Shop until your connection drops

IDEA N^o 55

ECOMMERCE

Pepperoni and mushroom with extra cheese. The first thing purchased on the Web was, you guessed it, a pizza. PizzaNet, Pizza Hut’s website, allowed customers in Santa Cruz, California, to order online. It was the first ecommerce site.

In the early ’90s many companies were reluctant to move into online retail. There was a big problem: security. It was relatively easy for hackers to intercept passwords, credit card numbers and other personal details. Netscape recognized that consumer confidence was non-negotiable. In 1995, it developed an encryption service called Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), making online shopping a much safer activity.

That year, an online book retailer opened its virtual doors. With the ability to stock millions of titles and a product that fitted through a letterbox, Amazon was an immediate success. Others saw the potential and the market flooded with ecommerce companies, selling everything from DVDs to pet food, regardless of profit. But the bubble burst. Only those with deep pockets survived. Amazon, now the world’s largest online retailer, did not turn a profit until 2003, eight years after its launch.

Ecommerce is now booming. The US market is worth $200 billion and grows by 20 per cent every year. In some countries, a quarter of all purchases are made online. Never before has it been so easy to find products and compare prices. We can shop round the clock from the comfort of our homes. Retailers benefit too: no longer constrained by geographical limitations, they can reach more customers at less cost.

Ecommerce has brought us collaborative filtering, responsive design, banner ads, cookies, SSL and many more innovations we now take for granted. This is just the beginning. Deep personalization, offering individual pricing and unique deals, is just around the corner.

After 20 years of shops joining the Web, the Web is now creeping into shops. Interactive signage, Quick Response codes, image recognition and in-store pick-up are changing the face of retail.

It started with a pizza, and fast-food giant Pizza Hut remains at the cutting edge of electronic purchase. Its new application for the Xbox enables you to order a snack as you game: it seems every platform is after a slice of the ecommerce action.■

‘After 20 years of putting shops on the Web, the Web is now appearing in shops.’

The Amazon Fulfilment Centre in Dunfermline, Scotland. At over 93,000m² (one million ft²), the warehouse is about the size of 14 football pitches.