Abstract: Social interaction is one of the important indexes of evaluation of the quality of life to the elderly, and shopping is one of the major activities of the elderly, the features and social meaning of interaction in shopping space should be discussed by geography researchers .Based on the old people who often go to the hypermarket for shopping as the respondents, through in-depth observation, tracking study, semi-structured interview and other qualitative research methods, and the model of a “sociability”, the content, features, factors and mechanisms of elderly’s social interaction in the hypermarket have been studied. Study findings suggest that interaction is an important activity of the elderly in the hypermarket, which is influenced by family structure, loneliness, hypermarkets’ environment and so on, thus forming various features and types of interactions and communication. In the background of the residential segregation of urban renewal and the increasing scarcity of communication space, construction of social communication environment of shopping space like hypermarket for older people is playing an important role in getting rid of loneliness, improving the quality of life and happiness.

Key words: elderly, hypermarket, social interaction, social space, sociability model