Shopping
Shopping is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers with the potential intent to purchase a suitable selection of them.
However, the transient nature of stalls and stall-holders meant the consumers needed to make careful inspection of goods prior to purchase.
Those who lived on the great estates were sufficiently attractive for merchants to call directly at their farm-gates, obviating their need to attend local markets.
[9] However, by the late Middle Ages, consumers turned to markets for the purchase of fresh produce, meat and fish and the periodic fairs where non-perishables and luxury goods could be obtained.
[12] Itinerant vendors such as costermongers, hucksters and peddlers operated alongside markets, providing the convenience of home delivery to households, and especially to geographically isolated communities.
Specialist retailers such as mercers and haberdashers were known to exist in London, while grocers sold "miscellaneous small wares as well as spices and medicines."
Retailers were no better than hucksters, because they simply resold goods, by buying cheaper and selling dearer, without adding value of national accounts.
As standards of living improved in the 17th century, consumers from a broad range of social backgrounds began to purchase goods that were in excess of basic necessities.
Restoration London also saw the growth of luxury buildings as advertisements for social position with speculative architects like Nicholas Barbon and Lionel Cranfield.
This then scandalous line of thought caused great controversy with the publication of Bernard Mandeville's influential work Fable of the Bees in 1714, in which he argued that a country's prosperity ultimately lay in the self-interest of the consumer.
[19] These trends gathered momentum in the 18th century, as rising prosperity and social mobility increased the number of people with disposable income for consumption.
The pottery inventor and entrepreneur, Josiah Wedgewood, pioneered the use of marketing techniques to influence and manipulate the direction of the prevailing tastes.
[20] One of his preferred sales techniques was to stage expansive showcases of wares in this private residences or in a rented hall, to which he invited the upper classes.
[24] Designed to attract the genteel middle class, retailers sold luxury goods at relatively high prices.
[25] In Europe, the Palais-Royal, which opened in 1784, became one of the earliest examples of the new style of shopping arcade, frequented by both the aristocracy and the middle classes.
It developed a reputation as being a site of sophisticated conversation, revolving around the salons, cafés, and bookshops, but also became a place frequented by off-duty soldiers and was a favourite haunt of prostitutes, many of whom rented apartments in the building.
A foreign visitor commented that London was "a world of gold and silver plate, then pearls and gems shedding their dazzling lustre, home manufactures of the most exquisite taste, an ocean of rings, watches, chains, bracelets, perfumes, ready-dresses, ribbons, lace, bonnets, and fruits from all the zones of the habitable world".
As economic growth, fueled by the Industrial Revolution at the turn of the 19th-century, steadily expanded, the affluent bourgeois middle-class grew in size and wealth.
[28] A number of major department stores opened across the US, Britain and Europe from the mid nineteenth century including; Harrod's of London in 1834; Kendall's in Manchester in 1836; Selfridges of London in 1909; Macy's of New York in 1858; Bloomingdale's in 1861; Sak's in 1867; J.C. Penney in 1902; Le Bon Marché of France in 1852 and Galeries Lafayette of France in 1905.
The fashion show, which originated in the US in around 1907, became a staple feature event for many department stores and celebrity appearances were also used to great effect.
Themed events featured wares from foreign shores, exposing shoppers to the exotic cultures of the Orient and Middle-East.
Traditionally, shopping hubs were called bazaars or marketplaces; an assortment of stalls lining streets selling a large variety of goods.
[32] The modern shopping centre is now different from its antecedents, the stores are commonly in individual buildings or compressed into one large structure (usually called Mall in the USA).
The smaller malls are often called open-air strip centres or mini-marts and are typically attached to a grocery store or supermarket.
Online shopping has completely redefined the way people make their buying decisions; the Internet provides access to a lot of information about a particular product, which can be looked at, evaluated, and comparison-priced at any given time.
According to technology and research firm Forrester, mobile purchases or mcommerce will account for 49% of ecommerce, or $252 billion in sales, by 2020[36] Convenience stores are common in North America, and are often called "bodegas" in Spanish-speaking communities or "dépanneurs" in French-speaking ones.
The destination retailers are becoming more prevalent as they can provide a community with more than the essentials, they offer an experience, and a wider scope of goods and services.
These days shopping doesn't stop once the mall closes, as people have more access to stores and their sales than ever before with the help of the internet and apps.
[41] Today many people research their purchases online to find the cheapest and best deal with one third of all shopping searches on Google happen between 10:00 pm and 4:00 am.
[45] A shopping spree may be "especially problematic for those whose immediate release of tension is followed by subsequent feelings of guilt, sadness, anger, or despair over what turned out to be an unwanted purchase".
