At the entrance to an Apple store in downtown Beijing, some 20 people were lined up patiently waiting for the electronics shop to open. At 11 a.m. sharp, the doors swung open and the staff stood in a row and clapped, welcoming their first customers of the day.

Such a scene has been a rare sight in recent weeks, as people avoided malls while China's cities grappled with the novel coronavirus outbreak. But shoppers are now slowly venturing out, and more shops are beginning to re-open.

Sanlitun, Beijing's popular shopping area, has seen a noticeable increase in visitors in the final week of February, compared to the largely quiet scenes a just weeks prior. Yang Xinxu, who was promoting a film at a booth, told CGTN: "Over the weekend, there's been a slight increase in customers here. But there's still not as many people as before, where it'll usually be filled to the brim."

Over in Shanghai, larger shopping outlets are reporting more customers these days. Downtown commercial plaza Daning Life Hub said 90 percent of its stores are in operation.

"The retail shops have re-opened, but the restaurants are mostly doing delivery business. They'll probably re-start table service in two or three weeks. The plaza would normally have a customer flow of 50,000 to 60,000 a day, but now we're getting only 20,000," said Lu Xuhui, general manager of Daning Life Hub.

Singaporean-listed CapitaLand, which owns over 50 malls in China, said that there has been some increase in the traffic in its shopping malls, after a decrease in footfall following the outbreak.

"Since more and more companies resumed work recently, we have seen an increase in the traffic of shopping malls, mostly from the people working in office buildings. Many tenants in shopping malls are quickly shifting to the online platforms to provide services and products, like the restaurants," said a spokesperson, who added that CapitaLand had noted "new consumption habits" and was able to cater to them with the company's various online tools.

Outbreak pressures China's retail

The COVID-19 epidemic has to date infected over 80,000 people around the world, causing over 2,800 deaths. Businesses, including the retail industry, in Chinese cities, have been faced with a sharp fall in customers, as authorities imposed restrictions and asked people to stay home to contain the spread.

In major Chinese cities, purchases in the fast-moving consumer goods segment alone have dropped 12 percent in the last month, according to estimates by research firm Kantar. "In 2019, retail sales growth in China was already at a five-year low amid the pressure of macro economies and China-U.S. trade disputes. COVID-19 brought more pressure to retail sales development in the first quarter," Kantar General Manager Jason Yu told CGTN.

Yu also noted that consumers reduced their overall spending and especially dropped purchases of non-essential categories from their basket, even as they minimized outings and social gatherings. "They shifted their budget to medical supplies, fresh/packaged foods, as well as cleaning products. Spending on beauty categories also saw some sharp reduction," said Yu.

He Tao, a 27-year-old planner for an online video company, said most of his purchases have been mainly groceries and bottled water. "Like for example bubble tea, these non-essential items. I very rarely buy them now. I also don't go to the gym as much," he said.

Vivian Bai, a 23-year-old student, said her family would mainly purchase groceries online through various apps available in China. "I'd buy things like hand sanitizers of course, and also things to eat," she said.

COVID-19 changing consumption behavior

Industry analysts said the COVID-19 outbreak is likely to give digitally-focused or e-commerce businesses a boost, as more consumers in China make purchases online, some even for the first time. Following SARS in 2003, experts have argued that behavioral changes have helped spur e-commerce and digital businesses in China.

Yu said Kantar believes that digital businesses are also likely to further develop as more shoppers start to appreciate the benefits, saying: "Those (businesses) who are able to step out of their comfort zone and be closer to consumers whenever and wherever they are, will eventually be able to stay ahead of the curve.”

"The epidemic is a black swan – but those who are equipped with anti-fragile capabilities will turn crisis into opportunities – embracing omni-channel strategy and digitization will be key to all retailers, big or small," said Yu.

Retail consultant Panyang Hu said many offline retailers are being forced to upgrade, switching their focus to their online businesses and marketing. "I think it's a smart way and right time to switch the business to online. More people spend time online, after all," she said.

She said that online shopping, especially for groceries and food, will see a boost.

"It (the outbreak) totally changes the consumer behavior of Chinese housewives. Many were not used to making orders online for groceries, but now they don't have a choice. And because they've tried couple times and most of them find it more convenient and efficient, they will keep the behavior in future," she said.

Hu said she expects consumption to resume in a few months. Purchases in June may even exceed those previous months. "The retailers might have more orders than the average month. People desire to go out, to shop, to experience offline service more than ever before," said Hu.

Alex Yang, APAC Executive Director at market research company NPD Corporate Business Development, said he expects shops, such as those selling clothing and sports equipment, to recover as "people will want to work out as life gets back to normal."

"As companies resume business and consumers get back to normal, we'll see an obvious recovery in the consumption sector, especially in the restaurants because of pent-up demand," he said.

Still, when the consumption sector will recover depends very much on when the epidemic abates. The Ministry of Commerce has said it expects a gradual recovery in the consumer sector, but that short-term impacts could be quite severe.

(Hu Binyi and Chen Tong also contributed to this story.)