Convenience stores boomed in China last year as the pace sped up and consumers sought quick purchases of snacks and home staples at neighborhood bricks-and-mortar retail outlets, according to global consultant Bain & Company.

"Online is the ultimate convenience channel, but it cannot serve all the needs of shoppers," said Bruno Lannes, a partner at Bain & Company in Shanghai.

"Convenience stores because of their locations—either close to where you live or where you work work—are really good for top-up purchases, or on-the-go purchases, which online (channels) cannot serve very well," he told CNBC's "Squawk Box".

In its second China Shopper Report 2016, released on Nov. 24, the consulting firm put the pace of growth for convenience stores at 13 percent in 2015 on-year, a figure it called "exciting" as the value share in the urban fast-moving consumer goods market.