Online shopping began its steady growth in 1994 after new security measures allowed for safe ecommerce transactions to occur online. Surprisingly, Pizza Hut was one of the first major companies to adopt ecommerce by offering online ordering through their website.
As online shopping grew in popularity, brick-and-mortar stores began to offer their products online, and entire companies were created to facilitate web sales. In 1995 Jeff Bezos launched Amazon.comwhich is now the world's largest online retailer - they brought in $48 billion in 2011 alone. Online auction site eBay also opened shop in 1995. Expedia was founded in 1996 as a small division of Microsoft, and Zappos.com opened its digital doors in 1999.
With today's high-res photos and speedy shopping carts, it's easy to forget how primitive most ecommerce stores used to be. Check out how these big brand-names sites looked before they became popular. Although they seem simplistic, unintuitive, and kind of ugly, at the time they were cutting-edge, and they paved the way for what ecommerce is today.
Dell - 1996
Pizza Hut - 1997
Expedia - 1997
Zappos - 2000
Netflix - 2002
Apple - 1997
American Apparel - 2001
GAP - 1996
Wal-Mart - 2001
Toys-R-Us - 2000
Diapers.com - 2001
Barnes & Noble - 1999
Best Buy - 1997
Zazzle - 2004
Amazon - 2006
Staples - 1997
J Crew - 1996
Buy.com - 1999
Sony - 1996
Macy's - 1999
Nike - 1998
Target - 1997
Wine.com - 1997
American Eagle Outfitters - 1999
CD Baby - 1998
LL Bean - 1999
eBags - 1999
Ancestry - 1998
Coach - 2000
Overstock - 1999
Threadless - 2002
1-800 Flowers.com - 1999
Ashley Madison - 2002
CD Now - 1999
The Hudsons Bay Company - 2001
Art.com - 2000
Shopify - 2008
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