Online shopping

A shopping mall or shopping centre is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a convenient parking area – a modern, indoor version of the traditional marketplace.
Modern “car-friendly” strip malls developed from the 1920s, and shopping malls corresponded with the rise of suburban living in the United States after World War II.

Regional differences

In most of the world the term shopping centre is used, especially in Europe and Australasia; however shopping mall is also used, predominantly in North America.Shopping precinct and shopping arcade are also used. In North America, the term shopping mall is usually applied to enclosed retail structures (and may be abbreviated to simply mall) while shopping center usually refers to open-air retail complexes, both usually have large parking lots, face major traffic arterials and have few pedestrian connections to surrounding neighborhoods.
Malls in Ireland are usually referred to as "shopping centers" and are typically very small and placed in the centre of town. They average about twenty years in age – the oldest, Still organ shopping centre, was built in 1966 – and include a mix of local shops and chain stores. These malls do not have shops found in the high street or modern shopping centers.
Shopping centers in the United Kingdom can be referred to as "shopping centers", "shopping precincts", or "town centers". The standard British pronunciation of the word "mall" is as in "The Mall, London" – the tree-lined avenue leading to Buckingham Palace, London and also like "pal" (friend).
In Hong Kong, the term "shopping centre" is the most frequently used, and the name of a shopping centre in Hong Kong usually contains the word "centre" or "plaza".