Internet Online Shopping

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Online shopping was invented and pioneered by Michael Aldrich in the UK. In 1979 he connected a modified domestic television via a telephone line to a real- time multi-user transaction processing computer. He marketed the system from 1980 onwards and sold mainly Business-to-Business systems. The systems were installed in the UK, Ireland and Spain

There were a number of significant world firsts with new applications in holiday travel, vehicle and spares sales, loan finance, and credit ratings. These applications and others migrated to the internet in the 1990s although some of his systems were still in use in 2000.

There were only two Business-to-Consumer projects in the 1980s, both using the Aldrich system, Gateshead SIS with Tesco and, shortly afterwards, Bradford Centrepoint with Wm. Morrison. Both projects used supermarkets rather than warehouses for order fulfilment. Both projects were social service experiments but they proved the concept of online grocery sales and home delivery.

Business-to-Business online shopping was economically viable from the beginning but Business-to-Consumer online shopping was not financially viable until the widespread use of PCs and the Internet in the 1990s.

 

Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web server and browser in 1990. In 1992 Charles Stack opened the world’s first online bookstore and in 1994 Jeff Bezos started Amazon. In the same year NETSCAPE introduced SSL encryption which made online data transfer secure. Online banking also began in 1994 and Pizza Hut opened an online pizza shop. In 1996, eBay opened and Tesco started a full online shopping service.

The UK online home shopping market was worth over £50 billion in 2008 [IMRGCapgemini}. The UK retail grocery market was worth £132 billion in 2008 of which 2-3%, £2.6-£3.9 billion, was online shopping. Tesco is probably the world’s largest online grocer in 2009 as well as being a major online shopping provider for non-food items. The world online shopping market in 2008 was probably upwards of $500 billion.