Sanlitun, a popular shopping, dining, and entertainment destination in Beijing’s Chaoyang district, is teeming with visitors who are experiencing various types of “intelligent” elements. Robots are guiding diners to queue and leading the way in restaurants, while WeChat mini-programs are being used to pay parking fees and order valet parking. Augmented reality-enabled “magic mirrors” are being used in beauty stores to show before-and-after images of makeup. Shopping malls and districts are adapting to new changes in demands for consumption upgrades by employing new technologies like 5G, internet of things, big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality. Statistics show that these new and smart experiences have significantly driven consumption.
