But also importantly, in the early days, there were few shoppers online and they were from a narrow segment: affluent, male, 30+. Many of these products did well as they are generic products which shoppers did not need to touch and feel in order to buy. Researchers found that having products that are appropriate for e-commerce was a key indicator of Internet success. Wine, chocolates, and flowers soon followed and were among the pioneering retail categories which fueled the growth of online shopping.

Specifically, the growth of the Internet as a secure shopping channel has developed since 1994, with the first sales of Sting's album Ten Summoner's Tales. It quickly moved on from this simple utility to actual online shopping transaction due to the development of interactive Web pages and secure transmissions. Initially, this platform only functioned as an advertising tool for companies, providing information about their products. The emergence of online shopping as it is known today developed with the emergence of the Internet. At some point between 19, students at Stanford and MIT used the internet precursor ARPANET to make a deal to exchange marijuana, but the interaction doesn't qualify as e-commerce because no money was transferred online. There, computer terminals located in different travel agencies were linked to a large IBM mainframe computer, which processed transactions simultaneously and coordinated them so that all travel agents had access to the same information at the same time. The computerized ticket reservation system developed for American Airlines called Semi-Automatic Business Research Environment (SABRE) was one of its applications. One of the earliest forms of trade conducted online was IBM's online transaction processing (OLTP) developed in the 1960s, which allowed the processing of financial transactions in real-time. These websites or apps are designed to enable customers to browse through a companies' products and services on tablet computers and smartphones. Mobile commerce (or m-commerce) describes purchasing from an online retailer's mobile device-optimized website or software application ('app').

An online store may also be called an e-web-store, e-shop, e-store, Internet shop, web-shop, web-store, online store, online storefront and virtual store. TerminologyĪlternative names for the activity are 'e-tailing', a shortened form of 'electronic retail' or 'e-shopping', a shortened form of 'electronic shopping'. The largest of these online retailing corporations are Alibaba,, and eBay. For physical products (e.g., paperback books or clothes), the e-tailer ships the products to the customer for digital products, such as digital audio files of songs or software, the e-tailer usually sends the file to the customer over the Internet. Online customers must have access to the Internet and a valid method of payment in order to complete a transaction, such as a credit card, an Interac-enabled debit card, or a service such as PayPal. Online stores usually enable shoppers to use 'search' features to find specific models, brands or items. A typical online store enables the customer to browse the firm's range of products and services, view photos or images of the products, along with information about the product specifications, features and prices. When an online store is set up to enable businesses to buy from another businesses, the process is called business-to-business (B2B) online shopping. As of 2020, customers can shop online using a range of different computers and devices, including desktop computers, laptops, tablet computers and smartphones.Īn online shop evokes the physical analogy of buying products or services at a regular 'brick-and-mortar' retailer or shopping center the process is called business-to-consumer (B2C) online shopping. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the retailer directly or by searching among alternative vendors using a shopping search engine, which displays the same product's availability and pricing at different e-retailers. Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app.

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