Online shopping in the USA
When the word shopping is mentioned; the word technology will equally be pronounced, especially in this millennium. The history of online shopping is deeply rooted in the USA, and transactions in USA still remains the biggest with an annual figure in excess of billions of dollars generated in online merchandise.
The numbers of consumers that shops online has been skyrocketing in recent times most especially in the USA, owing to the advent of personal computers (PC).
The first sets of computers were created in the years from 1940 – 1945. The computers then were very large, they could occupy a whole room and their power consumption was equally high. They are equivalent of several of our modern day PCs.
These sets of computers were called mainframe then and the size was creating limitation. Not everybody could access the mainframes as they require specialties to be able to operate them. But the advent of personal computers has grossly improved online business.
Although, online shopping has undergone evolution itself in the USA, it used to be only the wealthy consumers that had access to shop online. This is owing to the high cost of purchasing a computer system then. However, as the prices of personal computers begin to fall, more and more middle and lower income earners could afford a personal computer. This has made computer to be available in almost every household in USA.
The interconnection of computer systems known as the internet as also improve online shopping in the USA, the creation of internet started in the 1940s through the 1960s. In the year 1990, the first real success was achieved which remains the major tool for online shopping; the creation of the first World Wide Web server (www) and browser.
Different technological advancement then begins to enhance the World Wide Web. The issue of security then evolved and a company by name Netscape introduced a program that has remained the shield against security bridge. This program is called Secured Sockets Layer (SSL). It is a data encryption program that protects important customer information transferred online during shopping to ensure that the information is secured.
The different methods of payment then began to spring-up in the USA. Cards were developed by banks and some card operators to enhance online payments. Some of the cards are MasterCard, VISA, American express, JCB etc.
The web merchants came into the fray also in the mid 90s. They provided solution on how to collect and collate all payment transactions the consumers have made on behalf of the online stores.
Stores like Amazon, Walmart, Kmart etc sprang-up, but a particular store came into the fray with a difference. The store known as eBay came into web business in 1996. It is not only an online store, but also a place for anyone to auction their product and find buyers. But today in the USA, a lot of store offer varieties of special services or products that make online shopping an enjoyable experience.
The online store does not have time barrier like a physical store, they operate 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. Shopping can be done anywhere as long as you have internet connection and you also have a credit card. This as greatly improved the shipping industry in the USA. It is as a result of heavy shopping done yearly, especially the seasonal purchases like Christmas, valentine, summer and winter periods. Varying shipping standard applies, some store offer free shipping, some offer same day delivery at a good premium, and some standard delivery on products and coupons as rebates.