Roots of online shopping

online shopping pre-dates the internet/www, the IBM PC and Microsoft; It was invented in the UK in 1979 by Michael Aldrich of Redifon Computers. Aldrich connected a modified 26" colour television to a real-time transaction-processing computer via a domestic telephone line and demonstrated online shopping. From 1980 onwards he sold his systems in the UK with considerable success.

The world's first recorded online home shopper was Mrs. Jane Snowball of Gateshead, England in May 1984. During the 1980s online shopping was also used extensively in the UK and some parts of continental Europe by automakers Peugeot-Talbot, Ford, Nissan and General Motors. All these organizations and others, particularly in Financial Services and manufacturing industry, used the Aldrich systems. These systems operated over the switched public network in dial-up and leased line modes. There was no broadband capability.

In 1990 the first World Wide Web server and browser created. In 1992 Charles Stack created the first online book store (http://www.google.co.za/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=online+book+store+&meta=&aq=f&oq=), Book Stacks Unlimited (aka Books.com), two years before Jeff Bezos started Amazon. In 1994 other advances took place, such as online banking (http://www.google.co.za/search?hl=en&q=online+banking+&meta=&aq=null&oq=) and the opening of an online pizza shop by Pizza Hut. During that same year,Netscape introduced SSL encryption of data transferred online, which has become essential for secure online shopping. In 1995 Amazon expanded its online shopping, and in 1996eBay (www.ebay.com) appeared.

online shopping widened the target audience to men and women of the middle class. At first, the main users of online shopping were young men with a high level of income and a university education. This profile is changing. For example, in USA in the early years of Internet there were very few women users, but by 2001 women were 52.8% of the online population. Social cultural pressure has made men generally more independent in their purchase decisions, while women place greater value on personal contact and social relations.

From a sociological perspective, online shopping is arguably the most predictable way to shop. One knows exactly what website to go to, how much the product will cost, and how long it will take for the product to reach them. online shopping has become extremely routine and predictable, which is one of its great appeals to the consumer.