My window shopping in Charleston, South Carolina
Fairs and markets have a long and history that started when man felt the need to exchange goods. People would shop for goods at a weekly market in nearby towns. Then shops began to be permanently established. Shops were specialized , e.g. a bakery, a butchery, a grocer. Then supermarkets appeared.
There have been three major phases in the shopping / trading world in the last 100 years. In a way, these link up into a full circle.
1. Customers would be served by the shopkeeper, who would retrieve all the good on their shopping list. Shops would often deliver the goods to the customers' homes.
2. Customers have to select goods, retrieve them off the shelves using self service, and even pack their own goods. Customers deliver their own goods.
3. Customers select goods via the internet. The goods are delivered to their homes as in phase one.
It was 1878 in Dayton, Ohio saloon owner James Ritty was not a happy man. He suspected that members of his staff were stealing from his business by taking customer cash and pocketing it. Unfortunately, Ritty had no way of proving that pilfering was the problem. The next year he did. With the help of his brother, Ritty invented and patented the first mechanical cash register, named “ Ritty’s Incorruptible Cashier ”.
The last ten years have been a wild time on the Internet, especially when it comes to online shopping. The e-commerce industry has seen rapid growth, a shake out of the market due to security concerns, and finally, a rebirth thanks to new technologies and innovative ways to shop.
Captured on my travels in the swamps of South Carolina.
