Coins, Commerce, and Carts: the History of Shopping

Retail has come a long way from the days of trading bits of precious metals for chickens and grain. In this episode, the boys discuss how technology has propelled retail shopping forward over the past century-plus.

The printing press, physical mail delivery, cable television, the internet, and now search terms and product viewing stats have all worked to transform how consumers discover, assess, and consume products over the years: Sears, Service Merchandise, K-Mart, QVC, The Home Shopping Network, Amazon, Etsy, Ebay, Aliexpress, Shein, and Temu have all provided novel experiences in their time.

Even more interesting, before many of these services found dominance there was a diverse landscape of options; very few people, if any, ultimately knew who the winners would be.

Catalog merchant - Wikiwand

Service Merchandise - Wikiwand

Sears - Wikiwand

QVC - Wikiwand

Resale price maintenance - Wikiwand

Toyota Production System - Wikiwand

Shein - Wikiwand

Temu - Wikiwand

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