A couple selects jewelry at a shop in Chengdu, Sichuan province, Feb 14, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Under a guideline promulgated in late November, the central government urged local governments to help business to improve the layout of physical shops, reduce rent and ease restrictive terms about decoration and remodeling, in an effort to catalyze a "real circulation revolution" in the sector, according to Vice-Minister of Commerce Fang Aiqing.

CBRE Research said the retail industry would do well to promote experience-based elements of shopping and focus on providing an environment for visitors to socialize and relax.

Retail is not the only economic segment that is changing in response to millennials' needs. Travel, catering, entertainment and the like are fast adapting to the trend.

In an email, Yan Xuan, president of Nielsen Greater China, said automobile retailers should start to think about how many seats they would install in their showrooms for visiting prospective customers and what unique elements would the products include in their design to satisfy the needs of the younger generation.

Similarly, retailers of baby and maternal products should start thinking strategies to retain young mums, he said.

The growing number of millennials, according to Yan, indicates that the outlook for China's future domestic consumption would continue to be optimistic. "The young generation prefer to buy more than basic consumer goods, and they are willing to foot the bills related to their interests and dreams. This is expected to further drive domestic consumption," said Yan.

In its recent whitepaper The Chinese Consumer in 2030, the Economist Intelligence Unit said the new-age consumer has, well, come of age, with consumption driving economic growth, which is projected at an annual 5.5 percent between 2016 and 2030, eventually accounting for 50 percent of the world's second largest economy.

China is expected to become the world's largest consumer market in the next two to three years, said the Ministry of Commerce spokesman Sun Jiwen at a news conference in mid February.

That trend is in line with China's commitment to make economic growth more sustainable by making it more consumption-driven rather than investment- or export-based.

Cheng Yu contributed to the story.