History of Retail in 100 Objects

edited by
David Roth
CEO The Store WPP, EMEA and Asia
Plus, a glimpse of the retail future through objects not yet invented.
The History of Retail

in 100 Objects
Plus, a glimpse of the retail future
through objects not yet invented.
2013 The Store, WPP

The owners of copyright in images reproduced in this book are expressly acknowledged on page 143. Copyright in all images without an express
acknowledgement belongs to The Store, WPP. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted or communicated to the public in any
form or by any means, or stored in any retrieval system without prior written permission, except for permitted fair dealing for the purposes of research
or private study or criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988. Applications for permission to use material
should be directed to The Store, WPP, Berger House, 35-38 Berkeley Square, London W1J 5AE. All trade marks reproduced in this publication are
for illustrative purposes only to denote the goods or services put on the market by the relevant trade mark owners. Whilst The Store, WPP has
undertaken reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy of matters set out in this publication it accepts no responsibility for errors or omissions.
2013 Intel Corporation. Intel and the Intel logo are trade marks or registered trade marks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in
the United States and other countries. All rights reserved. *Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
ISBN 978-0-9571958-1-3
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Welcome to the History

of Retail in 100 Objects
From the very first transaction, retail has always played a vital part in the fabric
of life. The history of retail and social developments are inextricably linked.
Inspired by The British Museums, History

of the World in 100 Objects, I have set
out to define the key objects which over
time have had a profound impact on the
development of retail.
thanks to them and the other experts

we called on for advice or clarification
along the way.
Any errors in the contents are ours
alone and not the advisory boards.
Arriving at the list of 100 objects has

been an enriching experience. It has
generated much heated debate with many
different perspectives and opinions for the
inclusion or exclusion of objects.
To help navigate the way through this

eclectic list, a framework of time periods
has been constructed and each item
placed within.
Our list of 100 objects has been arrived

at through collaboration and combining
wisdoms - the wisdom of crowds and the
wisdom of experts.
Whilst some of the items placed on

the timeline are obvious, others are
not; some could be legitimately located
in several places along their invention,
development and impact cycle.
Using social networks around the globe we

first asked for objects to be nominated.
We received thousands.
An advisory board of experts from
different disciplines were invited to help
shortlist the most defining objects.
A full list of the advisory board members
can be found on page 142. My profound
Where this is the case, we have used our

knowledge, observation and judgement
to make the call. Retail history, as we
have found out along the way, is not an
exact science.
For each of the 100 objects, we have
illustrated it, told its story and created an
overview of what its retail impact has been.
History has a way of

framing the future.
Looking to the future. Exploring key

developments through the Future Objects.
It is our belief that there will be more change

in retail in the next 10 years than there has
been in the past 50. In conjunction with our
partners on this project, Intel and the Intel
Futures team, we have looked into the future
to try to define what objects, not invented yet,
will have a considerable impact in the years
to come. We have included seven objects that
shed light on where the future is going. You
can see these starting on page 132.
In our continuing close collaboration with
Intel, we will be developing the retail future.
This is the first of more future insights to come.
While the future of retail is uncertain, the one
certainty is that the combination of retail,
technology, creativity and understanding
the changing consumer has never been so
intertwined and vital for success.
I am indebted to our Intel partnership team
led by Joe Jenson, Jose Avalos, Maroun
Ishac, Adrian Whelan, Steve Power Brown,
Megan Bednarz and to Brian David Johnson,
Director, Future Casting, Interactions and
Experience Research Intel.
A special thanks to Professor Rodney Fitch CBE, for

the framing of the time periods and his invaluable help
in making this project a reality, to Boni Sones OBE,
for her invaluable assistance and to Amanda Harrison
from our team WPP who project managed the concept.
The origins of WPP was a manufacturer of shopping
baskets. Retail is in our DNA.
Today, from insights, shopper marketing, digital,
retail design and implementation across the globe
WPP brings its talents and resources to help brands
and retailers prosper in an ever competitive retail
environment. To find out more visit
www.shoppermarketingstore.com
We hope that you find The History of Retail in
100 Objects and the future objects an interesting
and thought provoking read.
The future is not what it used to be.
David Roth - Editor, The History of Retail in 100 Objects

droth@wpp.com // twitter: davidrothlondon
www.retail100objects.com
2
3
The six ages

of retail
The history of retailing is one of constant evolution.

This should be no surprise since it is a truism that
successful retailing must always mirror the society it
serves. Indeed, to know retailing is to understand how
societies around the world have themselves evolved.
Every social and commercial development, discovery and invention,
both incremental and revolutionary, historical and contemporary has
contributed to this evolutionary process, for shopping simply reflects us,
as we would be from caveman to internet consumer.
Sometimes this evolution has been slow and methodical, at other times
uncomfortably rapid. Changes in the shopping landscape over the last
150 years, for example, have been more transformative, than during
the previous 1500! But fast or slow, this process of change is relentless
and evidenced since the very beginning of mankind by five significant
periods. But how best to frame a history of retailing? We have chosen 100
objects and placed them chronologically within five broad time periods.
A glimpse of the
retail future
through objects
not yet invented/
commercialised
MODERN SHOPPING
SHOPPER AS
HUNTER GATHERER
Firstly, during the long and steady
evolution of mankind, we humans have
been genetically engineered, hard
wired to find and acquire, beginning
with us foraging and scavenging as
hunter/gatherer societies for the very
means of existence; then evolving
from the hunting and gathering of
simple needs to more complicated
gathering strategies for wants. This
anthropological model has been
carried down through the ages and
remains the template for men and
women shopping today ignored at
the sellers risk!
NEOLITHIC SHOPPER
money
The innovations in, and subsequent

formalisation of agriculture during the Neolithic
Period, some 8,000 years ago, provide the
platform for the second evolutionary and giant
step for humanity and shopping.
Trade (the production and distribution

of agricultural produce and made
goods) in the then developing world,
grew rapidly. Much of this trade was
conducted by the barter system,
but as a greater diversity of goods
became available and therefore
tradeable, another value method was
needed. Hence the introduction of
money which in its various forms is
the foundation for our third retail era.
Money in the form of coins, beads,
shells or cuneiform and much else,
became the recognised liquidity
fuelling trade and the subsequent
shopping experience. And it is money,
as a universal medium of exchange,
which has evolved as the oxygen of the
entire retail experience.
Once hunter/gatherer societies became

efficient, settled agriculturists, developing
agri tools, domesticating animals etc., then
resources could be employed outside of a
survival agenda and humankind could move
on to produce surpluses for sale or exchange.
This, in turn, generated an infrastructure of
distribution and trading centres from which a
merchant class emerged. That process which
today we call product specialisation, supply
chain and globalisation had begun.
mass production
The inventions, innovations and entrepreneurship
of the Industrial Revolution in the two centuries
between 1700 and 1900 had a profound effect on the
social and retail landscape, transforming it forever.
Industrialisation brought into existence inexpensive,
mass-produced commodities and products,
previously unavailable to a majority. The distribution
of these new products required a new retail
approach, which brought into existence speciality
shops, urban galleria and department stores.
As the new specialised , better-organised retail
formats emerged, steadily replacing the informal
market trader, these new shopkeepers as they
became known, employed shop fronts with their
proprietors name above the door trust and brand
identity had been born.
In the great sweep of social and

retail history, the modern shopping
experience can be said to have
commenced with the appearance of
the department store in the middle
of the 19th century. For the first
time, thousands of disparate goods
could be gathered together and
shopped for at a single destination.
Early forms of entertainment and
hospitality were woven into the
format so that shopping as a leisure
activity became a part of the
shopping experience. Since then
format has followed format from
department store to supermarket to
shopping centre and hypermarket
with much else in between.
And now, online and digital
shopping enabled by the internet
which will utterly transform the retail
landscape and dramatically change
the citizen consumers role within it.
conclusion
Constant change is the very nature
of retailing, made manifest by the
objects invented or embraced by
retailing to facilitate, improve and
deliver an appropriate shopping
experience to society, which is itself
the magna of this change. Lock up
a department store today, reopen it
in 100 years time and you will have
a readymade museum! claimed
Andy Warhol 50 years ago. That is
as true today as when he said it
the question is, will there even be
department stores in 50 years time?
Maybe not, but shopping and retail
objects always!!
Pre-history
8,000 to 2,000 bc
2,000 bc to 1600
1700 to 1900
1901 to NOW
2013-2023
Cave Man
Neolithic Period
Early Trading
18th and 19th

Centuries
20th and 21st

Centuries
The Future
Cave Man
SHOPPER
AS HUNTER
GATHERER
Animal skins are used to create a

wide range of consumer products
today, but in earlier times they
played a more vital role in the
facilitation of commerce. Animal skins
created great wealth and fuelLed the
development and growth of one of the
worlds greatest retailers and most
recognisable luxury brands.
Animal
Skin
Mankind has made extensive use of animal skins throughout

history for all manner of clothing and shelter and to create a wide
range of products. Animal skins were essential for much of mans
existence and very survival which in turn made them extremely
valuable to early peoples. Animal skins often served as a form of
crude currency that could be exchanged for other goods. In some
cases, animal skins such has deer hide were refined into a type of
currency that preceded the development of paper money.
Over time, the utility of animal skins as a form of currency waned, but they
gained greater relevance to society as symbols of wealth and status and
a raw material for mass-produced consumer goods. New processes and
manufacturing techniques allowed animal skins to be transformed into a wide
range of consumer products prized for their durability, texture and versatility.
Animal skins also fuelled the development of global luxury brands for which
manufacturers were able to command premium prices.
Animal skins long ago ceased playing a role as an instrument of trade or currency,
but they remain highly prized throughout the world - so much so that extreme
measures are now taken to protect select species threatened with extinction.
Advancements in the development of synthetic animal hides have made them
indistinguishable from the real thing and a viable alternative in many cases.
Contribution to Retail History

Animal skins served a variety of roles, but the enduring
impact on the retail industry was to give rise to the
Hudsons Bay Company in 1670. The harvesting of
animal skins that were abundant throughout North
America enabled the company to control fur trading
for several centuries and accumulate vast wealth. That
wealth was transformed into a retail business. For a
period of time the Hudsons Bay Company was one of
the worlds largest and most influential retail operations.
7
Neolithic Period
Traders have always needed counting boards of some kind. The
earliest versions, which predated the abacus, would have been
used by traders at markets. Traders drew lines in the sand
with their fingers or a stylus of some kind. They would then
place pebbles between those lines to represent numbers.
Abacus
Contribution to
Retail History
As the first known
calculating mechanism, the
abacus enabled merchants
and traders to add, subtract,
multiply and divide without
the use of pebbles, twigs
or other representations.
Being liberated to work
on larger, more complex
calculations was a significant
advancement in the earliest
days of retail management.
8,000 to 2,000 BC
Neolithic
shopper
The Abacus - or counting frame

- evolved from ancient times,
through to the Middle Ages and
Modern Times. In 500 BC the early
counting boards included The
Salamis Tablet, the Roman Calculi
and the hand-abacus. The Roman
hand abacus was often made
from stone and metal.
In the Middle Ages came the Apices, the
coin-board, and the Line-board, which
date from 5 AD to around 1400 AD.
Most were made from wood, and

originally the beads on which you
counted ran vertically. By the time the
system had evolved to Line-boards, the
columns ran horizontally.
From 1200 AD the abacus evolved into
the Chinese suan-pan, the Japanese
soroban, and the Russian schoty. The
classic Chinese abacus is the one
we are most familiar with. It has two
beads on the upper deck and 5 on
the lower deck, and is often called the
2/5 abacus. From about 1850 this was

replaced with the 1/5 abacus, with one
bead on the top deck and five beads on
the bottom deck.
The Chinese abacus was further
adapted by Lee Kai-Chen, and by 1958
the new abacus could be found in use,
complete with an instruction book. It has
more decks top and bottom combining
the 1/4 soroban model and the 2/5
suan-pan style. Kai-Chen said it was a
Revolution of Chinese Calculators.
9
Neolithic Period
Balance
Scales
Neolithic Period
Cuneiform
Tablet
Balance scales were in use in Mesopotamia AS EARLY AS

AROUND THE YEAR 4000 BC. they were probably derived
from the principles of a yoke, whereby two equal weights
would balance if suspended either side of a central beam.
Early balance scales measure relative weight (as opposed

to actual weight). Measures were calculated by putting
the object measured on one plate, and stones (the counterweight) on the other, until equilibrium was reached.
Civilisations need to write things

down, make a list, keep a record,
categorise data and thereby pay taxes,
goes back to the earliest times. The
first system of writing used to record
this information (that is known to us)
is called Cuneiform script.
In the late 18th century, a way to measure

absolute weight was developed by Richard
Salter when he invented the spring scale.
This calculated the weight of an item by
measuring the pressure it registered when
hung by a hook attached to the spring.
Cuneiform used pictorial symbols set out in

columns on clay tablets, using a blunt reed
for a stylus. The blunt reeds left a wedge
shaped impression, and this is where the name
cuneiform comes from, the Latin for wedge.
Around the same period (in 1897), one of

the first commercial price-indicating scales
was being developed in America. A weighed
cursor, graduated vertically into prices per
pound, was slid along a steelyard, which is
a device with a short arm taking the item to
be weighed, and a long graduated arm along
which a weight is moved until it balances.
The price of the goods could be read off
the chart at the point where balance was
achieved. Slow to actually provide a reading,
it failed to catch on.
From the 1940s, scales were incorporating
electronic devices to make them more
accurate. Today, the traditional balance
scales so associated with grocers, butchers,
confectioners and a myriad of other retailers,
have been replaced almost entirely by digital
scales. These scales not only weigh to a
tenth of a gram, but by communicating with
the retailers pricing system also print labels,
instantly giving the weight and associated
price of each weighed purchase. Scales are
also integrated into supermarket checkouts,
greatly streamlining the process.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
10
This writing system began in Sumer, in Mesopotamia,

as long ago as 8000BC. The early tablets were in their
simplest form principally used for record keeping
agrarian inventories for grain, animals and equipment

Scales are one of civilisations most important developments. For
centuries, traders have bought and sold goods according to weight
and today all trade depends on having a fair system of weights and
measures controlled by law. The food we eat and many of the products
we use will have been weighed and measured probably many
times in their journey through the supply chain. Without the ability
to measure weight and ascribe a value to it, commerce would not
have progressed beyond the basic bartering system. Thus, the scales
became the principle way of determining the cost of an item, and a
cornerstone of retailing as we know it.
But as the ancient world increasingly urbanised, these

writings took on a more commercial form and were
employed to record bargains sealed, ships cargoes, and
lists of manufactured goods.
Early Sumerians used cuneiform to list the clay tokens
they used to exchange and store their agricultural and
manufactured goods. The clay tokens were put in
clay containers and they impressed onto the sealed

containers, one picture for each token inside the
container. As time passed, it became a standard practice
for the major cities to date documents by year, names,
and their respective kings. It also became a way of
calculating how much people should pay in taxes.
These early writings in turn led to their use for everyday
purposes, not least in shopping. Dr Irvine Finkel, of
the British Museum and noted Cuneiform scholar, has
established that some of the earliest tablets he has
examined are shopping lists!

Cuneiform tablets highlight our shopping journey from the ancient world to modern times. The shopping bag
and the shopping list have survived the journey of time and civilisations. Both have been in use for millennia
and whilst we have little evidence of an ancient bag, it is interesting to see from the many clay tablets that have
survived, that the ancients wrote out their lists just as we do today.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
11
Neolithic Period
Market
The principle of the market is as old as civilisation itself. Romes
Trajan Market is said to be the oldest example in the world,
dating back to the Neolithic period 6,000 to 8,000 years ago.
The market was probably built in 100-110. it opened in 113 AD and is still there
today. The shops in the Trajan Market would have been built in a multi-level
structure not dissimilar to todays department store.
Markets and market places are still to be
found everywhere and each country has
its own traditions and customs. In China
every neighbourhood has its own little
vegetable and meat market, selling local
produce. These Chinese markets are a focus
of activity and noise and modern Chinese
supermarkets still reflect the look and feel of
these original markets with stores housing
mini markets and stalls within them.
In Moscow, 21% of all retail trade takes place
in markets and indeed markets continue
to occupy a special place in the hearts and
minds of Russian shoppers. About half of
all clothes and shoes sold in Russia are
bought at markets the prices are cheaper
and sometimes the goods are newer and
more plentiful than in retail outlets. Although
perishable goods are also offered, grocery
retailing has expanded significantly to the
extent that now only about 11% of all food is
sold at markets.
For centuries, across every part of India,
weekly Haats or gatherings would see
vendors gathering in market places. As
towns and cities grew, small retail stores

began stocking more goods and high street
bazaars were formed where traders sold a
range of goods, food and perishables.
In 1869, the Mumbai Crawford Market could
be said to be the first form of shopping
centre in India, then in 1874, the Hogg Market
was built in Calcutta. Now known as the
New Market, it was designed by an East
Indian Railways Architect, RR Banya, and
named after the municipal commissioner of
Calcutta, Sir Stuart Hogg. The Hogg market
had a garden, a redbrick Gothic clock tower
and benches for shoppers to rest on.
Just a decade ago the majority of Indian
shoppers still relied on street markets. But
shopping traditions here are changing too.
The street markets are still appreciated for
their colourful displays and merchandise,
but new shopping malls offering
entertainment and experiences for all the
family are also attracting many customers
through their doors. Retailing is now the
largest private industry in India and the
second largest employer after agriculture.

Markets have existed throughout human history.
Often centrally located or in an area of optimum
footfall at a port or roadside wherever buyers and
sellers could get together a market could be created.
The focus of economic activity for the surrounding
area, markets were also and remain today, a focus for
social events, customs and traditions.
12
#
13
Neolithic Period
Shelf
The shelf is a fundamental component of the store

experience and allows retailers to display products
and encourage sales, impart information and deliver
promotional incentives. The type and quality of materials
used in the fabrication of shelves contributes to perceptions
of the retailer and the products offered for sale.
Shelves were created in ancient times out of a desire to elevate and protect valuable objects, which at the time
tended to be scrolls or other types of written documents.
Advancements in printing which made the publication
of books possible meant libraries needed extensive
shelving for storage.
The application of shelves was readily apparent to
retailers who equipped stores with horizontal surfaces
to store products in back rooms and display products to
customers so they could easily be retrieved by clerks.
The boom years for shelves arrived with the birth of
self-service shopping in department stores in the 1800s
and later in supermarkets. The new approach to retail
meant shoppers needed to be able to see and touch
products and shelves were the solution.
2,000 BC to 1600
Shelving materials can consist of wood, metal, glass,

plastic, stone or composite materials and come in an
endless array of finishes. Shelves perform the most
basic of functions within a retail environment, but the
combination of materials, finishes and configurations
present retailers with an infinite number of options
when it comes to creatively merchandising a store.
In addition to their important contribution to
merchandising, shelves play an important role in supply
chain management. Different categories require specific
shelving solutions which can vary widely from car
batteries and cans of paint to folded shirts and delicate
ceramics. Shelf design must account for the unique
characteristics of each to enable effective merchandising
while providing adequate holding capacity to maintain
acceptable in-stock levels based on anticipated rates of
sale and the retailers replenishment capabilities.
An amazing array of shelving is evident in the retail
industry today.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
14
Early
trading
and money
Early shelving options allowed retailers to increase
the inventory capacity of their stores and the
productivity of selling space. Chain stores who made
use of consistent shelving configurations were able
to optimise product assortments and increase sales.
The extensive range of shelving materials, finishes and
configurations also advanced the practice of visual
merchandising which greatly affected store experience.
Early Trading 1200 bc
Cowrie
Shell
In the earliest civilisations the concept of trading

was well established, but there was no equivalent to
money for use in such transactions.
The earliest paper money was used in China around

1000 BC and it was most commonly used as a letter
of credit, transferred over large distances.
In the 13th Century, when Ghengis Khan conquered China, he quickly grasped the potential of its paper money
and began using it as a currency throughout his empire. He seized peoples existing supplies of gold and silver
and gave them paper currency in exchange, leaving the population no option but to trade with paper money.
To get your food you would barter an

item such as fish, fur, clothes, decorative
items, tools or even weapons. From 9,000
to 6,000 BC the nearest equivalent to
currency was cattle.
Although the use of paper money spread and continued

for several hundred years, it was not wholeheartedly
embraced. In Persia, its introduction in 1294 led to a
complete collapse of trade. In the 15th century in China,
the issuing of paper notes was mismanaged, leading to
rapid depreciation of their value and causing inflation.
As a consequence, the use of paper money in China
ceased (in 1455) and did not resume for many years.
Archaeological evidence suggests that the first

widespread form of currency was introduced around
1200 BC, through the adoption of the cowrie shell
as a trading token. These shells shared many of the
attributes of modern coins being durable, portable,
easily recognisable and hard to fake. As well as
being counted out in payment, they could also
be traded by weight.
Europe came far behind Asia and the Arab world in its
adoption of paper money, primarily because Europe
didnt have paper until around 1100 AD. The alleged first
instance of use of paper money in Europe was in Spain
in 1438 during a Moorish invasion (a Spanish military
leader paid his soldiers with paper).
The cowrie shell was indigenous to the Indian and

Pacific Oceans, but its use as a trading token spread
and it became the most commonly used means of
payment across large parts of Asia, Africa, and some of
the outer reaches of Europe. The significance of shell
trading in China is evidenced by ancient artefacts that
show simplified representations of the cowrie used
as part of the characters for words with economic
meaning such as money, coin, buy.
Early on in the introduction of paper money, European

governments took over its production and began printing
official paper money. These paper receipts were all
given fixed values and people began leaving their heavy
coins with merchants in exchange for them. The earliest
known English goldsmith certificates were being used by
1633 as proof of ability to pay.
Just as with currency exchanges today, the value of

the cowrie shell could fluctuate, depending on where
it was being traded. For example, in some places a few
cowries would buy a cow; whereas in the Maldives
(where cowrie shell collecting and trading was a big
business), several hundred thousands of cowries would
be required in exchange for a single gold dinar.
The Portugese, English, French and Dutch played a

significant role in promoting the cowrie as a currency for
commercial transactions, including using it for trading in
slaves. In Western Africa, shell money remained legal
tender right up until the mid 19th century.
As the first recognised common currency, the cowrie

shell played a vital contribution to the development
of commerce and early formal retail. Non-perishable,
lightweight and robust, it opened up international trade
opportunities by enabling transactions to be carried
out across continents and between different cultures.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
16
Paper
Money

Paper money is a promise to pay the bearer a set amount and
as such its success as a currency depends on mutual confidence
in its validity (unlike early coins which had an intrinsic face value
of their own). It was pivotal to the opening of trade between
regions and nations, offering a light, easily portable alternative to
the cumbersome weight of coins.
Nations and colonies developed their own paper

money, leading to the variety of notes in use today.
In 1816, governments established the gold standard,
to ward against inflation. This tied the value of paper
money to a specific amount of gold, held in the
government treasuries. The US officially adopted the
gold standard in 1900.
Today, not all notes are widely accepted and the average
lifespan for a currencys circulation is only 39 years. The
longest running paper currencies are the British pound,
(introduced in 1694) and the US dollar (introduced in 1792).
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
17
Coin
In China, from around 1200 BC, the cowrIE shell was used
as an item of exchange shell money. archaeologists
finds suggest that from 1000 BC the Chinese began to
produce mock cowrIE shells made of metal.
However, evidence indicates that metal coins also appeared independently of each other
and these Chinese versions, at two other locations on the Eurasian continent Lydia
(now Turkey) and India between 700-600 BC. It is thought that increased trade between
these locations was a trigger for the creation of coins to replace the barter system.
Bartering had two distinct
disadvantages the person wishing
to buy may not have anything the
seller wished to acquire, and even
if they could agree on a trade, the
haggling process was time consuming.
Coins offered a solution in that they
represented fixed values and could be
exchanged not for their intrinsic value,
but in order to change hands again in
payment for some other goods.

Coins increased social mobility and opened up trading
opportunities between cities, nations and continents.
Signifying a token of trust, with a stored value that
was redeemable over time, coins enabled traders
and customers to conduct a fair exchange of agreed,
recognised worth.
18
A market place as well as a

meeting place, the agora was
usually a rectangular space
surrounded by buildings and
frequented by politicians,
traders, aristocrats, scientists
and slaves. Along one edge
was the stoa, a long covered
walkway with shops located in
it, where more expensive items
could be purchased than those
found on the traders stalls.
Farmers brought their produce to the
agora and set up stalls selling meat,
fish, fruits, vegetables, cheeses, eggs,
honey, and wine. Cattle and grain
were also traded, as were more exotic
items such as gems, silks, wool, and,
of course, slaves. A hive of activity,
craftsmen would ply their trade and
moneychangers and bankers would
carry out their business. Shopping at
the agora was conducted by men and
their household slaves, not by women.
An appreciation of the value of

metals such as gold and silver had
already developed. Since these
metals were durable, portable and
demand for them remained constant,
they were a natural choice for use as
a common currency. The value of a
coin depended upon its weight and
metal content.
The idea of using coins quickly
spread to Greece, and because
the early Greeks were keen traders
throughout the Mediterranean,
coinage spread around the region.
Alexander the Great minted vast
quantities of silver coins, using
them to pay his armies and keep
them loyal. It is believed that this
significantly contributed to his ability
to expand across three continents.
By about 600 BC all cities in ancient Greece

would have had an agora near their centre.
Greek
Agora
The agora was also a focus for cultural

and community activity. Political debate,
theatre, and musical performances
would draw citizens in as they fraternised
with friends and business associates.
It also served as a labour exchange as
employers mixed with men looking for
work. Although it was a predominantly
male environment, women were allowed
to use the agoras public fountains to
collect water.

A focal point for trading and bartering, the agora is one
of many examples of how even in ancient civilisations,
communities instinctively draw together to share,
compare, buy and sell.
19
Early Trading 77 ad
Mirror
Early Trading 1176

Reflections of our own image had a magical
significance in ancient cultures. In early times glass
polished stones or metal were used. the Romans
coated flat glass with silver or gold foil.
Justus von Liebig discovered the chemical process of

coating a glass surface with metallic silver in 1835.
Today, mirrors are still made by coating a thin layer
of molten aluminium or silver onto the back of a
plate glass in a vacuum. However, mirrors and their
capabilities are still evolving.
During the Renaissance, Nuremberg and Venice became centres
of excellence for mirror production but by the middle of the 17th
century mirror making was practiced extensively in London and
Paris. The Royal Palace of Versailles had incredible mirrors in the
staterooms, which created a sensation at the time. Craftsmen
such as Grinling Gibbons in the late 17th and early 18th centuries
produced elaborately carved mirror frames, and English brothers

Robert and James Adam created ceiling-high fireplace units that
used mirrors to create a special ambiance.
As the 19th century progressed, mirror making became cheaper
and mirrors were put into wardrobes, sideboards, and clothing
retailers began installing them in and around store interiors
and in changing and fitting rooms. Three-way mirrors were also
introduced to help customers see themselves from different
angles when trying on clothes.
Theres been an annual fair

at Foire St Germain in Paris
since 1176, and with fairs
come trade and produce.
In 1482, Louis XI established the
fairground for the benefit of the Abbey
of Saint-Germain-des-Pres, located
nearby. It was destroyed by fire in March
1762, but rose again from the ashes
The fair traditionally lasted from three to five weeks and

was staged around Easter. During the 1700s it opened
on February 3rd and closed on Palm Sunday. All kinds of
exotic acts performed: tightrope walkers, animal trainers,
marionnette manipulators and more. It was also a great place
for trading, bartering and raffling of retail merchandise to the
highest bidder, as recorded
by Philip Skippon, a visitor to
the Foire in the 1660s:
the place the fair is kept in,
is a large square house with
six or seven rows of shops,
where customers play at
dice when they come to buy
things; the commodity is first
bought, and then they play
who shall pay for it. After
candle-lighting is the greatest
gaming, sometimes the king
comes and dices...
Today, mirrors are taking on new dimensions as digital

technology begins to extend their capabilities for retail use.
For example, interactive mirrors in stores incorporate a camera
which captures the customers body dimensions and
stance. Using hand gestures, the customer swipes
different outfits from a display menu and the mirror
shows their reflection with the selected garment
superimposed over their on-screen image. The
digital delay mirror records the customers reflection
and outputs it on a two second delay, enabling them
to see what they look like from the back.
This account of raffling as

a social pastime (although
we would recognise it today
more as a form of auctioning)
is corroborated by another
Englishman abroad, Martin
Lister, who wrote in 1697:
Contribution to
Retail History
Mirrors are key to encouraging purchase
of garments as the ability to see how they
look on the wearer plays a major role in the
decision-making process. The fitting room is
a key part of the shopper experience. Mirrors
give consumers the ultimate reassurance of
the validity of their purchase decision and as
such help generate millions in retail sale.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
20
Foire
St Germain

Markets and fairs the world over were the precursors to
modern retailing and Foire St Germain is one such example.
While it may not be feasible to draw a direct line between
the raffles held at Foire St Germain in the mid-17th century
and specific developments in retail, it is fair to reflect that
the popularity of raffling has, in the 21st century seen a
surge in popularity with the advent of eBay.
The great rendezvous is at

night, after the play and opera are done; and raffling for all
things vendible is the great diversion; no shop wanting two
or three raffling boards. Monsieur, the Dauphin, and other
princes of the blood come, at least once in the fair-time
Today the Saint-Germain market is covered and is still on
part of the old fairground site, hosting antique fairs, pottery
days, and festivals.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
21
Early Trading 1255
The Rialto
Bridge
Venice flourished as a centre of trade throughout
the 13th and 14th centuries and its dominance of the
maritime industry and trade made it one of Europes
most prosperous cities. The Rialto Bridge was at the
centre of it all and for centuries served as the only
dry land connection across the Grand Canal. As
such, the bridge helped facilitate commerce in one
of the worlds most vibrant trading hubs.
An early version of the bridge established in 1181
was made of floating pontoons.
However, the establishment of
RecogniSed worldwide as an
the Rialto Market and its growing
architectural icon, the Rialto
popularity prompted construction of
a higher capacity wooden structure.
Bridge in Venice is the oldest
The original wooden bridge was built
of four structures spanning
with inclined ramps on either side and
a centre section which could move to
the ancient citys Grand Canal.
accommodate the passage of larger
Construction of the bridge was
vessels on the canal. Although an
necessitated by the popularity
improvement from earlier versions,
the wood structure required frequent
of the Rialto Market on the
maintenance, occasionally caught fire
canals eastern bank.
and collapsed on several occasions.
To remedy the situation, a stone structure was
considered and in 1551 proposals were requested
from architects. A design for a stone structure similar
to the wooden bridge to be replace was accepted
from Antonio da Ponte. The design was regarded
as bold, if not foolhardly, and skeptics feared the
centre span would collapse due to the weight of the
stone. Construction proceeded and the bridge was
completed in 1591. The concerns of skeptics proved
unfounded as the Rialto Bridge has withstood the
test of time and more than four centuries after its
completion remains serviceable.

The Rialto Bridge in all its various forms contibuted to the success of
the Rialto Market and the establishment of Venice as a hub of global
commerce. The bridge highlighted the important role infrastructure
plays in facilitating commerce and provided crucial ingress and egress
to the citys vibrant market. The establishment of new sea routes
diminished Venices role on the world stage, but the enduring image of
the Rialto Bridge serves as a reminder of the citys bygone greatness.
22
23
Early Trading 1389
Signage
Early statistician Gregory King estimated that by

the late 17th Century, England and Wales had about
40,000 shopkeepers. They hung signs to display the
emblems of their trades and these became a common
way for traders to communicate with their customers.
When retail began to expand from outdoor

markets to permanent premises, retailers (who
often lived over the shop) also needed a sign to be
able to communicate one particularly essential
piece of information Open or Closed?
In China, signs were originally used in

restaurants, teahouses, drugstores, and
then draperies, pawnshops, hotels and
tobacconists. They were made of cloth, and
later leather, bamboo, wood, aluminium, iron,
copper and tin, and were hung in front of the
doors showing the particular symbol of their
trade. Interestingly, there are various taboos
in the use of shop signs in China; signs are
not hung up but invited in because gua
(hang up) is thought to be unlucky. When
a shop sign falls on the ground it is also
thought to be a bad omen because the God
of Wealth, held in awe by the Chinese, might
not approve.
In 1389, King Richard II of England, decreed
that landlords must put signs outside their
inns, so that inspectors could identify and
visit them; there is a record from 1393 of a
publican being prosecuted for not having a
sign. In 1567 and 1577, France issued similar
rules. When the signs became too large for
safety reasons, in Paris in 1761 and in London
around the same time, laws were introduced
which dictated that signs had to be placed
flat against a wall or removed.

As well being informative, shop signage also
provides a canvas through which retailers can speak
to their customers, promote and differentiate their
brand, inside and outside their premises.
Originally a ledger was

the name for a service book
kept in one place in a church
The curates should provide
a book of the Bible in English,
of the largest volume, to be a
ledger in the same church for the
parishioners to read on.
Early Trading 1400
Ledger
The actual system of reconciling balances was invented

by the famous and successful 15th century Italian
banking family: the Medici. They developed the double
entry system of tracking credits and debits in a ledger.
Their Medici currency was once the most used in Europe,
and the principles of their ledger system are still in use today
even if many are now computerised.
If you want to total up your financial transactions for the day,
week or month, no doubt you will have some kind of ledger to
record those takings in. On the page in front of you the debits
and credits are shown in different columns and theres a balance
when you begin and one when you end. The golden rule is that
every debit recorded must have a credit, so that in the grand total
when you finish, the debits equal the credits.

Bookkeeping or keeping the ledgers was,
and remains, fundamental to a retailers ability to
track and balance goods in against goods out. The
resulting financial metrics produce a clear gauge of
how well the business is doing and can be used to
evaluate the success of business strategies.
Today, retail signage is used to communicate

a raft of different messages to consumers.
Exterior signage attracts passing trade, while
signage inside the retail environment is
used for both navigational and promotional
purposes. The tent card at the checkout, the
(invariably) red and white posters and banners
that trumpet SALE, the branded fascia
running the width of the store front each
form of signage has a distinct role to play.
24
25
Early Trading 1565
Royal
Exchange
Early Trading 1600
In-Store
Graphic
The Royal Exchange in London was established in

1565 by Thomas Gresham to serve as a centre for
financial trading, as well as, commerce.
The Royal Exchange was a forerunner to the modern shopping mall as Gresham had the vision to dedicate
several floors of the structure to retail uses and collect rent from tenants who occupied the space.
Thomas Gresham was a wealthy
businessman who set out to change
the crude financial trading practices
that were common in London
during the 16th century. Gresham
had served as a royal agent for
both King Edward VI and Queen
Mary and spent time at the bourse
in the Belgian city of Antwerp and
wanted to bring a similar concept to
London. He invested a large portion
of his personal wealth to construct
a bourse on land provided by the
city of London between Cornhill
and Threadneedle Street. Queen
Elizabeth I officially opened the
Royal Exchange in 1571 and the
timing could not have been better
for several reasons. Londons
population was expanding rapidly
and the nations ascension as a
global power had created newfound
wealth among residents who were
eager to purchase merchandise from
retailers who occupied the upper
floors of the Royal Exchange.
In addition, the Royal Exchange
brought Londons financial trading
activities up to the standards of
continental Europe at a pivotal
moment. The completion of the
facility five years prior to the Spanish
sacking of Antwerp set London on
a course to become the financial
capital of Europe.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
26
There are examples of signs in shops and trading

houses preserved in the ruins of Pompeii and
Herculaneum some in painted form casually painted
onto shutters and paneling and obviously temporary,
others permanently carved into the shop stonework.
Graphic signage, as a form of store to

customer communication, has existed
for as long as there have been shops.
These signs suggest that Roman shopkeepers seldom used

their names to identify their shop a butcher, for example,
might identify his trade by painting a sheep. This form of
identity was a widespread practice in Europe until the 17th
century when shopkeepers began to put their names on
the shop fascia - thus began the process of brand identity
and reputation. Today store communications fall into
three categories: Information (way finding, price, weight,
provenance, product content and so forth); Promotion (sale,
special offer, and more) and Emotional and Positional.
The graphics in this latter category may not be productspecific, but might be images of contented cows inferring
ethical farming, or others conveying images of traditional
craftsmanship. But in all cases, graphics serve to promote a
brands position and reputation.
The original structure stood for

nearly 100 years before it was
destroyed by fire in 1666. A rebuilt
structure that opened three years
later was again destroyed by fire
in 1838. The third Royal Exchange
building, which still stands today, was
reopened in 1844. The financial firms
left the Royal Exchange in 1939 and it
became a purely retail establishment.
Contribution to
Retail History
The Royal Exchange is considered by
many to be the worlds first shopping mall.
Founder Thomas Gresham established
the principle of combining multiple
shopkeepers under a single roof to offer a
broad range of merchandise categories to
create a compelling retail destination.
Brand is but Trust spelt differently and in the modern

shopping context, whether it is digital on the shop screen,
or in the physical shopping space, store communications in
whatever form, are increasing. But they are also subject to
scrutiny for accuracy and truthfulness and as such, play a
critical role in demonstrating the brands integrity.

Graphic signage in stores helps to create the tonal
atmosphere that reflects the stores positioning.
Used to inform or promote, their distinctive designs
brought new rewards for the retailers.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
27
1700 to 1900
mass
production
Mass Production
1734
Department
Store
The earliest department stores
appealed to affluent shoppers
or those who aspired to own
high-quality merchandise and
began to surface on multiple
continents in the early to
mid-1800s. The department
store concept remains
highly relevant to shoppers,
but modern operators are
less discriminating and
offer formats and product
assortments that appeal to a
broad range of income levels.
As with many retail innovations,
the origins of the department store
are difficult to isolate to a particular
individual or retailer and the earliest
versions of department stores bore
little resemblance to their modern
counterparts. However, what is clear
is that the concept of a retail store
offering multiple classifications of
merchandise gained momentum in
the early to mid-1800s.
Charles Henry Harrod established
his first retail business in London
1824. Austins was established as a
department store in Northern Ireland
in 1830 and David Jones opened a
department store in Australia in 1838.
Emerson Muschamp Bainbridge
and William Alder Dunn opened
a department store in England in
1849 and in 1851, the Buckley &
Department stores, as
the name suggests, offer
shoppers a broad assortment
of merchandise arranged in
departments to satisfy a wide
range of wants and needs.
Nunn department store opened in
Melbourne, Australia. In 1852, Aristide
Boucicaut opened the Le Bon
March in Paris and six years later in
1958 the first R.H. Macy & Co. store
opened in New York.
These retailers brought a different
perspective to the concept of
department store, but each sought to
benefit from the escalating standard
of living that had resulted from the
Industrial Revolution. As disposable
incomes for Europeans and Americans
increased, department store operators
were there to provide a new type of
shopping experience and to satisfy
shoppers desire for consumer goods.
The golden age of the traditional
department store and its role in society
began to fade in the 1960s with the
advent of suburban shopping malls
and discount department stores. The
latter introduced a new type of value
proposition to price sensitive mass
market shoppers who were willing
to accept reduced service levels and
a more austere store experience in
exchange for lower prices.
The introduction of department stores in England,

France and the United States in the early to mid-1800s
marked the beginning of an important chapter in the
history of retailing. Department stores became iconic
symbols of prosperity and were the dominant form of
retailing for more than a century. The concept of the
department store remains as highly relevant today as
when it emerged to satisfy newfound affluence spawned
by the Industrial Revolution. Department stores gave rise
to discount stores and also influenced the development
of enclosed malls as retail developers took note of the
powerful appeal that resulted from combining multiple
departments of merchandise in a single destination.
The concept of the department store

remains as relevant as ever, however
retailers have to continue to refine
product assortments and pursue ever
narrower segments of the marketplace
based on shopper demographics.
30
31
Mass Production
1770
Pocket
Balance
Mass Production
1786
A pocket balance also known as a spring scale is

simply a spring fixed at one end with a hook to which an
object can be attached at the other.
Shopping in Paris is just as important as eating, walking,

and visiting museums, and the pre-20th Century shopping
Malls of Paris are still an attraction for tourists today.
Galaries
de Bois
The object to be weighed is hung from the

hook and the force that this weight exerts
on the spring is proportional to the distance
that spring is extended an established
scientific principle known as Hookes Law.
The scale markings on the spring balance
identify the weight accordingly.
The pocket balance was first created in 1770 by
Richard Salter in the UK. From the late 18th century
onwards these little scales were widely used in
markets, grocers and farm shops wherever people
needed to be able to verify the weight of goods
to be purchased in order to calculate the correct
pricing. Portable, quick and simple to use, the
pocket balance was ideal for weighing goods where
pinpoint accuracy was not required, for example,
sacks of potatoes or meat carcasses.
The underlying principles of the spring balance were
later incorporated into the spring scale weighing system
widely used by retailers. In this case, the items are
place on a tray underneath the spring mechanism and
the pressure exerted (expressed as weight) is shown by
the position of pointer on the numbered dial.
Contribution to
Retail History
The portable spring scale was the first major
development in weighing scales that didnt
rely on the use of counterweights. Their
portability enabled goods to be weighed
anywhere, not only in shops or other fixed
locations. Spring scales are still in use today
because they are cheap to make and easy to
use, although in the retail environment, more
accurate digital scales have replaced them.
Contribution to
Retail History
The passages were built in the style of a souk a covered area in which to shop,
browse and meet friends. The Galeries du Bois du Palais Royal was built in 1786
and housed 120 luxury boutiques; after shopping there you could pop in to the
central gardens that housed the Palais Royal. The Galeries du Bois became the
prototype for the other passages of Paris that followed.
The Galeries du Bois form

another link in the chain of
the history of public shopping
centres, which stretches back
to the forums of Ancient Rome.
The 18th century Parisian
galleries share many features
with todays modern malls
a covered, pleasant retail
environment where shopping
is a social pastime, as well as,
a commercial activity.
The upper classes loved these malls. They could shop and meet, away from noise,
smells, weather and unsightly riff-raff. Famous writers and other notables visited
them. Balzac and Zola wrote about them in their books.
By 1850 Paris had 150 passages, but today just 30 remain. Department stores such
as Bon March, which opened in 1852, began to replace them.
32
The malls have long iron structured glass roofs, and original features
such as marble and black and white tiled floors. They house restaurants,
shops and boutiques.
33
Mass Production 1792
Chain
Store
The origins of modern chain store retailing date back

several millennia to ancient China. Merchants in China
and later Japan recognised there were advantages to
centralised management and selling through multiple
distribution points which today serve as the defining
characteristics of chain store retailing.
Mass Production
1801
The use of the chalkboard (also
known as blackboard) initially
found favour as a teaching aid.
Chalkboard
Its first use in school is attributed
to James Pillans, Headmaster of
the Old High School in Edinburgh,
who is said to have introduced
the use of coloured chalks
on blackboards to teach his
geography lessons.
In 1801, George Baron, an English
mathematician who was teaching at West
Point Military Academy, became the
first instructor in America to deploy the
chalkboard in class.
Chain stores emerged in North America in the 1700 s when the Hudsons Bay
Company created a network of branded trading posts.
However, it wasnt until the end of the 19th century that the chain store approach to retail
gained momentum in Europe and the United States. The era of chain store expansion began
in earnest in the early 20th century as retailers recognised the profit potential associated with
leveraging a variety of fixed and variable costs across an expanding base of stores whereby
the sales volume generated by each additional location produced incremental profits.
The superiority of the chain store business model truly became evident following World
War II when global consumption surged for all manner of consumer goods. This set off an
unprecedented wave of chain store expansion across all types of merchandise classifications.
Definitions on the number of units that constitute a chain may vary, but there is no disputing
the chain stores impact on retailing. Chain stores led a dramatic restructuring of the retail
industry during the past 100 years and today many of the worlds largest corporations are
chain store operations.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
34
The popularity of the chalkboard spread

rapidly; not only did it enable teachers
to communicate in writing with a whole
class, it cut down on the use of costly
paper, ink and pencils. Chalkboards soon
became equally important in business
organisations for presentations and brain
storming new concepts among several
people at once.
Contribution to
Retail History
The chain store method
of retailing brought about
arguably the greatest
structural change the
industry has seen during the
past 100 years. The retail
industry today is dominated
by those who operate chain
stores to effectively serve
consumers wants and needs
in a profitable manner.

Quickly changed and updateable, blackboards continue to be used by
market traders, retailers and restaurateurs around the world. They are
particularly popular for promoting artisan style products in specialist
shops because of their ability to convey a sense of authenticity and a
hand crafted feel. Their here today, gone tomorrow adaptability makes
them a cost-effective option for seasonal and promotional messaging.
Not surprisingly, the chalkboard caught

on quickly amongst retailers, offering a
highly adaptable approach to signage.
Easily updated, with clear black on
white messaging, they were cheap and
quick to use. Today, traditional chalks
have been joined by liquid and digital
chalks, but the essential quality of the
chalkboard itself remains unchanged.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
35
Mass Production
c. 1820s
Gas Light
The notion of burning various fuels to produce
artificial light is as old as fire itself. However,
open flames were impractical and the light they
generated was dim at best. Lanterns that burned
liquid fuels were an upgrade in terms of safety and
light quality, but it wasnt until gas was harnessed
as a power source that lighting made its most
meaningful advance.
Gas was a popular and

economical method of lighting
common throughout the 19th
century. Retailers relied on
gas lighting to illuminate
walkways, store fronts and
building interiors before the
advent of electricity made doing
so simpler, safer and brighter.
The burning of combustible gasses as a means to

produce artificial light was first recognised by William
Murdoch, an employee of the Soho Foundry steam
engine works in Birmingham, England. In 1790,
Murdoch used goal gas to light his home and later the
main building of the foundry where he worked.
Urban areas throughout England soon recognised the
benefits of using gas to light streets and by the first
quarter of the 19th century major cities and towns
throughout Europe were reliant on gas street lamps.
The expense of gas lighting limited its use to cities,
business and wealthy homeowners until later in the
19th century.
Around that time the efficiency of gas lighting would
make a major step forward with the introduction of a
device known as a mantle that allowed the burning
gas to create a brighter light. The device also allowed
gas lighting to remain relevant longer than it might
have otherwise and to fend off competition from
newly emerging electrical lighting technology, which
was unproven and thought to be unsafe at the time.
The usage of gas lighting remained common in
developed nations during the early part of the 20th
century, but it gradually succumbed to the more
efficient, brighter and safer electrical lighting. Today,
gas lighting serves primarily as an ornamental function
to evoke images of a bygone era.
36

Gas lighting and the illumination it provided to public space changed
urban lifestyles and consequently the retail industry. Streetlights made
previously dark roadways and walkways safe and inviting during evening
hours. Pedestrians and operators of carriages and later vehicles gained
the freedom to engage in activities such as shopping that had previously
been reserved for daylight hours. Retailers were beneficiaries of gas
lighting because they could extend operating hours to accommodate
more customers and shift administrative tasks to non-operating hours.
37
Mass Production
c. 1820s
Price
Tag
Mass Production
1831
Price tags simplify the process of shopping by instantly

conveying the cost of merchandise to prospective buyers
who are then better able to make a purchase decision.
Price tags can take many forms but all represent a fixed, rather than negotiable
price, for merchandise and simplify retail operations by allowing centralised
decision-making. Price tags are an essential element of the retail experience.
Doorbell
The humble price tag, taken for

granted by shoppers in modern
retail outlets, was a major
development in the evolution
of retail. Thought by many to
have come into vogue around
the mid-19th century, the
price tag is another innovation
credited to the early operators
of department stores. The
actual origin is difficult to
isolate, but extensive use of
price tags was known to exist at
the Le Bon March department
store founded by Aristide
Boucicaut in 1852.
In the 19th Century, store doorbells

were not electric. Typically made of
solid brass, the bell was attached to
an arm that was in turn mounted on a
spring on the inside of the door. Thus,
as soon as the door opened, the bell
sounded, alerting the retailer to the
arrival (or departure) of a customer.
The concept of openly

displaying merchandise and
clearly communicating the
cost of goods via tags was
a novel idea at the time. It
quickly gained acceptance
with other retailers who
recognised that shoppers
found the practice desirable
and also understood
the important business
implications.
tags on some products, but their usage

remains widespread on products such as
apparel, footwear, accessories and hard
line categories of goods. These products
will typically have some form of a price
tag as well as a barcode, even though in
some instances a secondary pricing sign
on a display will be used to override the
price printed on the tag.
Price tags take many forms

today and thanks to the advent
of the barcode and shelf edge
pricing, most fast moving
consumer goods no longer
bear individual prices. Barcodes
eliminated the need for price
Price tags have gone digital as well

with electronic shelf labels, or ESLs,
employed by some retailers. ESLs offer
a new approach to ensure accuracy and
optimise margins by employing dynamic
pricing strategies based on shifting
demand and competitive circumstances.
Contribution to
Retail History
The price tag represented a major advancement
in price transparency. Shoppers were able to
instantly understand the cost of an item and
make a purchase decision without the aid of
a retail employee. Knowledge of a products
price encouraged sales and offered a myriad of
business benefits to retailers, the most significant
of which was the ability to manage profitability
by understanding the margin contribution of
different products and categories. Price tags were
a key enabler of self-service shopping and led to
the introduction of mark downs, both as a means
to clear slow-moving goods and as a mechanism
to showcase savings from the anchoring price.
38
This simple device was invaluable for busy

storekeepers who did not have the resources
to maintain a member of staff on the shop
floor throughout every opening hour. Often,
much of their time was spent out back taking
delivery of goods, or doing book-keeping.

From medieval traders to the spring bell at the back of
the shopkeepers door, from Avon Cosmetics memorable
Ding Dong - Avon Calling marketing campaign to
a childs reaction to the unmistakeable sound of an
ice cream vans chime, the ringing of a bell retains its
association as the herald of a buying opportunity.
The first bell that could be triggered by an electric

wire connected to a bell was invented by Joseph
Henry around 1831. Then in 1881, Edwin Swan of
Indiana patented an electric doorbell called the
illuminated electric push button. Today, smaller
shops still make use of the bell system to herald
the entry of a customer. The classic brass bell has
been replaced by a plethora of chime choices,
two-tone rings, buzzes, bleeps and more.
The doorbell continues to play a key role in a
reversed retail situation, that of door-to-door
selling. From the earliest days of trading when
peddlers would travel from place to place selling
their wares, the knock at the door or ringing of
the bell in the street would alert the prospective
customer to the arrival of goods for sale.
39
Mass Production
1840
Display
Window
When in the 1840s advances in glass
production enabled large panes of glass
to be used in shop fronts, the department
stores began to take the concept of
window displays to a new Level.
Retailers quickly recognised that their windows
were a leveragable resource and the growth of
the department store in the early 20th century
saw window dressing become a serious business.
Rival stores used their
windows as threeDisplay windows have always been
dimensional advertising
hoardings, producing
used to tempt customers into
incredibly theatrical
stores. The first shopkeepers used
and flamboyant
displays to outplay their
ostentatious signs with their
competitors
names over their doors, and placed
in luring customers
their products proudly in the
across their threshold.
windows of their shops to attract

Today, professional
window dressers (or
the attention of passing trade.
merchandisers) and
even sometimes wellknown artists, are
commissioned to combine fashion, design and
marketing to create seasonal or otherwise themed
temporary art installations. Colour, props, lighting,
moving parts and film footage, and sometimes
even real people, are used to highlight and
differentiate the stores offering. In a retail world
where most department stores are selling the
same ranges and products, the display window
has a vital role to play in giving a retail brand name
a distinctive image and set of associations.

Early 19th century shop windows tended to be small,
crowded spaces with goods piled high, seldom
displayed to their best advantage. The arrival of
plate glass transformed them into great showcases
that still turn a shopping thoroughfare into a
battleground across which retailers fight to capture
the elusive attention of passing trade and define
the store proposition.
40
41
Mass Production
1850
Sewing
Machine
Mass Production
1851
Up until the early 19th century, most working-class women

made the clothes for their families by hand. Wealthier
families employed seamstresses and tailors to do the same.
Following several years of attempts the

development of a sewing machine (made by a
number of inventors, most of whom could
lay claim to having influenced the version
that eventually succeeded), Isaac Singer built
the first commercially viable machine in 1850.
The sewing machines effects on the clothing industry

resulted in major changes for other industries as well. Cotton
production increases in order to meet the demands of the
new clothing factories, with associated impacts on foreign
trade and development. Machine production democratised
fashion, transforming the social meaning of clothing by
making stylish garments available to almost everyone.
Attempts at refrigerated transport for the

shipping of perishable goods began in the mid
18th century. The first refrigerated railroad car was
introduced by the Northern Railroad (New York)
in 1851. Known as the icebox on wheels the fact
that it only functioned in cold weather rather
limited its value.
However, within the food production industries,
refrigeration was gaining traction. By the 1880s,
breweries were the largest users of commercial
refrigeration units and by 1900, the meat
packing houses of Chicago had ammonia style
commercial fridges. By the start of the First
World War refrigeration in packing plants in the
US was widespread.
Contribution to
Retail History
The sewing machine saw the birth of the clothing
manufacturing and retail industry as we know it
today, creating a supply and demand for readymade garments. In response, retailers specialising
in garment sales sprang up in towns and cities all
over the world. The move away from bespoke,
handmade items to mass production was one of
the major characteristics of the industrialised era.
42
Refrigeration
In early 18th Century, ice houses began to be created; these were stores for large blocks of ice
(harvested from frozen lakes), which were then packed together with sawdust or flannel and salt.
Mass production of these machines for household and

industrial application quickly followed and the sewing
machine became the first durable, technologically complex
household appliance in America (and in Britain soon
after). Industrial use of sewing machines moved clothing
production away from the housewives and seamstresses
and into large-scale factories. This resulted in a decrease in
the amount of time clothing production took, which in turn
caused prices for clothing to drop.
For many existing garment manufacturers, the installation
of sewing machines greatly reduced the manpower they
needed to employ, and numbers of employees in some
clothing factories dropped sharply. But this was the time of
the Industrial Revolution and many of the workers found
new employment in other factories. A further swelling of
the potential workforce was seen in those women who
had previously been kept busy hand sewing at home now
being liberated to go out to work, thus increasing the family
income. Rising income meant families could afford to buy
more ready made garments, thus creating more demand.
Early civilisations used ice caves, snow, and cold

streams to keep foodstuffs cold. The Chinese
cut and stored ice in 1,000 BC, and around 500 BC,
the Egyptians and Indians would put water out
in earthenware pots to chill overnight.
By the middle of the 20th century, the

technology for refrigerated vehicles had
progressed and throughout the developed world
perishable goods were being shipped by road,
rail and air, to stores thousands of miles from
where the produce had originated.

Refrigeration radically changed the capabilities and potential of every stage of the supply chain. Producers could now pack and
process fresh food and create new product ranges; distributors were able to transport those food products all over the globe,
knowing they would still be fresh (or frozen) on arrival. With the installation of chiller and frozen food cabinets, supermarkets
were able to significantly innovate and expand the range and volume of goods they sold, and a new strand of retailing
emerged the frozen food store. For the customer, home fridges and freezers revolutionised their shopping habits; the move
towards the large volume, weekly food shop began, as there was no longer the need to buy perishable goods on a daily basis.
43
Mass Production
1857
Elevator
Mass Production
1872
Lift and pulley systems were in use from ancient times but
it took a Royal Commission from Louise XV of France (in the
17th Century) who wanted a counterweight lift for his wife,
before passenger elevators (lifts) began to take shape.
However, people remained mistrustful of the concept and

it was only when Elisha Graves Otis invented and publicly
demonstrated the first safety brake for elevators, that the
potential for taking buildings higher than a person could
comfortably climb really took off.
The very first commercial installation

undertaken by Otis was in 1857, at a fivestorey department store in New York City.
His achievement was widely acclaimed
and todays familiar high-rise cityscapes
began to emerge rapidly, each reaching
higher than the last. The first electric
elevator was built by Werner von Siemens
in 1880 in Germany.
Businesses, hotels, retail outlets and
others all began to maximise their
floorspace by building upwards. In 1946,
the JL Hudson department store on
Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan,
was completed. It had 33 levels and
remained the tallest department store in
the world until the 1960s.
Working alongside escalators, elevators
transport shoppers from floor to floor,
but they fulfill a broader function in that
they are also vital for the transportation
of goods between floors. Further back in
the retail supply chain, elevators and the
principles of platforms on pulleys are used
throughout manufacturing and production
plants and distribution centres.

The multi-floored department stores, shopping centers and
outlets that we shop in today could not exist were it not
for their elevators. They keep customers moving quickly,
reliably and efficiently through the shopping environment,
and speed the distribution of stock. Constantly being
refined, they have become ever faster and smoother.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
44
The award-winning Burj Khalifa tower

building in Dubai emphasises just how
essential a modern day elevator is for
trade and business to flourish. When
construction began in 2004, its planners
proclaimed it would house the largest
shopping mall in the world. Without
elevators, its 160 floors would be of little
appeal to even the hardiest shopper.
In 1872, Aaron Montgomery, Ward of Chicago, produced

the first mail-order catalogue for his Montgomery
Ward mail order business, aimed at farmers in the
Midwest who were suspicious of merchants.
Catalogue
By selling direct to the customer,

Ward could avoid his goods having
the retailers mark up applied, thereby
reducing the cost to those customers.
The first catalogue was a single sheet of paper
with a price list, just 8 by 12 inches, showing
what was for sale and how to go about
ordering it. Within 20 years, Wards original
single page list of products had grown into a
540-page illustrated book and he was by then,
selling over 20,000 items. From 1921 to 1931
he even sold prefabricated kit houses by mail
order. These were called Wardway Homes.
Others all over the world began to sell via
mail order too. The T Eaton Co Limited of
Toronto, produced its first 34-page catalogue
in 1884. By 1920 it had mail order warehouses
in Winnipeg, Toronto and Moncton. It opened
its first catalogue office in Oakville in 1916
and others followed. Richard Warren Sears
published the first Sears catalogue in 1888. It
captured the catalogue industry in the USA
and became a byword for catalogue shopping.
In the UK, Sir John Moores set up his
Littlewoods Mail Order Store. The first
catalogue was published in May 1932 with
168 pages and the motto: We hoist our Flag
in the Port of Supply and right away we sail
to the Ports of Demand the Homes of The
People. Moores learned from the examples
of his American contemporaries (Montgomery
Ward, Sears and Roebuck) and by 1936 the
Littlewoods catalogue annual turnover had
reached 4 million.

The development of mail order shopping by the likes of
Sears democratised retail, opening up the availability
of consumer goods to huge swathes of the population
worldwide. Today catalogues can be seen as the precursor
to e-commerce, as the principles of internet shopping
follow similar lines.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
45
Mass Production
1873
Denim
Mass Production
1875
The name Denim is a short form of serge de Nmes
BECAUSE THIS FORM twilled cotton originated from
Nmes in France. Denim was used in Europe from at
least the end of the 17th Century, but its popularity
escalated rapidly in the USA during the 1870s Gold Rush.
American gold miners needed durable clothing. To meet this demand, a man called Leob (later
Levi) Strauss created a strong style of workers trousers and overalls, incorporating copper
rivets on the main stress points.
These items were quickly adopted by
Californian miners and became their
wardrobe staple. Originally made from
uncomfortable hemp, Strauss switched to
using denim, and jeans were born.
These tubes became popular with retailers in the late 19th and early 20th Century, who used them to send
messages or money over short distances within their stores, or in rare instances, across the City.
In July 1875 D. Brown patented a pneumatic tube system called the Cash Carrier.
Designed for in-store use, the cash carrier transported cash and coins through large
department stores and was used to great effect for many decades. One of the earliest
retail adopters of the PTT system was Wanamakers department store in Philadelphia,
which installed the system in 1880, just a year after installing electric lighting.
Its use as a mail and message carrier was also effective. For nearly sixty years (1897
to 1953), the New York City Post Office used PTT (operated by the Tubular Dispatch
Company) to distribute mail. In 1914 almost a third of New York Citys first class mail
was distributed via this method.
While email has superseded the use of pneumatic tubes for delivering messages,
they are still widely used by banks, hospitals, factories and larger department stores
for transporting small items and money. For retailers, the tubes offer a way to move
cash from the checkout to the back office, and send change back to the cashiers.

As America dominated the world economically, US
denim giants expanded their scope and denim rapidly
became an iconic symbol for the American way
46
Pneumatic Tube
Transport System
Early pneumatic post or mail systems were invented by the Scottish engineer William
Murdoch, in the 19th century. The London Pneumatic Despatch Companies postal
systems were said to be powerful enough to transport humans during trial runs (but
they never actually put a person inside).
In the 1940s, Western films became popular

and the appearance of cowboys in jeans on
screen prompted a demand for the garment
amongst American consumers creating
arguably the first iconic retail clothing item
with appeal to a broad audience. Fewer
jeans were produced during World War II, but
the sight of American soldiers wearing them
off duty continued to fuel the interest in
denim, both in the United States and abroad.
In the 1950s, denim became less a symbol
of national pride and more one of teenage
rebellion against conformity, as represented
by films such as Rebel Without a Cause.
Wearers were often refused admission
to cinemas, restaurants and other
establishments. But recognition of the
versatility and comfort of jeans grew and in
the 1960s, they became more acceptable
(and also individualised as the trend for
customising them with embroidery and
patches took hold during that era). By the
1970s, denim was firmly established as being
fashionable and ubiquitous no small
achievement. The 1980s saw the advent
of designer jeans and denim took to the
catwalks; today almost every label has its
own denim line.
Pneumatic Tube Transport, or PTT,

allows the users to put solid
objects into a network of tubes for
transportation along those tubes by
compressed air or by partial vacuum.
Transporting cash and till receipts via the PTT had a big impact on the safety and
efficiency of money handling within the retail environment. Cashiers finishing a
shift could send their takings and corresponding till roll direct to the accounting
office, enabling the office to differentiate and account for takings across cashiers
and shifts. A much safer way of transporting cash, it reduced theft and store
shrinkage by removing the risk of takings being intercepted on the journey from
till to accounts and ensured the tills never held too much money at any one
time. As a genius invention that customers could see being put to work, the PTT
system also created a bit of theatre in the store.
47
Soda
Fountain
Although its origins lie in Europe, the soda fountain

achieved its greatest success in the USA. Throughout
the 20th Century they were to be found in american
pharmacies, ice cream parlours, sweet shops,
department stores, milk bars and train stations. They
reached the height of their sales in the 1940s and 1950s.
Between 1810 and 1903, a series of US patents were issued for the production and distribution of imitation
mineral and soda fountains. These developments led, in the early 20th Century, to pharmacies and other shops
selling soda drinks, adding the syrup by hand to create flavoured carbonated water. At first, the flavouring
was added to mask the taste of the medicinal mineral water, but it quickly became an end product in itself.
By 1875, there was a soda fountain in
almost every city across America and
they were entrenched in American
culture. Over the ensuing decades,
the soda fountain became an ever
more popular gathering place (the
name became extended to mean
both the dispensing equipment and
the outlet in which sodas were sold).
During Prohibition in the 1920s (when
the sale of alcohol was banned), the
soda fountain offered an alternative
to the speakeasy. Later, as American
consumers struggled through the Great
Depression of the 1930s, the soda
fountains provided an affordable luxury.

The soda fountain was a cultural and social phenomenon. Attracting
people to the stores and generating additional sales when they were
there, the soda fountain made first the drugstore, then the convenience
store, a place for retail and social commerce.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
48
Galleria Vittorio
Emanuele II
The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is the

oldest shopping mall in Italy, housed
in a four storey building in Milan.
Designed in 1861, and built between 1865

and 1877, the Galleria is named after
Vittorio Emanuele II, the first King of
the Kingdom of Italy. Its been nicknamed
Milans drawing room.
The roof is a magnificent glass and cast iron
octagon, covering the street below, and it was the
prototype for todays modern glazed enclosed
shopping malls, many of which are also called
Galleria. Today, the shops sell luxury goods, haute
couture, jewellery, books and paintings, and it is
home to many bars, cafes and restaurants too.
In 2012 after 20 years of trading, McDonalds
was not allowed to renew its tenancy there, so it
sued the City of Milan for $24 million in damages,
which represented $6 million a year in sales.
A Prada store has replaced it.
An early example of the benefits of

combining the sale of refreshments
within the retail environment, the
soda fountain generated additional
footfall to the stores in which they were
situated. These customers lingered
longer in the store, creating a captive
audience that was more likely to
purchase other goods before leaving.
First introduced in Paris at the end of the 18th century,

the galleria was the immediate forerunner of the
department store. Galleria Emanuele brought this
format to its apogee. Important as an early example
of the use of retail/hospitality as a method of town
planning, the Galleria Emanuele was designed to fill an
urban space that would link the high art of the Opera
House with the high church of the Duomo.
Unlike most preceding galleria, Emanuele is multistorey and its architectural concept foretells the design
of the grander department stores which blossomed in
the fourth quarter of the 19th century, and the modern
shopping centres which followed in the 20th.
By the 1960s, the popularity of soda

fountains was declining, due to
competition from fast food outlets,
bottled soft drinks and the rise in diners
and restaurants.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
49
Retail
Advertising
Retailer advertising consists of

marketing communications designed
to establish the retailers image,
showcase product assortments
and price promotions and inform
shoppers of store locations.
Some retail advertising focuses on charitable efforts which helps cultivate a

desired image. Retailers use a wide range of print, electronic, out-of-home and
digital options for advertising.
The origins of retail advertising can be traced to 17th century Europe. The continent was the center
of global trade and that gave merchants access to an expanded and unfamiliar range of goods. To
promote awareness and encourage consumption of their offerings, merchants turned to posters,
hand bills and later, newspapers.
Newspapers and other print media dominated retail advertising for centuries and continued to
do so even after the introduction of radio and television gave newly emerging chain retailers
powerful new ways to reach a mass market.
As consumption exploded following World War II so did retail advertising, although it remained
highly reliant on print vehicles.
Upscale retailers relied on glossy fashion and lifestyle magazines that appealed to affluent
individuals to hone their image as a destination for up market goods. Meanwhile, retailers
oriented toward the mass market fed shoppers a steady diet of weekly advertising circulars
distributed via direct mail or inserted into the Sunday newspaper that featured promotional prices
on key items. The frequency of price-oriented ads helped retailers generate customer traffic to
their stores and gave branded suppliers a vehicle to generate awareness and to trial new products
that were introduced with increased regularity.
As retailers grew increasingly large, many recognised their sizable base of shoppers was an
attractive audience for advertisers and a wide range of in-store communication opportunities
were created. The store became an advertising medium unto itself and retailers placed messaging
on floor and in shopping carts and hung promotional signs from shelves and ceilings. Some
retailers created their own in-store radio and television networks.
Retailers left no stone unturned when it came to communicating with shoppers and this practice
has extended to the Internet. Increasingly effective and measurable forms of digital advertising are
comprising an ever larger percentage of retailers ad budgets. That trend will continue as shoppers
consume more information from digital sources.

Retail advertising created some of the largest, most successful and iconic brands in
business and contributed to the overall growth of the advertising industry during the
past century. Shoppers rely on retail advertising to make informed purchase decisions
about where to shop and what to buy.
50
51
Mass Production
1879
Telephone
Two inventors, Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham
Bell, came up with an electrical device that could
transmit speech down wires. They apparently got
to the patent office within hours of each other, but
Bell pipped Gray to the post. Bell was awarded his
patent in March 1876.
Elsewhere, also in 1876, a Hungarian engineer, Tivadar Puskas,
was inventing the telephone switchboard which ultimately led
to the creation of telephone exchanges and then networks.
Western Union, who already had telegraph exchanges, began to
use them for its telephones in New York City and San Francisco.
The benefits of the telephone were quickly seized upon. In
1884, the UK had around 13,000 telephones in use and the
Postmaster-General decided to extend their reach. As a result,
call offices were installed in shops and other public places.
Towards the end of the 1880s, the growing numbers of
installations led to the issuing of telephone numbers. The
telephone became indispensable to retailers for communicating
with both suppliers and customers, for placing and taking
orders. By the middle of the 20th century, the ability for
prospective customers to make enquires and order goods
led retailers to establish customer service and telesales
departments, and to actively promote customer order
telephone numbers on their literature and advertising materials.
The early days of the internet relied on dial-up modems using
the telephone cabling network, allowing us to take the first steps
to e-commerce (online shopping). Wireless and mobile phone
technology has taken this retail revolution further. Retailers have
been quick to develop mobile apps that can, amongst many
other things, incorporate a product catalogue and shopping
cart, enabling customers to shop in their store virtually, day
or night. Prospective customers browsing in store can use
their mobiles to take photos of merchandise for reference and
share the images with friends via social networks, to seek their
opinion prior to making a purchasing decision.
In 1879, Wanamakers
(in Philadelphia)
became the first
department store to
install the telephone.

Whether its management of the supply chain, customer service or online shopping, the telephone in all
its guises has been one of the most fundamental enablers for the retail industry. Call centres around the
world have enabled retailers to handle mass inbound telephone ordering (often in response to telesales
ads placed across a variety of media) and outbound telesales calling. Today, the advantages of telephone
communications can also work against the retailer, as customers are increasingly showrooming using
their mobiles to browse and compare online, before deciding which retail outlet to use for their purchase.
52
53
Mass Production
c.1880s
Mannequin

Mannequins. They stand in the window, gazing
past us with detached hauteur, modelling
the latest styles, tempting us to go in, try
those clothes on, and make a purchasE.
Their use originated in the

15th Century, when miniature
milliners mannequins were used
to demonstrate fashions for
customers. But it wasnt until the
1880s when plate glass windows
began to be installed in shop
windows that retailers began to
place them in their shop fronts.
Then, in the 1930s came a remarkable

development. A New York soap sculptor,
Lester Gaba, produced six plaster Gaba
Girls for a large department store. They
even had names and at a party to unveil
them were dressed in jewels and the
very best clothes of the time. Gaba took
one sitting mannequin (called Cynthia),
with him wherever he went. She sat with
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
54
Vending
Machine
They began to spread and becAme

popular, offering more goods,
stamps, and cigars too. In the
early 1920s, the first automatic
vending machines started
dispensing sodas into cups.
In 1926, American William Rower, created
the cigarette vending machine and in
the 1940s and 1950s, Vendoraltor of
California gave us Coca-Cola and Pepsi
from machines. Usage and coverage grew,
with ever more items being dispensed
by the machines (from the 1950s to
the 1970s, you could even buy a life
insurance policy from vending machines
at American airports). Today, the range of
goods dispensed by vending machines
is extensive food, drink, tickets, money
and fresh farm produce. In some locations,
even high value items such as iPads can
now be purchased via a vending machine.
These shop front mannequins were

made from wax, wood or heavy
fabric, and they had iron feet to help
them stay upright. Papier-mach and
sawdust were used to give them a more
realistic shape, and they often reflected
an ideal of beauty. They were also
expensive to make.
By the turn of the century, mannequins
had given birth to a new industry,
window trimming. Window trimmers
got more and more artistic. Their
mannequins developed facial
expressions, glass eyes, and real hair.
After the First World War, womens dress
changed, and the mannequins changed
with them, developing a more realistic,
simpler body shape.
The first commercial coin operated vending machines

appeared in London in the 1880s, selling postcards and
then books. In 1888, the Thomas Adams Gum Company
brought vending machines to the USA and in 1907, the round
candy coated gumball vending machines were introduced.
her elbow on her knee, cigarette in hand,

and travelled by taxi with Lester. She even
accompanied him to the opera and sat in
his box. Mannequins, it seemed, were the
new it girls.
During the Second World War, the
mannequins began to look drab, reflecting
the clothes rationing of the time. By the
late 1940s, they had become happier again
and wore smiles. The 1950s and 60s saw
mannequins made in new materials, such
as fibreglass and plastic. Today, the design
potential of mannequins is immense;
they can be made to retailers own
specifications in any shape, colour or pose.
Contribution to
Retail History
Mannequins were, and remain,
central to the art of visual
merchandising. Used effectively, their
presence improves the overall image
of a store (outside and in). They
continue to be used in ever more
impactful ways by the worlds most
sophisticated retailers, attracting the
eye of the passerby and helping to
prompt impulse purchasing.
In Japan, vending machines have been

big business ever since their introduction
in the 1950s. Selling everything from hot
meals to household products, there is
apparently one vending machine per
23 people in Japan. The nations dense
population, limited space and low rates
of vandalism make it a vending machinefriendly environment.
Vending machine technology has evolved
to incorporate digital signage and touch
screen technology and to accept credit
cards instead of cash. Many machines
are now monitored remotely, enabling
optimised inventory, automatic updates
on maintenance needs and handling of
payment services.

Vending machines created a new, highly efficient method of retailing,
enabling the creation of a distribution point just a hands reach from a
potential customer, whenever they might need it most. Placed in locations of
high footfall and often in places where people might find themselves killing
time (airports, rail platforms and so on), they encouraged impulse purchasing.
Able to vend 24/7, with only restocking/maintenance labour requirements,
they offered a cost-effective and secure way to supply consumers on the go
with goods that they might not otherwise have considered purchasing.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
55
Mass Production
1883
Cash
Register
Mass Production
Post 1883
The cash register was not invented for the convenience of
the customer. It was originally designed to stop employees
embezzling money from their employers by alerting them
to the fact that a sale was being processed. Two american
inventors, James Ritty and John Birch patented it in 1883.
The first register model was like a mechanical adding up machine, as every transaction was entered the drawer
opened and a bell rang, telling the manager a sale had taken place. The machine used metal taps marked with
denominations to indicate the amount of the sale and had a total adder that summed up all the cash values of
the key pressed during the day. Advertisements claimed that the register had The Bell Heard Round The World.
Ritty sold his invention to Jacob H Eckert
of Cincinnati, who formed the National
Manufacturing Company. Eckert then sold to John
H Patterson, who renamed the company the
National Cash Register Company. It was Patterson
who adapted the design to add a paper roll to
record sales transactions, thus creating a receipt.
Receipts and proof of purchase have been used since

the earliest days of retail transaction, providing
legal proof of the transfer of ownership of goods.
However, the mechanised generation of retail receipts did not occur until the late 19th Century. In 1883, two
american inventors, James Ritty and John Birch, patented the cash register, enabling sales to be monitored
and deterring sales staff from pilfering profits. Subsequently, the National Cash Register Company
improved the design of the machine by adding a paper roll to record sales transactions. This evolved into
the receipt as we know it today.
Small and unassuming, the receipt is, in fact, a legal document.
It gives consumers a record and proof of their purchase and
is the evidence retailers require to return or exchange goods.
These days, many receipts include barcodes that allow the
transaction to be quickly recognised and validated by the
retailers computer system.
Increasingly, and particularly at supermarket checkouts, till

receipts contain far more than just a record of purchases made.
Promotional messages can be included, including discount
vouchers that are triggered by the nature of the goods the
customer has just purchased.
Contribution to
Retail History
It was then down to the employees of the National

Cash Register Company to come up with the
next advancement. Inventor, Charles Kettering,
designed a cash register with an electric motor. By
the end of the 19th century and early 20th century,
nearly all retailers had installed cash registers.

From its initial role as a method by which retailers could verify sales
and receipts and reduce fraud, continual innovation has extended
the influence of the cash register across broader cash management
systems. Equipped with barcode scanning capabilities and now with
self-scanning, it is fundamental to the development and management
of modern sales data, management information retrieval and storage.
The receipt not only offers customers

assurance and retailers proof of
purchase, but the information it
carries is relayed to back office
computing systems and is used
for accounting and reconciliation
processes. In some countries, the
USA for instance, retailers have
to retain information about every
receipt so that the tax authorities
can verify that no sales have been
hidden. Increasingly till receipts are
also used by supermarkets to run
Price Matching promotions whereby
customers can check whether their
shop would have been cheaper at a
competitors outlet and, if so, claim a
refund or other incentive against the
differential.
In the UK, from the 1950s to the 1970s it was the

Gross Cash Registers Company that captured a
large share of the retail market. In 1971, when the
UK changed to decimalisation, the Gross Register
was adapted to work in both imperial and decimal
coinage. Another brand, Sweda, was also decimal
ready and is credited with inventing the first allmechanical register in the 1930s. It was also the
first company to introduce touch-screen based
Point of Sale (POS) systems, in 1987.
Today, computerised POS terminals operate across
networks. The basic principles remain the same,
however, the cash register allows the retailer to
keep tabs on what staff and customers are doing
and to analyse the information for business, stock
control, supply chain and marketing purposes.
56
Receipt
57
Visual
Merchandising
Retailers rely on visual merchandising to generate shopper traffic
and create interesting and enjoyable store environments to promote
purchase behaviour. Presenting merchandise in a compelling manner
through a wide range of visual merchandising techniques allows
retailers to achieve a wide range of benefits such as establishing
perceptions relating to price and merchandise quality, generating trial
usage and encouraging shoppers to extend their time in the store.
Visual merchandising has existed since early shopkeepers moved beyond displaying
products in a strictly utilitarian fashion on shelves and tables to add a bit of flair to
the presentation to heighten the appeal of merchandise. The exact moment in time
when this concept emerged is impossible to pinpoint, but generally speaking visual
merchandising as it is practiced today gained traction at the dawn of the department
store era in the early to mid-1800s.
That is when department store operators recognised that one of
their key operational challenges was getting shoppers to come
in off the busy streets in downtown areas where their stores
were typically located. The solution for many was to creating
interesting window displays that showcased products in such
a way as to inspire and delight passersby to encourage them to
come inside the store.
The concept of attractively presenting merchandise extended
to inside the store as well. Soon, retailers were relying on visual
merchandising to promote sales of new fashions, establish
seasonal selling periods, showcase values on key items and help
identify key departments.
While the visual merchandisers

tool kit has expanded
considerably in recent decades,
the fundamental motivation
of increasing sales through
the artful presentation of
products remains the same.
As understanding of the powerful effects of visual merchandising grew, retailers began

using increasingly elaborate fixtures constructed of wood, glass and metals with various
finishes to showcase products. In addition, temporary displays made of corrugated
material with elaborate graphics grew increasingly common and the lighting of displays
contributed mightily to the effectiveness of visual merchandising.
Today, visual merchandising is an integral component of store design and has grown to
encompass other sensory elements such as sound, smell, taste and touch, as well as,
interactivity. Some retailers also took the concept of visual merchandising to extreme
limits with over-the-top store displays that gave rise to the term, retailtainment.

The development of visual merchandising practices and
their application changed the look of the sales floor
and brought a sense of theatre to retail. Through visual
merchandising, retailers made shopping fun and brought
a sense of discovery to their stores. Retailers found visual
merchandising tactics to be equally effective at driving sales
of price sensitive of commodity categories and transforming
the most discretionary of products into must have items.
58
59
Mass Production
1888
Coupon
Mass Production
1888
Coupons emerged as an innovative marketing tactic in the late
1800s and quickly demonstrated an ability to generate sales.
Thanks to their effectiveness, coupons became an indispensable component of
marketing strategies for consumer packaged goods companies, as well as, retailers.
Contribution to
Retail History
From their beginning in the
late 1800s, coupons proved
to be a highly effective tactic
to help generate sales. Their
usage has become highly
refined over the years, but
no brand manager would
consider launching a new
item or promoting an
existing product without
the humble coupon playing
a print or digital role in the
promotional mix.
The origins of the first modern coupon can be traced to the

Coca-Cola Company. In 1888, the company created a coupon
that could be redeemed for a free glass of the new beverage
as a means to generate trial and repeat purchase behaviour. In
the two decades that followed, the company had redeemed
roughly 8.5 million coupons and their usage was credited with
launching one of the worlds most iconic brands.
Other consumer packaged goods companies took notice of
the effectiveness of coupons and before long their usage
was widespread. Brand marketers became increasingly
sophisticated in their usage of coupons as well, adjusting
face values and expirations dates as warranted by economic
conditions and shopper sensitivities and deploying coupons as

part of an offensive and defensive strategies.
More recently, the traditional physical coupon distributed
through magazines, newspapers, direct mail and in store
methods, has taken a new form thanks to the advent of digital
technology. Brand marketers are now as likely to distribute
coupons through email, social media, mobile devices or have
incentives directly linked to retailers loyalty programme to
minimise the burden on shoppers to take advantage of the
offer. Despite the technological advances, the traditional print
coupon remains highly relevant.
60
In 1886, Richard Sears, a railroad agent in Minnesota,

purchased a shipment of surplus watches from a Chicago
jeweller and sold them for a profit to other station agents.
Sears
Catalogue
Struck by this success, he ordered more goods from the jeweller for resale and began advertising his jewellery
and watches using a printed mailer. Thus began his business to sell watches through mail order catalogues.
Sears moved to Chicago, Illinois where he met Alvah C Roebuck
who joined him in the business. In 1893 the name of the company
was Sears, Roebuck & Co. Julius Rosenwald, a Chicago clothing
manufacturer, became a partner in 1895.
The expansion of the US railway system and free postage (in 1896
delivery to US rural areas was free) made the distribution of the
Sears Catalogues economical. Sears himself wrote the catalogue;
by 1894, it had 322 pages and contained other news items. By 1896,
there were Spring and Autumn versions; it became bigger and the
company began charging recipients a 25-cent fee. In 1897, colour
sections were introduced.
Richard Sears was a good marketer and had an instinct for compelling
slogans. For instance: Book of Bargains: A Money Saver for
Everyone and the Cheapest Supply House on Earth. The Sears
Catalogue also claimed that: Our trade reaches around the world.
Sears also used testimonials from customers, to reassure and confirm
that his prices were the lowest and best value.
The list of goods on offer through the catalogue expanded to
include sewing machines, sporting goods, musical instruments,
saddles, firearms, buggies, bikes, baby carriages, and mens and
childrens clothing. The club order program encouraged customers
to combine their orders with friends or neighbours to share in
discounts. By 1898, there were more speciality catalogues the
merchandise reflecting the changes of the time, photo machines,
talking machines, and mixed paints.
Ever the entrepreneur, in 1903 Sears was offering your money back if
you are not satisfied and, to encourage customer profit sharing, he
gave customers a one-dollar certificate for every dollar spent.
In 1906, Sears opened its catalogue plant and the Sears Merchandise
Building Tower, but it was not until 1925 that it began opening physical
stores the first in the Merchandise Building itself. Printed and
distributed for 97 years, (the last catalogue was produced in 1993) the
Sears Catalogue became widely known as the Consumers Bible.

The grand master of mail order, the Sears Catalogue,
invented a new category of retailing which was
copied and emulated across the world. Responsible
for a huge part of the evolution of distance selling,
the catalogue can be seen as an early precursor to
todays e-commerce retailing.
61
Mass Production
1894
Bottle
Bottles were once valuable objects not lightly discarded. Just

150 years ago carbonated drinks would have been sold on-site,
in bars, saloons, taverns and restaurants. If you brought a
bottle of drink it would have been hand-filled and hand-capped.
At the end of the 19th Century, mass production allowed for greater quantities to be sold but these
bottles were still expensive so were returnable in exchange for a deposit. They had a logo imprinted into
them so that companies could ensure they got their bottles back.
Here we follow the history of just one
famous branded bottle Coca-Cola one
of the most iconic marketing symbols in
retail advertising today. Since 1889, the
distinct shape and branding of these bottles
has made them collectors items.
By 1916, Coca-Cola was using a straightsided bottle but, concerned it wasnt

distinctive enough, the company adopted
the famous contour shaped bottle (designed
by the Root Glass Company of Terre
Haute). In 1923, Coca-Cola six packs were
introduced, and by 1928, the amount sold in
bottles exceeded the amount sold through
soda fountains. The Coke bottle was
becoming an icon, and in 1950 it appeared
on the front cover of TIME Magazine, the
first commercial product to do so.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
62
Campbells
Soup
Drayton drew for Campbells

advertising for nearly twenty
years. In the early days, her
illustrations used on the labels
depicted boys and girls, but over
time they began to represent adult
professions including policemen,
sailors, and soldiers.
Campbells was a company ahead
of its time in terms of production
and marketing. John Dorrance, the
nephew of Arthur Dorrance, who
had taken over the company from
Joseph Campbell in 1894, used the
knowledge his chemistry degree
and PhD gave him to reduce the
water content of the companys
soups. The condensing saved costs
in shipping, packaging, and storage
and, in passing some of these
savings on to the customers in the
form of competitive pricing (a 10
oz. can of condensed soup cost a
10 cents whereas a 32 oz. can of
traditional soup was 30 cents), made
Campbells a household name. By
1922, soup was part and parcel of the
American company and Campbells
put Soup into its name.
In 1894, Joseph A Biedenharn, a shop owner

in Mississippi, began bottling Coca-Cola
in a glass bottle called a Hutchinson. The
drink had sold well in his store. Biedenharn
had also sent a case to Asa Griggs Candler,
who owned the Coca-Cola Company, but
Candler was not interested in bottling he
preferred to focus on fountain sales.
In 2000, in keeping with the ongoing drive

for sustainability, Coca-Cola introduced
its ultra-glass contour bottle designed for
improved impact and resistance, reduced
weight and cost. This was both stronger and
lighter, saving around 52,000 metric tonnes
of glass in one year alone. In 2005 new
aluminium contour bottles were introduced.
Campbells Soup and particularly its branding had a

strong impact on american popular culture. Famous for
its bright red and white label and the children (created
by illustrator Grace Wiederseim Drayton), the branding
became even more iconic when in 1962, Andy Warhol created
his 32 Campbell Soup Cans, heralding the arrival of pop art.

Much early commerce was facilitated by the bottle. As an airtight,
leakproof container, it enabled distribution of liquid products on an
international scale. The returnable deposit scheme was (perhaps
inadvertently) an early loyalty and repeat-purchase incentive as
customers invariably returned the empty bottles to the store from
which they had purchased them and picked up extra items.
In 1899, when the concept of

mass advertising had yet to catch
on, Campbells placed the first
advertising on New York City
streetcars. Sales of the soup
increased by 100% in the City. The
first ads included a jingle promoting
soup and a large illustration of a redand-white can of Campbells soup.

Campbells Tomato Soup represents the epitome of branded
packaging a masterful demonstration of how a brand can engage
with customers by promoting some of the values it represents visually,
(in this case home and family). The packaging also illustrates how
branding has to subtly evolve over time, retaining defining characteristics
while staying in step with changing consumer tastes and trends.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
63
Modern Shopping
1900s
Supermarket
Food shopping and the retail
industry changed forever
with the advent of the modern
supermarket in the early 1900s.
1901 to now
modern
shopping
The supermarket reinvented the food shopping experience by

combining under one roof, a wide range of food and non-food
products essential to daily living. The approach proved so popular with
shoppers that supermarkets would become the dominant retail channel,
accounting for the greatest proportion of sales in advanced economies.
Supermarkets represented a new approach to food shopping

and shopping in general. As the name implied, the supermarket
created a new set of expectations and elevated the store
experience for shoppers who were accustomed to the more
limited and food-oriented product assortment of traditional
grocery stores. The larger format supermarkets were able to
elevate the food shopping experience through increased
offerings and more appealing merchandise presentations
designed to stimulate demand. Supermarkets also satisfied a
broader range of shoppers needs, because they were larger and
could allocate the increased selling space to product categories
such as household essentials, non-food products, health and
beauty aids and ancillary departments such as pharmacies,
bakery, floral, banking, dry cleaners and movie rentals.
The combination of product categories, services and store
experience proved popular with shoppers who were leading
increasingly busy lifestyles and valued the convenience of a
retail format that allowed them to satisfy a broader range of
needs at a single store.
Consumers receptive to the concept

of self-selecting food, consumables
and other products essential for
daily living in one location adjusted
their purchase patterns and fuelled
growth of the supermarket industry.
Supermarkets became the largest single retail channel in

advanced economies and their large market share made them
a target of competitors. The traditional supermarket industry
has come under tremendous pressure, particularly in the United
States, where large format stores, known as supercentres,
gained favour with shoppers. Additional pressures were exerted
as alternative retail channels such as drug stores, dollar stores
and hard discount stores with limited assortments and sharp
pricing, expanded offerings of food and consumables as a
means to generate traffic.
Despite significant challenges in recent decades, the
supermarket remains a dominant format characterised by food
as its core product offering. The concept of the supermarket
continues to evolve to keep pace with shifting family structures
and lifestyles that affect consumption patterns. An increased
emphasis on the availability of prepared or easy-to-prepare
foods at some supermarkets has led to an increasingly blurred
distinction between the traditional supermarket and some
segments of the food service industry.
65
Modern Shopping
1901
Escalator
Going up! Were all accustomed to department stores

having floor upon floor of products. Sportswear and
electricals in the basement. Up a flight and there are the
cosmetics on the ground floor. Travel up again and you
see the fashion goods, and perfumes, menswear, womens
wear. The escalator gave birth to vertical shopping.
Modern Shopping 1902

The desire to be able to chill the temperature of
the immediate surroundings can be traced back
for centuries; Ancient Egyptians, Ancient Romans
and the Han Dynasty in 2nd Century China all
tried various ways to cool the air around them.
It began as a novelty ride at the Old Iron Pier at Coney Island, New York, when in 1896 Jesse Reno put
passengers on a moving stairway that took them up on a conveyor belt at a 25-degree angle. He had
patented his moving stairs or inclined elevator in 1892. A previous patent had been granted in 1859 (to
Nathan Ames of Massachusetts) for a steam driven unit called revolving stairs, but this was never built.
The father of modern air

conditioning, however, was an
American Cornell University
graduate, Willis Haviland Carrier.
The first air conditioning unit,
designed and built by him in Buffalo,
began operation in July 1902. In 1906,
he lodged his first patent for The
Apparatus for Treating Air.
In 1897, along came another inventor, Charles

Seeberger, with a revamp. His word for his moving stairs
escalator came from the Latin scala, meaning
steps. In 1899, Seeberger started working with the Otis
Elevator Company to get his first commercial escalators
into production at the Otis factory in Yonkers, New
York. In 1900, the wooden escalator they had created
won first prize at the Exposition Universelle in Paris.
Five years later, in 1911, Carrier told the

American Society of Mechanical Engineers
about his new formula for calculating air
conditions. He said he had worked it out
while waiting for a train on a foggy night,
and that by the time the train arrived at the
station, he had understood the dynamics
between temperature, humidity and dew
point. That formula is still in use today.
Meanwhile, Jesse Reno was still working on his

own designs and in 1902 founded the Reno Electric
Stairways and Conveyors Company. Both Reno and
Seeberger sold their patents to the Otis Elevator
Company. The companys engineers, led by David
Lindquist, upgraded the Reno and Seeberger
designs by creating the cleated level steps of the
modern escalator that we still see in our stores and
shopping malls today.
Controlling humidity levels before and

after production, led to improvements in
many products including, film, tobacco,
processed meats, medical capsules and
certain textiles. In 1921, Carrier patented
his centrifugal refrigeration machine. It was
the first practical method for cooling large
spaces and it was a safer and more efficient
method for chilling air.
Modern escalators have single-piece aluminium or

stainless steel steps that move on a system of tracks
in a continuous loop, with moving handrails that keep
pace with the movement of the stairs. Designs vary
according to how many people they are expected to
transport. A single-width escalator travelling at 1.5 feet
or 0.46 metres per second can move an estimated
170 people every five minutes.
Being able to move a large volume of people around a store and up and down shopping mall level, with ease and in
comfort, helps encourage sales. But its not just about mobility. Escalators are invariably located in the centre of the store
or mall and provide customers with a birds eye view of merchandise, optimising the retailers opportunity to promote
goods and offers. Today, stores are installing escalators designed to take a shopping trolley so that customers can keep
their purchase with them as they journey through the store.
Today, the retail experience remains reliant on air conditioning to

create a chilled environment, persuading shoppers to stay in stores
longer, and keeping merchandise fresh along the supply chain.
The shoppers in the meccas of the malls of places like Las Vegas,
Dubai and Singapore owe a debt of gratitude to Carriers genius.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
66
Air
Conditioning
Three years later, several Carrier centrifugal

chillers were installed in the J L Hudson
Department Store in Detroit, Michigan.
Shoppers loved to shop in those new air
conditioned stores and not surprisingly,
the movie theatres were the next to
install them. In 1928 the Carrier systems
began being installed in domestic
homes, now under the name residential
Weathermaker.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
67
Modern Shopping
1906
Clothes
Hanger
Whatever type of clothes hanger we use today metal, wood or

plastic it drapes our shirts, blouses, jackets, trousers, skirts, as
if the clothes were sitting on our own human shoulders.
Row after row of clothes sit on these humble hangers, ready
for us to purchase throughout stores all over the world.
Contribution to
Retail History
Use of hangers enabled
retailers to easily move and
display rails of clothing at
any given location on the
shop floor. Garments were
displayed with more efficient
use of store space and to far
better effect uncreased,
and more accessible to
browsing customers, making
it easy for them to see what
was in style and in stock,
and encouraging closer
scrutiny and handling. The
clothes hanger also enabled
more efficient distribution of
merchandise between the
manufacturer and the store.
In 1903, Albert J Parkhouse, heard his co-worker at the

Timberlake Wire and Novelty Company in Jackson, Michigan,
complain that there were not enough hooks to put his coat on,
and set about solving the problem. Parkhouse bent a piece of
wire into two ovals, with ends twisted together to form a hook.
The first recorded retail use of these early hangers was in 1906
in Grand Rapids, Michigan, when Meyer May, a mens clothier,
was the first to use them to put his merchandise on.
Parkhouse did patent his invention, but he was not actually
the first. That credit goes to an O. A. North of Connecticut,
who in 1869, took out a clothes hook patent. (It should also
be acknowledged that some histories credit the US President,
Thomas Jefferson, with inventing the first wooden hanger).
In fact, in the USA, there have been many patents for various
types of clothes hangers; over 200 have been counted to date.
Back to the Parkhouse wire clothes hook. This was further
improved in 1932 when Schuyler C. Hulett received a patent for
putting cardboard tubes onto the upper and lower portions
of the hook, so that when freshly washed clothes were put
over them they did not crease. In 1935, the next evolution was
seen in the form of a hanger with a tube on the lower bar, the
invention of Elmer D Rogers.
Over the years, hangers have become carriers for the name
of the brands as well as the clothes themselves, but the basic
principles of their design have remained pretty much the same.
They remain an excellent example of form following function.
Hollowed wood, woven

grasses, shells, leaves and even
animal organs were used as the
earliest form of packaging. then
came metals, pottery and paper.
Plastic, first developed in the 19th
Century, has proved to be one of the
most adaptable and durable forms of
packaging.
Modern Shopping
1908
Plastic
Packaging
The substance Styrene was first distilled from a balsam tree in

1831 but the products made from it were brittle and broke easily.
In 1862, the first manmade plastic was unveiled by Alexander
Parkes at the Great International Exhibition in London. The material
was derived from cellulose and called Parkesine. When heated, it
could be molded to shape, which it then retained when cold.
In 1870 (during the American Civil war), a New York engineer, John
Wesley Hyatt and his brother, Isaiah Smith Hyatt, created and patented
celluloid. It could be carved and shaped rather than moulded. Some
thirty years later, a Swiss textile engineer, Dr Jacque Edwin Brandenberger,
created cellophane. It was flexible, and water resistant. Cellophane Tape
followed and then SaranTM, its clinging qualities saw it first used to protect
military equipment and later for food packaging. In the 1930s, German
manufacturers refined the early Styrene processes and foam packaging
materials were available worldwide from the 1950s.
Plastic bottle production remained relatively expensive, until the 1960s
when manufacturing techniques changed and high-density polyethylene was
introduced. The plastic bottles created from it were cheaper to produce and lighter
than glass bottles.

With the capacity to be moulded into any form, plastic
provides all the flexibility required to create packaging
for goods of all shapes and sizes. Lightweight, it provided
manufacturers with a cost-effective packaging method
for distribution. Being airtight (if required), watertight and
able to withstand freezing temperatures, the introduction
of plastic packaging greatly extended the shelf life and
therefore geographic footprint of perishable goods.
The advent of the microwave extended the power of
plastic packaging even further, opening up an entirely new
concept in home cooking, the microwaveable ready meal.
68
69
Float and
Armoured Glass
We call it window shopping. We walk along the High Street,
stare at the clothes or other products in the windows, but
probably take for granted the glazing through which were
gazing. However, the allure of the artfully arranged window
displays that draw us in to spend money only works because
of the developments in glass-making techniques that made
such walls of glass possible.
In the late 17th century, the French began using grinding and polishing
techniques to produce the first plate glass, but at that time it was
something only the rich could aspire to own. The French Revolution and
the English Industrial Revolution coincided with a revolution in glass
manufacturing, using compressed air to produce better, flatter, glass panes.
By the 1860s, store and office buildings were using plate glass. In the
20th century, machines could produce sheet after sheet of flat glass for
windows. That glass became stronger and tints were applied. In 1903,
bullet proof glass was accidentally discovered when a French chemist,
Edouard Benedictus, dropped a glass beaker on the floor. It didnt break
completely apart as it was coated with plastic cellulose nitrate.
When Henry Gordon Selfridge came to build his Oxford Street store in
the early 1900s, he invested 400,000 (a small fortune) acquiring a series
of Georgian buildings and turning them into a steel framed, five-storey
department store. The store opened in 1909, complete with cast iron
window frames and glass windows measuring over 19 feet by 12 feet.
A revelation, now passers-by were confronted with merchandise displays
that drew them in. Lifestyle tableaux, seasonal goods, working televisions
the windows provided a 3-D advertising hoarding.
In the 1950s Sir Alistair Pilkington and Kenneth Bickerstaff, developed the
float glass manufacturing technique (produced by heating a furnace
to 1500c and then allowing the molten liquid inside the furnace to flow
through molten tin). The molten glass floats because the density of
materials is different and it is this technique that gives the flatness to the
surface of the glass. This float glass became commercially successful during
the 1960s and is still manufactured and in use across the world today.

The shop window displays made possible by these glazing
techniques became key to the retailers ability to persuade passing
trade to step through the door. In the age of online shopping, the role
of window merchandising is even more vital. Since many customers
go out as much to browse as to buy, the power of attraction rests
heavily on the view through the window. Today, glass has become a
key component of retail architecture for some brands witness Apple
stores use of it as a central tenet of their retail design philosophy.
70
71
Selfridges
Lavatory

In the mid-19th century, the concept of one-stop
shopping in the form of the Department Store, Galleria
and Arcade arrived. These places were destinations in
their own right, offering a shopping environment that
respectable people were keen to experience.
The Allen Key (or wrench) is a brand name we have all

become familiar with. We use these hex keys to screw
and secure various devices but most commonly we
reach for them when we take home, unpack and need to
self-assemble our DIY furniture.
Allen
Key
The new well-off urban population was

attracted in their thousands, not just to shop,
but also to socialise, often spending the entire
day out in the process. But, if respectable
persons were to be encouraged to dwell, shop,
and mingle, where were they to answer the
inevitable call of nature?
At this time, no real provision was made for women; they
trained themselves not to need to use facilities when away
from the domestic environment and if they really had to do
so, they excused themselves from company and managed
as best they could, with non-existent, or at best, primitive
amenities. All this was changed with the arrival in London
at the turn of the century of Gordon Harry Selfridge.
Harry was determined to build the best store in the world;
he already had 30 odd years experience in Chicago
running Marshall Fields, at that time probably the number
one Department Store in the US.

The public lavatories were an innovation that was hugely
welcomed by the public (not least women). Important as they
were in their own right, the lavatories were also a demonstration
of an emerging customer services retail ethos something that
has continued to define and differentiate retail brands ever since.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
72
Harry Selfridge positively encouraged customers to

spend as long as they wanted in the store, with free
entrance, impressive window displays, touchable
merchandise, longer opening hours and the widest range
of merchandise and store services yet available. But as
well as being a great merchant, Selfridge understood that
in-store services would also be key to happy customers.
So, he invested behind the scenes, not least by providing
what were really the first public in-store lavatories for men
and women. A long established competitor of Selfridges,
Whiteleys in Bayswater, did provide some toilet facilities,
but these were private, for customers only and were
very rudimentary affairs. Not so at Selfridges, where, by
the standards of the day, the facilities were lavish, with
enclosed cubicles, wash basins with hot water, easy chairs,
mirrors and attendants to help. And importantly, given the
stores dictum of spend all day here, and you dont have to
buy anything, the lavatories were public.
Around 1911, The Standard

Pressed Steel Company (an
american manufacturer
which made shaft hangers
and collars using set
screws) is said to have first
used the unbreakable screw.
At that time known as the Unbrako, it became a world leader in its mass production.
The founder of SPS was Howard T Hallowell Senior. He wrote: For a while we
experimented with a screw containing a square hole like the English screw, but soon
found these would not be acceptable in this country, the US. Then we decided to
incorporate a hexagon socket into the screw. He called his method the internalwrenching hexagon drive.
These headless set screws were well received by safety campaigners, who were keen
to see them used on the pulleys and shafts in factories at that time. Headless screws
were less likely to catch the clothing of workers and risk pulling them onto the running
shafts, causing injury
At around the same time (1909 1910), William G Allen had patented a method of
cold-forming screw heads around a hexagonal die. (We dont know if Hallowell used
this same method or some other for his screws). Advertisements for the Allen safety
set screw were published by the Allen Manufacturing Company of Connecticut from
1910. The company trade marked the name Allen wrench or key for its range of hex
wrenches in 1943. (The trade mark is now owned by the Apex Tool Group).
In World War II the push for more production of every kind saw hex or Allen keys
come into even wider use. Popular science magazine wrote in 1946: Cap screws
and set screws with heads recessed to take hexagonal-bar wrenches are coming into
increasing use. The popularity of the Allen key continued to grow and it is now sold
in different sizes in countries all over the world.
Contribution to
Retail History
The humble Allen key facilitated a
boom in the sale of flat packed goods
for home assembly and resulted
in the emergence of a new kind of
DIY store, of which IKEA is the best
recognised across the world. From
its first stores in Scandinavia in the
1960s, IKEA spread its revolutionary
retail model across Europe and
the US during the 1970s and 1980s
and then into China, which is now
its second largest market. Today,
throughout its 400 plus stores across
31 countries, customers are navigated
through room sets that sell a lifestyle
they with the help of an Allen Key
can re-create, relatively cheaply
and easily, in their own home.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
73
Neon
Lighting
Neon comes from the Greek neos meaning

the new gas. William Ramsey and M W Travers
in London discovered neon gas, in 1898. It
is made by liquefying air and it is separated
from other gases by fractional distillation.
The French engineer and chemist, Georges Claude, was the

first person to apply an electrical discharge to a sealed
tube of neon gas to create a light, and his first neon lamp
was unveiled in 1910, in Paris. He patented his neon lighting
tube in the united states, in 1915.
The application of Claudes new technology quickly followed. His
company, Claude Neon, sold two neon gas signs to a Packard car
dealership in Los Angeles in 1923. The signs said Packard and each
sign cost $1,250. The idea quickly took off and others began using
neon lighting (nicknamed liquid fire) for their outdoor advertising too.
By 1924, Claude Neon franchises had appeared in 14 major cities across
the US, and in 1927, the company could claim that it had created 611 out
of the 750 neon signs on display in New York City.
After the Second World War, plexiglas shadow boxes with fluorescent
lighting displaying letters and graphics, took over from neon. In the
US, many neon signs were switched off during the wartime blackout
period and were never switched back on again.
However, from the late 1970s, a neon revival began and today retailers
and advertisers continue to harness its appeal as a material for signage.
From Times Square in New York, to Piccadilly Circus in London, to the
Akihabara district of Tokyo, brands and retail outlets use neon to arrest
the attention of passers-by. Architects and merchandisers incorporate
neon to add illustrative flourishes to the interior and exterior of
buildings from simple open/closed signs to artistic creations that
create unique abstract sculptures by drawing with light.

Neon signs broke new ground in retail advertising and
transformed the urban landscape at night. Eye-catching and
adaptable the tubes are bent by hand neon signage
continues to lend itself to use for logos and information
signage (open/closed/exit), and ambitious art installations.
74
75
Modern Shopping
1912
Shopping
Bag
Four years later, he had
developed a prefabricated
inexpensive package a paper
bag with a cord running
through it. This Deubner
Shopping Bag was easy to
use and strong enough to
carry up to seventy-five
pounds of groceries. The
bags cost five cents each.
Deubner patented his bag in
1912 and within three years,
he was selling over a million
shopping bags a year.
Modern Shopping
1913
One observant Minnesota grocery store owner,
Walter H Deubner, wanted to increase trade at
his store. He noticed that what people purchased
was limited by what they could carry.
The inventor of the modern lightweight
plastic shopping bag was the Swedish
engineer, Sten Gustaf Thulin. He created
a bag, made in one piece from a flat tube
of plastic for the packaging company
Celloplast, who patented it worldwide in
1965. It was strong and could carry a lot.
The company was a pioneer in plastics
processing and expanded across Europe
and the US to manufacture shopping bags.
The US petrochemicals group, Mobil,
overturned Celloplasts US patent in 1977.
The Dixie Bag Company, of Georgia, the
Houston Poly Bag, and Capitol Poly all
Delivery
Van
developed the manufacturing techniques

further and grocery chains began to use
plastic (or polyethylene) bags instead of
paper ones. By the mid 1980s, plastic bags
were being used to carry shopping by
consumers the world over.
Often referred to as the single use
bag, what was once a benefit has since
become a hinderance. Environmental
concerns impact upon the plastic bag
industry, with between 500 billion and
1 trillion plastic bags being used each year
globally. A contributor to roadside litter,
they can take centuries to decompose.
Contribution to
Retail History
Polythene shopping bags
increased the average
transaction value by
enabling customers to
purchase and transport
more products. The bags
also provided a relatively
cheap but highly visible
way for retailers to promote
their brand. In recent years,
retailers have encouraged
customers to move towards
a bag for life system to
improve the rate of re-use.
76
From the mid-20th Century, home delivery of retail

goods became common across the developed
world. Perishable products such as milk, eggs,
fruit and vegetables were delivered weekly or even
daily to customers by local farms and suppliers.
Contribution to
Retail History
As well as delivering to order (such as the daily milk round), grocers, bakers,
fishmongers and others would drive their vans from place to place (to a
regular schedule), park up and sell before moving on to the next destination.
From mobile shops, to basic

supply chain fulfillment
and on to their vital role
in todays e-commerce
delivery, the humble van
or truck has been the
very bedrock of retail. The
modern supply chain is
founded on trucks and
vans, with only international
supply relying on other
forms of transport such as
plane and ship.
It was the Ford Model T that first brought the delivery van within the reach of high
street businesses (the American Messenger Company in Seattle, Washington, founded
by James Casey, started using its first Model T delivery car in 1913), followed by the
purpose built light vans, after 1945. The first generation of compact vans appeared in
the US in the 1960s, borrowing their design from the Volkswagen Bus. They were called
step vans because a deliveryman could step-up into one via low van steps built under
the doors. It became a standard truck type widely used by delivery services, courier
companies and parcel post.
The growth in private car ownership, coupled with the advent of the supermarket and
out-of-town retail shopping centres, saw a decline in use of the van for home delivery
services during the last quarter of the 20th century. However, the past decade has seen
a resurgence in use as the massive growth of online shopping has reinstated the delivery
van in its pivotal position at the end of the retail distribution chain.
77
Modern Shopping
1914
Calculator
Modern Shopping
1916
In 1642, a Frenchman, Blaise Pascal, invented
the Pascaline - a mechanical calculator that
could add, subtract, multiply and divide.
The concept of the checkout has

existed since buyers and sellers
first consummated transactions at
centralised locations. Early checkouts
of the modern retail era were highly
manual, requiring cashiers to key prices
and process payments that were largely
made by cash, check or early forms
of credit. As retailing advanced to the
chain store age, the modern checkout
emerged to define the customer
experience and play an important role
in the industrys development.
The Arithmometer, invented in 1820

and produced in 1851, became the first
real success story. By 1890 around
2,500 devices had been sold. The
manufacturing boom of the Industrial
Revolution allowed better models to
be produced en masse. Between 1820
and 1914 the calculator went from being
something that only the rich could
afford, to being heavily used in
commercial environments.
In 1902, James L Dalton (an American),
made a new push-button design and
called it the Dalton Adding Machine. In
1948 the Curta calculator was developed.
It was small and portable enough to hold
in your hand. In the 1950s and 1960s,
as computer technology developed, so
too did calculators, and increasingly they
were built into machines.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
78
Checkout
The retail industry is dependent on properly functioning checkouts with billions of transactions
processed at millions of merchant locations worldwide every day.
However, it was not until

nearly 200 years later that the
principles of the mechanical
calculator were adapted and
adopted for commercial use.
The first prototype of a hand-held

calculator was developed by Texas
Instruments in 1967 and was called
Cal Tech. By 1970, the Japanese were
making the first portable calculators
which incorporated rechargeable
batteries and used just a few chips
of low power consumption. Today,
calculators are ubiquitous, imbedded
in every device and enabling instant
calculation anywhere.
The modern checkout, consisting of a payment

processing station staffed by a cashier, is a
foundational element of the self-service retail
experience that rose to prominence in the early 1900s.

Calculators expedited accounting processes throughout the supply chain.
Retailers were no longer at the mercy of the numeracy of their cashiers
as all the additions and subtractions (for working out change) was done
for them. Customers could better calculate and manage the cost of their
shopping as they filled their baskets or trolleys and could also work out
what deals and offers (for example, 15% off) would save them in monetary
terms. The speed and accuracy of the checkout process greatly improved
the overall customer experience.
It was the development of the barcode

however, that truly revolutionised the
checkout by improving speed, accuracy
and ease of use for shoppers and
retail cashiers. Retailers who embraced
the technology gained an important
competitive advantage and came
to recognise the powerful impact the checkout could have on shoppers
perceptions of the store experience. As such, the checkout became the focus
of intense process improvement efforts and innovations. The conveyor belt
and bagging turnstiles were introduced to accelerate throughput.
Retailers efforts to minimise shoppers waiting times also led to the
introduction of express lanes for use by those with a limited number of
items or guarantees that additional checkout lanes would be opened if the
number of people in line exceeded a certain amount.
More recently, the checkout has continued to evolve thanks to technology
advancements and check out configurations that enable shoppers to
self-scan merchandise without the aid of cashiers. Likewise, the growth
of e-commerce has introduced a new type of digital check where the
principles of speed, accuracy and ease of use remain equally relevant. Newer
advancements on the digital front are facilitating a range of mobile checkout
possibilities that that represent the next stage of evolution for the checkout.
Contribution to
Retail History
Centralised checkouts gave retailers
the ability to quickly and accurately
tally customers purchase and process
payments. The checkout contributed
to the rise of self-service retail and
reshaped shoppers expectations of
the store experience. As such it became
a key consideration in store design
and exerted a powerful influence
on decisions relating to operations,
marketing and merchandising.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
79
Modern Shopping
1919
Conveyor
Belt
Modern Shopping
1922
Conveyor belts began in the latter half of the 17th
Century, devised as a way of moving grain sacks over short
distances. They worked by allowing a belt made of leather,
canvas or rubber to travel over a flat wooden bed.
The shopping centre is a concept as old as

commerce itself as early merchants were
quick to recognise the value of gathering at a
centralised location to peddle their wares.
Shopping
Centre
Then, as now, the foundational

success of the shopping centre
lies in its powerful appeal as a
destination where shoppers can
satisfy a wide range of needs and
wants for products and services.
By the beginning of the 20th Century, their usage and development

was more widespread.
In 1908, Hymle Goddard of the Logan Company was the first to receive the patent
for the roller conveyor but it did not do well. In 1919 powered and free conveyors
were used in automotive production and then in coal mines. In the Second World
War, synthetic conveyor belts (PVC and rubber) were introduced. During the
second half of the 20th century, engineers perfected internally powered conveyor
rollers and motorised pulleys that eliminated costly maintenance procedures.
The conveyor belt rapidly became an integral component of virtually every stage
of the retail supply chain. They transport raw materials from the point of extraction
(for example, in mining); production assembly lines use them to choreograph
and conduct the process of making, assembling and checking goods as they pass
in front of stationary employees or check points; warehouse and distribution
centres rely on them to move stock in and out. And of course, within the retail
environment, they are essential to delivering a streamlined checkout process.
80
Shopping centres perfectly illustrate the

adage that the whole is greater than the sum
of its parts. Physically locating numerous
retail stores at single location makes the
shopping centre a compelling destination. In
turn, retailers prospects for success improve
because they are able to benefit from higher
levels of shopper traffic than they could hope
to generate independently. In addition, for
retailers who occupied shopping centres,
a host of business considerations were
simplified or eliminated. Unlike operators of
standalone stores, shopping centre tenants
were freed from issues related to real estate
site selection, construction and a host of
operational and maintenance considerations.
Contribution to
Retail History
By merging the
mechanisation of the
conveyor belt with
computer control systems,
retail distribution centre
operations around the
globe have become faster
and more efficient and have
been able to achieve huge
savings in labour costs.
The forerunner of the modern shopping

centre is recognised as the Country Club
Plaza developed by the J.C. Nichols
Company near Kansas City, Missouri, in 1922.
Three decades later in 1954 the concept
of the shopping centre experienced a
major turning point with the opening of the
first enclosed mall called Southdale near
Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Enclosed malls were a breed of shopping
centre that proved incredibly popular. The mall
became a retail phenomenon and from the
1960s through the 1980s, enclosed malls grew
rapidly and transformed the retail landscape.
As mall developers strived to create ever more

powerful destinations, mega malls emerged
in the 1980s such as the West Edmonton Mall
in Alberta, Canada and the Mall of America
in Minneapolis. These structures broke new
ground in the world of shopping centre
development by including food, entertainment
and amusement options among their extensive
retail offerings. The combination elevated the
mega mall to the status of tourist destination.
While the word mall has become synonymous
with shopping centre, retail destinations today
take many different forms and go by names
such as strip centre, power centre, outlet mall or
lifestyle centre. Their approach to site selection,
architectural design and tenant mix varies.
Each relies on the fundamental principle that
retailers exponentially increase their prospects
for success when assembled together to create
a shopping centre.
Contribution to
Retail History
The shopping centre represented
the earliest form of retail
development and established
the philosophy that a mutually
beneficial effect was created by
assembling a group of retailers
together to form a destination.
This foundational principle
shaped shopping centre
development over the centuries
and continues to do so today. The
enduring appeal of the shopping
centre lies in its ability to evolve
the tenant mix to provide the
most relevant offering of products
and services to secure the
shopping centres status as a local,
regional or global destination.
81
Modern Shopping
1926
Tannoy
while Tannoy is widely used as meaning a generic public

address system it is in fact a trade mark belonging to
Tannoy, a Scottish-based manufacturer of loudspeakers
and Public Address systems, first established in 1926.
However, the first working PA system was invented in the united states by Edwin Jensen and Peter
Pridham. In 1915, their company, Magnavox, created the first ever dynamic loudspeaker. Prior to that,
PA systems were in effect, just a funnel or bullhorn without any form of electronic amplification.
The famous Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, made

the first successful experimental flight on 17 December
1903, in which their aka aeroplane took off and landed
with a man on board. In the first of three flights that
day, their aeroplane flew to an altitude of 10 feet,
travelled 120 feet, and landed 12 seconds after take-off.
In 1969, the Boeing 747 was

unveiled and in the same year
the Aerospatiale-BAC Concorde
supersonic passenger airliner
made its maiden flight. The
Boeing 747 was the largest
commercial passenger aircraft
ever to fly, and still carries
millions of passengers each
year, but in size it has now been
overtaken by the Airbus A380.
A double-decker, wide-body,
four-engine jet airliner, this is
the worlds biggest passenger
airliner. Many airports have
had to upgrade their facilities
to properly accommodate it
because of its size.
Contribution to
Retail History
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
82
Aeroplane
During the first half of the 20th Century, innovations in flight and plane design blossomed, achieving
another key landmark with the development of the jet engine in the late 1930s by two engineers: Frank
Whittle of the UK and Hans von Ohain of Germany. In the second half of the 20th Century, it was the
passengers and the tourist industry that began to reap the rewards of modern flight.
Amplified PA systems underwent rapid

development during World War II and in
the UK, Tannoy became a household name.
These days, the word Tannoy is synonymous
with sound, appearing in the dictionary as: a
communications system with loudspeakers, used
for making announcements in public buildings.
The phrase Over the Tannoy is universally used
to describe a PA announcement.
As supermarkets and retail outlets

expanded and developed enormous
footprints, the deployment of PA (or
Tannoy) systems in stores became
standard. Amplified sound enabled
management to direct operations for
example, requesting more staff to man
checkouts, clean spillages or report to
another member of the team without
having to tour the entire shop floor. The
system also enabled the introduction
of piped muzak throughout the retail
environment, creating a more convivial
shopping ambience. The PAs potential
as a communication media for tactical
promotions was also quickly seized
upon, enabling announcements
regarding special offers and sampling
opportunities to be broadcast to every
customer at once, irrespective of their
location within the store.
Modern Shopping
1930s

Air travel opened shoppers eyes to wider retail horizons; package holidays took
them to new places and soon the relative speed and ease of flight prompted people
to cross continents just to shop. For the supply and distribution chain, aeroplanes
opened up a world of opportunity literally. The ability to airfreight fresh goods and
have them arrive at their destination in hours transformed the supermarket shelves,
the concept of seasonality, and the shopping habits of consumers
Tourism is now an essential

activity for many economies and
the business travel audience
also accounts for a significant
percentage of travel, as we
become an increasingly global
economy. In 2011, there were
over 983 million international
tourist arrivals worldwide, and
numbers are set to rise. There
has been no other generation
that has been able to travel so
freely and widely.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
83
Modern Shopping
1930s
Kvass
Barrel
Modern Shopping
1935
Kvass has been enjoyed in Russia and across parts of Eastern
Europe for centuries, by every social group from Tsars to peasants.
Even today, in the summer you will see people lining up to purchase
a glass of this tangy beverage from the street vendors barrel.
Kvass is a drink made from

stale, dark, sourdough rye
bread. Its brown and bubbly,
with a beer-like taste, but
its alcohol content is so
low (less than 1%) that its
considered non-alcoholic
(although if left to ferment
for long enough, the alcohol
content will increase). It
might be flavoured with
herbs, strawberries, raisins,
currants, lemons, cherries,
apples or mint. Hailed as one
of the most thirst-quenching
drinks available, Kvass is also
considered to offer health
benefits too, acting as both
an isotonic and probiotic.
Kvass was often made
at home; commercial
production of it only began
in the late 19th century. But,
such is the products short
shelf life (just a few days) it
was frequently sold on the
street, directly out of bright
yellow mobile, barrel-shaped
tanks. Customers would
queue up to buy it by the
glass, or in larger volumes,
decanting it from the tank
into the vessels they had
brought from home.
The string bag scrunches

up into something that
fits into your palm, and
is easily put in a handbag
or briefcase when you
leave for work. When
you later go to shop, you
have a robust, capacious
grocery bag.
The Avoska bag dates back to 1935 and the

word avos means maybe or perhaps in
Russian. At that time in the USSR, many goods
were scarce so the sentiment was
apt. People carried the string bags
everywhere in the hope of being able to use
them to scoop up large quantities of products
that, with luck, they might come across
being sold. The popular Russian comedian,
Akrady Raikin used to joke about his maybe
bag Heres my maybe-bag. Maybe Ill get
something into it.
Avoska
Shopping Bag
In the 1970s soviet consumers spent hundreds
of hours of their lives waiting in line to buy
goods. They were well versed in impulse
buying, in that if they saw a queue forming,
it was standard procedure to join it and only
then enquire about what was being sold. The
uncertainty of what goods would be available,
when and where, instilled in people an instinct
to stockpile. This is where the Avoska bag was
so useful. When goods suddenly appeared in
a shop or a market, the expanding string bag
enabled the shopper to stock up in bulk at a
moments notice.
Contribution to
Retail History
The Avoska bag was a
major cultural phenomenon
of everyday Soviet life,
symbolising the ongoing
struggle of sourcing and
purchasing everyday
consumer goods. In recent
years, the principle of the
Avoska bag has begun to
be applied in the West but
it is prompted by a different
concern shoppers have
begun to carry fold away
shopping bags with them
to reduce the use of plastic
carrier bags.

In the Soviet economy, the sale of goods was a centralised process. Items and
produce were brought to central depots for distribution through specific points of
sale. In direct contrast, the Kvass barrel, alongside the Beer barrel, was a way of
distributing a high demand, perishable product quickly and efficiently, on every
street corner, creating a myriad of pop up retail distribution points. An important
example of street vending in the Soviet Union, the Kvass barrel paved the way for
other goods to be sold in this way, with numerous mobile food and drink vending
points throughout streets of Russian cities, e.g. chains like Kroshka-Kartoshka or Steff.
84
It looks like a basketball net, but in fact,

its a bag, widely used by Russian shoppers
(BOTH WOMEN AND MEN) since the 1930s
85
Modern Shopping
1935
Price Gun
the Invention of the price gun marked a step forward

in retail efficiency by enabling store personnel to
quickly and accurately price merchandise.
The improvement in price
transparency instilled confidence
in shoppers and simplified the
checkout process for cashiers.
The price gun was invented in 1935 by Ray

Stanton Stan Avery who worked as a
retail clerk in Los Angeles. Avery assembled
some used machine parts to create and
patent the first self-adhesive, die-cut
labeling machine. The device would come
to be known as a price gun because of
its appearance and the manner in which it
allowed users to rapidly affix pricing labels
to individual products.
Shortly after developing his innovative
product, Avery created a company to
produce self-adhesive labels, which he began
supplying to the Dennison Manufacturing
Company. After more than half a century of
working together, the two firms merged to
form Avery Dennison in 1990.
By the time of their merger, the price gun
was seldom seen in retail operations. Its
usage had been greatly diminished by the
development of the barcode and point
of sale scanning systems. The barcode
eliminated retailers need to apply price
labels to individual items in all but a handful
of special situations where regulations
required continued use of the practice as a
form of consumer protection, designed to
ensure accuracy with shelf edge prices.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
86
In 1936, Sylvan Nathan Goldman, an entrepreneur and

store owner from Oklahoma, realised that retail
purchases were restricted to what the shopper
could carry home. Working with mechanic, Fred Young,
together they created a shopping trolley.
Shopping
Trolley
Made with a metal frame it had two wire baskets. Customers could place their
hand-held baskets on the carriers and take them off again at the checkout. The
trolleys became known as folding basket carrier carts and Goldman set up a
company to produce them called the Folding Carrier Basket Company.
A patent war followed in 1946, when Orla
Watson of Kansas City, wanted to produce
a telescoping trolley, but Goldman filed
for a similar patent too. In 1949, Goldman
gave his patent rights and royalties to
Watson keeping licensing rights for
himself. By 1947, shopping trolleys had
child seats and by 1954, coloured handles
and personalised store names.
However, Goldmans trolleys did not have
an easy reception from customers in the
early days. Young women thought they were
unfashionable and young men thought
they would appear weak if they used
them. Then came the marketing campaign.
Goldman hired models of all ages and both
sexes to push the trolleys around the store,
pretending they were shopping. Attractive
store greeters met the shoppers as they
came in, encouraging them to use their carts.
Trolleys increased sales for all stores that
adopted them, as shoppers were better able
to self-serve throughout the store and make
more purchases.
The development of the price gun was a major technological step forward for the retail
industry. It simplified operations for retailers of fast-turning consumer packaged goods and
instilled trust in shoppers by improving price transparency and accuracy. Although seldom
used today, the price guns development had impacted retail efficiency and enabled
retailers who used the device to establish a new store experience for their shoppers.
Customers were no longer restricted to buying only the amount of goods they could carry in a basket. This, and being able to
wander the streets in comfort, encouraged them to buy more. The success of the trolley is also closely associated with the rise
in car ownership, as bulk buying was only possible if the customer had access to a car to transport the goods home. Like the
advent of refrigeration, the trolley was partly responsible for the transition to less frequent supermarket shopping occasions as
customers could do a weekly shop. The supermarket itself was redesigned to accommodate the trolleys, including wider aisles
and new checkout counters.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
87
Modern Shopping
1938
High Street
High Street was first published
in 1938. It showcased 24 colour
lithographs by the illustrator,
Eric Ravilious, with accompanying
text by the architectural historian,
J.M. Richards.
Ravilious created his lithographs in 1936 and 1937,
drawing straight onto stone in the studios of the
Curwen Press. The idea of an alphabet of shops
came from his lover, Helen Binyon and the book was
actually designed for children. The Ravilious images
evoke nostalgia for a past era of shopping, but in the
case of the cheesemonger (Paxton & Whitfield in
Jermyn Street) the shop faade and window display
still remain much the same today.
Initially Ravilious did not have a publisher, but
continued working on the book, subsidised by Curwen
Press until Noel Carrington (brother of the Bloomsbury
artist, Dora Carrington) agreed to publish it. Sadly, only
2,000 copies of High Street were printed and the
lithographic plates were subsequently destroyed by
the London Blitz. Today, it is an extremely collectable
item, and copies change hands at high prices.
Among the lithographs

included, are images
of shops, such as the
family butcher, the
coachbuilder, the
cheesemonger, the
knife grinder and
the oyster bar.
High Street captures a bygone era in retail, just

before the face of the UK High Street began to
change inexorably. In the 1930s, retail brands such
as Marks & Spencer, Boots and Woolworths began to
expand their national presence, taking up positions
in the High Street and replacing the small, individual
shopkeepers depicted in this book.
88
89
Modern Shopping
1938
Fluorescent
Tube
Modern Shopping
1940s
Prior to the development of the fluorescent tube

(often referred to as strip lighting), retailers were
reliant on the standard incandescent light bulb.
The arrival of fluorescent lighting gave them a highly economical alternative. Fluorescent lights
produce a lot of light ideal for illuminating merchandise to its best advantage, day or night
consume very little energy, and generate very little heat. The average life of fluorescent bulbs is
long, reducing the labour involved in replacing them.
Think of a light bulb and you summon up
the name of Thomas Edison, its inventor, but
although Edison dabbled with fluorescent lighting
too, he lost interest in it. Others experimented
further, but it wasnt until 1901 that Peter Cooper
Hewitt patented the first mercury vapour lamp,
which was the prototype of the fluorescent tube.

The fluorescent tube allowed retailers to illuminate their
stores more economically, while generating less heat and
facilitated extended opening hours. Lighting could also now
be used to create different ambiences throughout different
parts of the store the concept of mood lighting. It also
had a positive impact on merchandising displays, enabling
lighting within fixtures, not purely from an overhead source.
Hewitts work built on that of German physicist,

Julius Plucker, and glassblower, Heinrich
Geissler, who realised that if you passed an
electric current through a glass tube with small
amounts of gas in it, you could make light. Hewitt
began experimenting and discovered that the
brightness of these mercury filled lights was truly
illuminating. These lights, he thought, would be
too bright for domestic homes, so his thoughts
turned to photographic use and industrial
studios. Together with George Westinghouse, he
formed the Cooper Hewitt Electric Company to
produce the first commercial mercury lamps. In
1934, Edmund Germer, whose lights were more
powerful and better suited to smaller spaces,
adapted their concept.
In 1936, George Inman of General Electric (GE)
scientists in Ohio, filed for a patent and GE
began to prepare to introduce these lamps
commercially. On April 21, 1938, the companys
fluorescent MAZDA lamps were put on sale.
They produced coloured lights and offered
economies and efficiencies that would forever
change lighting in retail stores.
90
During the 1930s, 40s, and even into the 1950s, rationing changed
the face or retailing in the UK. British citizens were no longer
living in an age of plenty, scarcity became the norm.
Ration
Book
The UK ration book contained coupons that customers traded in

at the shop, and the shopkeeper sent them to the Ministry to be
counted. Even the British Royal Family had ration books.
The UKs Ministry of Food decided
what a persons basic needs
were and set a weekly allowance
accordingly. Tea, cheese, butter,
margarine, bacon, porridge, wheat
flakes, shredded wheat, lard,
sugar and eggs were all rationed.
Customers were limited by what
the store had been supplied
with; there was little choice, and
availability of goods might vary
from week to week.
An adult was allowed one egg
per week, 2oz of bacon, 2oz of
margarine and 2oz of tea. Lemons
and bananas became very scarce,
and while oranges continued
to be sold, greengrocers used
to reserve them for children
and pregnant women, who had
special rationing books. Bread
was not rationed, nor was fish,
but fish prices were controlled.
Biscuits were measured out loose
and sweets were rationed to 4oz
per week per person.
Prices were fixed by the Ministry
of Food. Jam, bread and milk
would cost the same whatever
store you went to. This system
RPM (Retail Price Maintenance)
continued for some goods until
the 1960s. Clothes were rationed

too, on a points system. Petrol
was sold only for work and a
permit was needed to obtain it.
In May 1942, an order was
passed that meals served in UK
hotels and restaurants must not
cost more than 5 shillings per
customer, and must not be more
than three courses. In the same
year, the Board of Trade laid
down a Civilian Clothing Order
to regulate the manufacture and
distribution of clothing.
By rationing, the Ministry of Food
achieved their aim of ensuring
supplies lasted and there was
enough to go round just.
Rationing of food ended on July
4, 1954, 14 years after it began.

Rationing meant UK retailers had to sell the same goods at the same price,
restricting competition and putting the brakes firmly on all the advancements
that might otherwise have arisen. The lifting of rationing acted as a catalyst
for innovation as UK retailers could again look forward to growth.
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Modern Shopping
1945
Pallet

Its easy to take for granted the retail progress that
quite mundane objects have initiated. The pallet is a
typical example. Wooden pallets, plastic pallets, metal
pallets all allow goods to be stacked and stored on
them, to be lifted and moved around with relative ease.
Speciality stores are readily identified by their focus

on specific merchandise classifications or multiple
product ranges offered under a single brand.
Speciality
Store
Speciality stores tap into

shoppers desire for increased
choice within select categories or
brands and they give the modern
retail industry its appearance of
seemingly limitless offerings.
Pallets are strong; they can carry loads of 1,000 kg, and as more goods are
transported via container trucks and ships, the pallet industry has burgeoned.
An amazing half a billion pallets are made each year, with around two
billion pallets apparently in use across the US alone. Once merchandise is
stored on a pallet, it can be lifted by forklift trucks or by equipment called
pallet jacks. Warehouse layouts are designed to enable the forklifts to
weave in and out of the storage shelves that hold the pallets on them.
Large discount stores and sheds (for example DIY retail outlets) use pallets
to store and display merchandise within the retail environment itself.
The use of pallets reduces retailers handling and storage costs by allowing
ease of movement. Surprisingly, there is no single international standard
for pallet sizes, but in principle, those pallets used in shipping have to be
made of materials that wont carry insects or plant diseases.
The History
of Retail in
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92
Contribution to
Retail History
Unassumingly modest, the humble pallet
has become fundamental to the smooth
running of the supply chain. A vital
merchandising tool for retailers like Aldi,
Costco and Walmart, the pallet is used as
an efficient display by retailers across the
world. Globally, trillions of dollars worth
of merchandise is sold from pallets.
The speciality store stands in sharp

contrast to the typical discount or
department store where the appeal to
shoppers is based on a broad selection
of merchandise with limited range within
categories. Conversely, speciality stores
created a new value proposition for
shoppers that was based on the depth
of product assortment within specific
categories or brands. The new approach to
retailing gained broad acceptance following
the Second World War. Retailers recognised
that increased consumer demand had
created the opportunity to appeal to
ever narrower segments of the market
with stores that offered specialised
merchandise assortment or specific
brands. Shoppers found the depth of
assortment presented by the speciality
store very alluring and their spending
behaviours gave rise to the speciality
store movement of the last half century.
The earliest speciality stores tended to focus
on large product categories such as shoes,
sporting goods, jewellery or menswear.
However, as the speciality store segment of
the retail industry evolved, the merchandise
classifications became increasingly narrow.
Speciality stores now exist for specific types
and brands of shoes within the footwear
category and the same is true for a category
such as sporting goods where speciality
stores exist for the fly-fishing segment of the

fishing category within sporting goods.
The trend of increased specialisation
within the speciality store retail segment
gained new momentum with the dawn
of e-commerce in the late 1990s. Online
shopping suddenly made it possible for
speciality store operators to take the
principles of serving shoppers with an
extensive product offering across a narrow
range of categories to an unprecedented
and more finely segmented level. Unbound
by the constraints of physical stores the
speciality store stands as an even more
significant force in a digital world where
shopper choice is unconstrained by the
limitations of physical stores.
Contribution to
Retail History
The speciality store
represented a new approach to
serving shoppers and created
powerful growth opportunities
for retailers and brands.
By offering deep product
assortments within narrow
merchandise classifications,
retailers created a new
approach that had powerful
appeal in a marketplace with
shoppers who were receptive
to the greater level of choice
that speciality stores afforded.
The History
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93
Modern Shopping
1946
Tupperware
Modern Shopping
1949
Closed Circuit
Television
In 1946, Earl Silas Tupper developed a new form of

home storage containers. Made of plastic, with what
was known as a burping seal, these containers
were airtight and ideal for food storage.
The origins of closed circuit television

can be traced to World War II when
Germany used the technology in the
development of V-2 rockets.
Contribution to
Retail History
The Tupperware marketing
and distribution model
was enormously successful
and is still applied globally
today. Largely attributable
to Brownie Wises ability to
create marketing strategies
that tapped into popular
culture and encouraged
women to sign up to become
hosts, her belief that if we
build the people, theyll
build the business created a
new retail paradigm.
The products were a great

development in themselves, but
it was the pioneering approach
to sales and marketing of
Tupperware that made its mark
on retail history.
Led by Brownie Wise, formerly a
sales representative for Stanley
Home Products, Tupper began to
promote his product via the party
plan approach. The concept of home
selling had been around since the 1920s
but the Tupperware Party became
the first internationally recognised

scheme of its kind. A simple idea,
American housewives were recruited
to host a Tupperware Party in their
homes, to which they invited friends
and neighbours to see and buy the
Tupperware product line. The hosts
were incentivised with free product and
a prize the size of which depended
on their sales figures. Being able to
demonstrate the product features
within the home environment helped
to gain womens trust and encouraged
them to purchase.
94
Women could work themselves up

from host to manager and ultimately
to the position of distributor. This
was at a time when women, who had
grown accustomed to working and
earning during the Second World War,
were being encouraged to go back to
the kitchen in order to free up paid
positions for men. The opportunity to
earn some independent income while
still being able to run the home ensured
widespread take up of the scheme by
women across the US and massive
sales success for Tupperware.
Despite an inauspicious beginning, closed circuit

television would go on to play an important
role in the retail industry.
Commonly referred to as CCTV, the system of video cameras
connected to display monitors and recording devices,
enabled Germany to monitor rocket launches from a closer
distance than had previously been possible. CCTV would
go on to have a much broader application in countless
industries that recognised the value of capturing, displaying
and storing video information. Many of the earliest
applications were related to security and asset protection
purposes in industries such are retail, casinos, financial
services, correctional facilities and government institutions.
Retailers in particular placed CCTV cameras in strategic
and discrete locations to detect the actions and to aid
in the prosecution of those engaged in various types of
wrongdoing. Meanwhile, retailers leverage the deterrence
capabilities of CCTV systems by placing cameras in high
visibility locations.

CCTVs impact on the retail industry was dramatic
because it allowed operators to increase the security of
their stores and parking lots while enhancing the sales
potential of theft prone products which could be more
openly merchandised with a reduced risk of loss. Shopper
insights generated by CCTV systems allowed retailers to
better understand customer traffic, optimise store layouts
and operate more efficiently.
The effectiveness of CCTV for asset protection purposes

resulted in widespread usage. More recently, technological
developments and reduced costs have led to the
development of new capabilities. Retailers are leveraging
the video streams generated by CCTV systems to yield
new sources of shopper insights. Ongoing advancements
in resolution and lens size now allow for shelf edge camera
placement, which enables retailers to determine shoppers
approximate age, gender and ethnicity to optimise sales
strategies and generate heat maps of customer traffic based
on dwell times in specific locations.
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Modern Shopping
1950s
Discount Store
Discount stores offered a wide
range of merchandise categories and
employed a pricing philosophy that
proved so popular with shoppers it
would come to dominate the industry.
The earliest discount stores sought to satisfy shoppers
everyday needs for a wide range of basic products,
as well as, an assortment of discretionary items. The
discount pricing philosophy required operators to be
mindful of capital costs and operating expenses so
as to generate an acceptable level of profitability by
selling products at lower prices. This resulted in a more
austere shopping experience than what customers were
accustomed to at traditional department stores of the
day, but the no frills approach presented by the likes of
Aldi and Lidl was a trade-off many were willing to make in
exchange for significant savings.
Today, the stores operated by traditional discount
retailers such as Walmart, Kmart and Target, bear little
resemblance to the store formats of the 1960s and 1970s
which propelled them to dominance in American retailing.
The addition of food to their traditional product offerings
has transformed many locations into large supermarkets
while retailers, such as Dollar General and Family Dollar
have emerged as a new breed of discount store.

Discount stores and the pricing philosophy which
underpins the concept, changed the retail industry by
altering shoppers perceptions of value. Price became
the overriding consideration for many shoppers to the
point where many retailers who operated formats other
than traditional discount stores had at the core of their
value proposition, a discount pricing philosophy.
The discount stores

that emerged in the
United States in
1950s represented the
beginning of a new
era in retailing.
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#
97
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Modern Shopping
1951
Computer
It was the British restaurant, food, hotel and

teashop chain, J Lyons & Co, who first saw the
potential for use of the computer in retail.
Between 1947 and 1963, the

company manufactured and
sold a range of LEO (Lyons
Electronic Office) computers.
This development was happening
far ahead of similar efforts in
America or elsewhere.
In 1946 a New York banker, John Biggins,

introduced his charge-it card. When this card
was used to buy goods from a shop, the sales
slip was sent on to Biggins Bank. The bank then
paid the money to the merchants and got their
customers to pay them in return.
In 1949, McNamara dined in New Yorks

Majors Cabin Grill, and when the bill
arrived, realised he had left his wallet
behind. Deciding an alternative to cash
was needed, he came up with the Diners
Club Card, used mainly for entertaining
and travel. For this reason, the Diners
Card is recognised as being the first
credit card in general use.
made from cardboard or celluloid.

A year later production switched to
using plastic. Momentum built and
American Express launched local
currency cards in other countries.
Within five years, approximately
1 million cards were in use, accepted
at about 85,000 establishments in
the USA and elsewhere.
It was not until 1958 that American

Express launched its first credit card,
In 1959, MasterCard claims to have been

the first to introduce a new concept
Before computers entered retail,

the store manager was in charge of
manually arranging the purchasing and
selling the merchandise. He would
decide what items to keep in stock,
how much they should sell for, who to
employ, and how much to pay them.
Walmart, and other discount stores

such as Kmart and Target, were early
adopters of computer technology
and by the mid-1980s and early
1990s small shops had computers.
The History
of Retail in
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98
Credit
Card
In 1951 Franklin National Bank in New York issued its first bank credit card, which could only be used by that
Banks account holders. At the same tiMe, Frank McNamara was developing the Diners Club Card.
The LEO computer, built in 1951,

was designed by Dr John Pilkerton
and John Simmons to handle the
companys accounts and logistics. In
1963, the LEO business merged with
English Electrics computer interests to
form the English Electric LEO.
In the 1960s, computers in retail began

to be used to manage customer data
and expedite accounting processes,
just as the Lyons group had done in
the first instance. Credit cards were
beginning to be used more frequently,
and cash registers and calculators
were also speeding up the check out
process for customers.
They all used inventory control

computing systems to keep track of
what goods the store had and to let
them know when items should be
restocked. Computer software systems
also helped manage the employee
payrolls and day-to-day accounts.
The turnaround time for stocking
systems improved significantly and
more customers were processed
through checkouts, more swiftly.
By 1993, Walmart computer systems
had satellite links, allowing stores to
send orders to suppliers by these
satellite links.
which allowed customers to roll their

balance over so they didnt have to
pay it all off at the end of a set cycle
of payment. 1966 saw the move to
general purpose cards when the Bank
of America franchised its BankAmericard
brand that we now know as Visa to
banks nationwide. Also at this time, a
group of banks were working together to
create the InterBank Card Association,
known now as MasterCard a direct
competitor with Visa.
Contribution to
Retail History
Contribution to
Retail History
The proliferation of credit

cards encouraged a buy now,
pay later consumer mindset
and so powered more retail
spending. With the advent of
online shopping, the credit
card has become, in its various
incarnations, the default form
of payment that has fuelled
the growth of e-commerce
transactions even if they do
not choose to take up the
credit element but settle the
full amount monthly.
As the basis of success for many

retailers, the computer became
the beating heart at the centre of
functions such as buying, supply
chain, replenishment, merchandising,
HR and more. Arguably, the effective
use of computing was behind the rise
to global supremacy for retailers such
as Amazon and Walmart. Ironically,
the computer has now become the
store of the future and threatens the
survival of many traditional retailers.
The History
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Modern Shopping
1951
Shannon Airport
In March 1947, the Irish Parliament passed legislation that
heralded the arrival of the global Duty Free industry.
the Customs Free Act meant
that normal duty and tax
procedures did not apply
to passengers purchasing
goods at Shannon Airport.
This radical retail development
was largely down to the efforts and
entrepreneurialism of one man, Brendan
ORegan. He had been the Catering
Comptroller at Foynes, which was the
refuelling point for seaplanes between
the UK and US. In 1945, ORegan was
transferred to the airbase at Shannon
and it was here that he identified the
opportunity to offer goods for sales to
transit passengers. However, he took his
idea further, managing to persuade the
airport authorities that the transit area
was not, technically, part of the Irish state
and therefore goods purchased within it
should not be liable for taxes and duties.
Having gained the support of Parliament
and seen the legislation passed, in May
1947, ORegan opened the worlds first
Duty Free shop, staffed by one woman
(Ms Kitty Downes). Offering a service
for Trans-Atlantic airline passengers
typically travelling between Europe and
North America whose flights stopped for
refuelling on both outbound and inbound
journeys, it was an immediate success.
To begin with, the Duty Free shop was a
small kiosk in Shannon Airports terminal
building and it predominantly sold

souvenirs. However, because of the duty
free savings, goods were often cheaper
than in the country of manufacture,
making luxury goods affordable
to travellers for the first time. The
reputation of Duty Free quickly spread
and the product lines expanded to
encompass quality international branded
merchandise including brands such as
Rosenthal porcelain and Leica cameras.
In 1951, Shannon Airport scored another
first with the opening of the first Airport
Duty Free Liquor Shop. It began as
a ships store where airline stewards
purchased supplies for re-sale to
passengers when the aircraft became
airborne. Soon, passengers were allowed
to make direct purchases at tax-free
prices, albeit on a restricted basis. In the
beginning, Shannon Duty Free applied
only to liquor and tobacco, but it rapidly
spread to encompass the vast range of
Duty Free departments familiar to the
modern international traveller.

Shannon Airports Duty Free shop was groundbreaking in that
it created a new retail channel and led to the development of a
different kind of shopping environment, soon replicated at air and
seaports across the globe. Retail concessions within airports have
contributed enormously to airport authority revenues and helped
drive expansion. The concessions themselves have been able
to capitalise on a captive audience. In the early days (to a lesser
extent today) unaffordable luxury brands being sold free of
tax and duty were put within the reach of a new audience: the
international traveller (by definition in those days, a moneyed and
discerning group), further enhancing the cachet of those brands.
In the 1950s, Duty Free shopping spread

to the US and in 1960 two Americans,
Charles Feeney and Robert Miller,
started Duty Free Shops (now DFS). DFS
began by operating in Hong Kong and
rapidly expanded globally. By the mid1990s, Duty Free shopping had spread to
overland, sea and air travel in more than
80 different countries.
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101
Modern Shopping
1951
Modern Shopping
1952
The Barcodes retail history began in
1952 when the first patent for a barcode
type product was issued to inventors
Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver.
Tetra Pak
But it was an invention ahead of its time

and it took another 22 years for the first
product with a barcode to be sold in a shop.
Tetra Pak is based on aseptic

packaging technology that
allows perishable products to be
kept cold and fresh, throughout
the distribution and storage chain.
Silver and Woodland were graduate students at

Drexel Institute of Technology in Philadelphia.
A local food chain asked the Institute if it could
research a method of automatically reading product
information during checkout. Woodlands first
design used patterns of ink that glowed under
ultraviolet light, but the ink was unstable and
expensive. Undefeated, Woodland quit his teaching
job at Drexel, took some stock market earnings,
and moved to Florida to work on the problem.
The Institute of Food Technologists

considers its development to be the most
important food packaging innovation of
the 20th Century.
The process allows the product and the package
to be sterilised separately, and then combined
and sealed in a sterile atmosphere (whereas in
canning processes, the product and the package
are combined and then sterilised). UHT ultraheat treated foodstuffs such as milk, juice, and
processed foods such as vegetables and fruit,
when sealed in aseptic packaging can be stored at
room temperature for up to a year.
The Swedish Company that created Tetra Pak
is now the largest food packaging company in
the world by sales. How did it begin? At the end
of the 1920s, Ruben Rausing was the owner
of a food carton company in Malmo. He had
seen self-service grocery stores in America and
recognised that pre-packaged foods (a better
and more hygienic way of handling foods)
were part of retails future.
Rausing wanted to pre-package liquids too, and
invested heavily in research and development
work to do so. In 1944, the companys lab came
up with the idea of making a tetrahedron shaped
package out of a tube of paper. Rausing filed for
a patent on 27th March 1944, but work continued
for the rest of the decade, solving the problems
of how to fill, store and distribute liquids in this way. It was Rausings
wife, Elisabeth, who suggested continuously sealing the package,
as if stuffing sausages, to prevent oxygen getting in. Working with
Swedish paper mills and foreign chemical companies, a paper
coated with polythene was produced. This made the paper
waterproof and it could also be heatsealed.
AB Tetra Pak was set up in Lund Sweden in 1951 and the new
packaging system was presented to the press. In 1952 the first filling
machine (which was able to package 100ml cream tetrahedrons)
was delivered to a local dairy.

Tetra Paks aseptic packaging technology enabled the
packaging and distribution of a much wider range of
foodstuffs than ever before. As well its enhanced storage
attributes, it is also lightweight and can be manufactured in
uniform shapes, helping make the distribution and retailing
process more efficient and cost-effective. Products that
have previously not been big sellers (due to the difficulties
of keeping them fresh milk for instance) have been able to
expand their distribution footprint.
102
Barcode
Trial and error resulted in the development of a

straight line pattern. It had four white lines on a
dark background. The information was coded by
the presence or absence of one or more of the
lines. Eureka!
Neither Woodland nor Silver made much money
from their invention and they sold the patent to RCA
The Radio Corporation of America for a relatively
small sum of money. The RCA code had problems
and it was left to Logicon, Inc, to work with The
National Association of Food Chains, to develop an
industry-wide barcode system. By 1970 an industry
standard had developed the Universal Grocery
Products Identification Code or UGPIC.
The first product to have a barcode included was
a packet of Wrigleys Gum. On June 26, 1974 at
8:01 a.m. Sharon Buchana, a checker at Marshs
supermarket in Troy, Ohio, scanned the 10 pack, five
sticks a pack of Wrigleys Juicy Fruit chewing gum.
It cost 67 cents. It was the first item lifted out of the
shopping cart by a shopper, Clyde Dawson. Today
that pack of gum is on display at the Smithsonian
Institutions National Museum of American History.

The barcode was truly a retail revolution, improving the
speed and accuracy of the checkout process, enabling better
stock management and planning for retailers and facilitating
end-to-end supply chain automation. The fabric of modern
retailing is built on the foundations of the humble barcode.
Nothing else so small has had such a profound impact.
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Modern Shopping
1956
Forklift Truck
Supermarkets, big chain stores and small stores
alike, all rely on storing vast quantities of goods
in warehouse and distribution centres across
their supply chain, ready to be transferred to
trucks and driven through the night to get to
your local branch of their store.
Forklift trucks were specially designed to navigate the wide aisles of the
distribution centres, taking the pallets off the shelves onto waiting lorries.
Early civilisations have always used a lever of some kind for lifting, and in
the 19th century, manually powered sack trucks were in common use. The
modern forklift was developed in the 1960s by a number of companies,
bringing together mechanical advancements in the US, the UK and Japan too.
In 1906, the Pennsylvania Railroad in the US had battery powered platform
trucks for moving luggage, and in the UK, the Ipswich based engineering
company, Ransomes, Sims and Jeffries used various types of material
handling equipment to overcome labour shortages during the First World
War. In 1917 in the US, Clark started using powered lift tractors in their factories
and in 1919, Towmotor Company. In 1920 Yale & Towne Manufacturing also
began producing forklift trucks. One of the impacts of the two world wars was
improved use of the forklift technology and warehousing, as huge quantities
of cargo were loaded onto ships and containers bound for the troops.
Today, warehouses forklifts can lift loads between one to five tonnes, while
shipping forklifts can lift up to 50 tonnes.

The invention of the forklift (and its work partner, the pallet)
allowed suppliers and retailers to move products more effectively
throughout the supply chain. Without the forklift, global giants
like Costco and Metro would have struggled to achieve the scale,
scope and profitability of the operations they enjoy today.
104
105
Southdale
Center

SOUTHDALE IN EDINA, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA,
OPENED IN 1956. It was the worlds first fully
enclosed, climate controlled mall.
Shipping
Container
Much expanded and extended over the

intervening years, it now houses 120 speciality
stores, restaurants, bars and a cinema.
Southdale (also known as Southdale Center) was

developed by the Dayton Company, the owners of
Daytons department store in Minneapolis. It cost $20
million dollars to build. Designed by Victor Gruen, (an
Austrian immigrant) it was modelled on the malls and
arcades of European cities. Gruen disliked the suburban
lifestyle of 1950s America and set about designing a
building that would bring people together in a place
with a sense of community. He wanted to achieve
Since the 1950s, steel shipping

containers have been used mainly for
International Ocean Shipping but
they are also used for truck and train
freight, and sometimes storage too.
an atmosphere of leisure and excitement, as well as,

intimacy and to this end he incorporated paintings,
decorative lighting, fountains, tropical plants and
flowers in his design.
Southdales housed a branch of Daytons, Donaldsons,
Walgreens Pharmacy, Woolworths and many other large
retail brands. Its opening day attracted 40,000 visitors
a feat that proved that this new retail model was destined
to be a great success.
Most are about 40 by 20 feet, and the term

TEW (meaning 20 foot container) is used
when describing them, with 2 TEW referring
to a 40-foot container.
Standardised containers speeded up the packing
process and allowed more efficient loading and
unloading techniques to take place from trucks,
to ships and warehouses. A secure, stable storage
receptacle, they can also be boxed to be stacked
onto another, up to ten high.
The first shipping container was patented in 1956 by
Malcolm McLean, an American trucker from North
Carolina, working with engineer Keith Tantlinger.
McLean brought his first truck in 1934 and by 1956
owned the largest trucking fleet in the South the
fifth largest in the US.

Southdale was designed with two things in mind the consumer and the future. Its creators recognised that
consumers were increasingly looking for convenience and variety and so the mall was designed to be a onestop destination housing a wide variety of retail outlets, services and leisure activities. It became a blueprint
for similar malls across the developed world.
The History
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He took over the Pan Atlantic (Steamship) Tanker

Company, which owned some old tankers. He renamed
his company Sea-Land Shipping, and after further
development work, designed a Shipping Container
that could be lifted directly from a vehicle onto a ship,
without first having to load and reload the content.
Standardised shipping containers led to faster, more efficient

loading and enabled a massive growth in international trading
and the creation of lean supply chain possibilities. More costeffective, safer loading and transportation, encouraged more
mass production and distribution overseas. The increased
efficiencies, greater security and reductions in damage and
theft lowered the supply chain costs, enabling cheaper prices
in stores. Refrigerated containers allowed the transportation of
perishable goods across vast distances.
This Shipping Container was a uniform size, strong,

theft-resistant, stackable, easy to load, and could
be used on roads, rail, ship and truck the stacking
system was called intermodalism. A revolution in
cargo transportation had begun. The speed at which
cargo could now be loaded, reduced costs by more
than 90% and because the containers were robust, the
goods arrived at their destination in better condition.
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Modern Shopping
1957

The pair began by sealing two shower curtains together,
which in the process would capture air bubbles that they
envisaged would give their wallpaper a textured feel.
However, the wallpaper idea failed to gain any traction
and so they looked for an alternative use for their new
product. Their thoughts turned to greenhouse insulation
but again, the idea did not take off.
Bubble Wrap
The story of plastic transparent
Bubble Wrap begins in 1957
with two inventors and
engineers: Al Fielding and Marc
Chavannes, from New Jersey,
USA. They originally set out to
produce a textured wallpaper.
But into the frame stepped one Frederick W Bowers,

a marketer at the Sealed Air Company (which just so
happened to be co-founded by Fielding). Bowers
realised that the new 1401 computers which IBM had
just launched (this was 1959) could benefit from using
Bubble Wrap to protect them in shipping. He pitched the
idea to IBM and showed them the protective qualities
of Bubble Wrap. IBM embraced the product and used it
to transport their new 1401 computers and other fragile
products all over the world. By the mid-1960s about
half of all the computers in the world were the IBM
1401 many of which would not have arrived at their
destination in one piece without Bubble Wrap.
Its said that each year Sealed Air produces enough
Bubble Wrap to wrap around the Earths equator, about
ten times. Its estimated that around $400 million of
Bubble Wrap is sold annually. Simple though the product
is, it has moved with the times to the extent that there is
a new DIY-inflatable Bubble Wrap. Customers buy the
product flat and lease a special machine from Sealed Air
to inflate it, thereby reducing the costs of transportation
for the manufacturers of products.
Today Bubble Wrap is most commonly used for food
packaging but it is also widely used by householders to
protect fragile possessions in house moves or in the post
and of course, for popping as a pastime.

Bubble Wrap has helped bolster the popularity
of mail order and online shopping as retailers and
consumers alike have confidence in its power to
protect merchandise on its journey from one place
to the other. Less damage and breakage also reduces
the costs of returns to the retailer.
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The cash and carry form of retailing emerged in the

mid-1900s as customers of traditional wholesalers were
offered a new approach to purchasing merchandise.
Cash and
Carry
The process of self-selecting

merchandise from a warehouse
or showroom environment,
rendering payment on the spot
and transporting merchandise,
resulted in a form of retailing that
came to be known as cash and carry.
Lawrence Batley of Huddersfield, England
is credited with inventing the cash
and carry philosopy and successfully
applying it to a retail enterprise. He
opened Batleys Cash and Carry in 1958
and inspired a number of competitors to
launch similar concepts.
The retail concept was born out of a
recognition that shoppers were willing
to forego some of the conveniences
offered by traditional wholesalers such
as delivery and extended payment
terms. Cash and carry offered shoppers
a different type of value proposition
that emphasised low prices, the
opportunity to discover new products
in a warehouse shopping environment
and the convenience of taking
immediate possession of purchases.
The combination proved appealing
to businesses who formed the core
customer base of traditional wholesalers,
as well as, individual consumers.
The cash and carry approach has
evolved over the years, but the defining
characteristics remain intact. Operators
of cash and carry formats strive to
minimise capital costs and operating
expenses in order to offer customers the
lowest possible cost while achieving an
acceptable level of profitability.

The cash and carry method of retailing represented a major structural
change for the wholesale industry and presented a new growth
opportunity for the retail industry. As cash and carry steadily gained favour
with shoppers it spawned some of the largest and most successful retailers
in the process. Today, retailers such as Costco, Sams Club, Metro and Ikea,
operate formats that meet the definition of cash and carry.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
109
Modern Shopping
1959
Aluminium
Can
Modern Shopping
1959
In 1959, the American brewery, Coors offered customers
one cent back for each of its new all-aluminium cans
they returned. Unlike the tin and steel cans they
replaced, these were two-piece seamless designs with
the added benefit of being recyclable.
Contribution to
Retail History
The chilled canned drinks category (comprising
both beer and carbonated soft drinks) has
become, along with confectionery, coffee and
tobacco, one of the underpinnings of the global
convenience store industry. Retailers like 7-Eleven
and Familymart, not to mention the legions of
retail outlets operated by major oil companies,
shift billions of beverages in aluminium cans every
year. The cans ensure that drinks are kept fresh,
hygienic and portable, and are better in terms of
logistics, display and multi-pack merchandising
than bottles. Recent improvements in design,
manufacture and recycling have made canned
packaging more efficient than ever.
These cans were lighter too; the Can Manufacturers Institute estimates that first generation aluminium
cans weighed three ounces per unit. (Todays cans weigh less than half-an ounce.)
In 1964, aluminium cans entered the soft drinks market, with
RC Cola and Diet Rite being launched by Royal Crown Cola
in a two-piece 12 oz aluminium container. These cans were
not only a lighter weight, they also had a better surface on
which text and graphics could be printed to help reinforce
awareness of the brand. In just one year, one million cases
of soda were packaged in these new aluminium cans.
In 1967, Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola adopted aluminium cans
too. But it wasnt until the early 1970s that the aluminium
industry launched its buy-back centres, where consumers
returned their cans, which were then recycled and returned
to the shelves of our stores. This reduced the cost of the
original raw materials to the industry, and gave us our
money back on the cost of our drinks.
The early aluminium cans were opened with a church key,

a type of can opener. This was followed by the pull-tab,
attached at the rivet end, which could be pulled completely
off. Its inventor, Ermal Cleon Frazeis, is said to have found
himself without his church key during a family picnic, so he
used the fender of a car to open his can. In the process he
spilled most of the contents. This prompted his creation of
the key-free approach. The next adaptation came in 1975
in the form of the stay tab that we recognise today; Daniel
Cudzik of Reynolds Metals developed this.
The aluminium can story continues to unfold and its uses to
extend. In Nepal in the Himalayas, aluminium cans are the
only container allowed because they crush easily and are
light. Conversely, in Africa aluminium cans have been used
to build what has been described as a sturdy hut.
110
We call them cashpoints or refer to them as the hole in the

wall but their formal name is: automated teller machines.
Early prototypes werent successful. In 1939, Luther Simjian,
living in New York, patented his version, the Bankograph.
ATM
Machine
This was an automated envelope

deposit machine, which accepted
coins, cash and cheques, but it
did not have cash dispensing
features. An experimental one
was installed in New York City in
1939, but removed after 6 months,
as customers did not use it.
The first ATM was used in 1959 in the
Kingsdale Shopping Centre in Upper
Arlington, Ohio. Over the next three
years many variations on the theme
were developed. James Goodfellow of
Scotland received a patent in 1966 for
his ATM; in 1967, John Shepherd Barron
invented and even installed an ATM in
Barclays Bank in London. A year later,
in 1968, Don Wetzel invented an
American-made ATM. However, it
was not until the late 1980s that ATMs
caught on as part of the banking
system we have come to know today.
Banks now allow us to insert our plastic
with a magnetic strip down the side
into the machines and withdraw cash
regardless of whether or not we bank
with them the ATMs are connected to
inter bank networks. Our pin numbers
provide authenticity of who we are.
There are said to be 2.2 million ATMs
used in the world today, or about one
ATM for 3,000 people. But ATMs are
not so widely used in the Near East
and Africa. India claims to have the
worlds highest installed ATMs at Nathu
La Pass, India, installed by the Union
Bank of India at 4,310 metres

high. In fact the Agricultural
Bank of China has one higher
at Nagchu County, Tibet at
4,500 metres high.
Cardless ATMs are next. The RBS
and Natwest GetCash mobile
apps allow customers whove
left their cards behind to request
cash and a 6-digit pin will be
generated. This code is entered
at the ATM, and the funds are
dispensed. The transition from
a cashless society to a cardless
society is underway.
Contribution to
Retail History
The ATM liberated shoppers from the tyranny
of restrictive banking hours and the necessity
of going to a bank to obtain cash. Having the
freedom to withdraw funds at any time of day or
night extended their ability to shop and spend.
The inclusion of ATMs inside stores and shopping
centres helps increase spend, as customers
are not limited to spending only the cash they
have with them. The ATM fuelled the growth
of impulse purchasing and being able to take
advantage of opportunistic deals from retailers.
111
Modern Shopping
1960s
Retail Brand
Retail brands go by different names private
label, store brand or house brand but the
objective is similar. A retail brand is a means by
which to achieve competitive differentiation, offer
shoppers an enticing value proposition, enhance
loyalty, generate a superior rate of profitability
and gain leverage over branded suppliers.
Retailers employed brand building strategies early in the industrys
development as they sought to establish an identity for their stores
with shoppers. The concept of the retailer as a brand gained further
traction in the early 20th century when chain stores began expanding
more aggressively and needed to cultivate their image with shoppers in
new markets. Retail brands came to occupy a special place in the minds
of consumers as the businesses they represented tended to be large,
successful and regarded as trustworthy.
Retailers sought to capitalise on that trust through several strategies
that helped reshape the industry beginning in the 1960s. Some sought
to build entire operations focused on the sale of retail brands or
proprietary branded products, examples of which include Germanys
Aldi stores and more recently US retailer Supervalus Sav-A-Lot food
stores. The retail brand strategy also became prevalent in the apparel
world where companies such as The Gap, H&M and Victorias Secret
achieved success with carefully cultivated brands.

Retail brands were a game-changing development for the industry.
Shoppers willingness to purchase retail brands and shop at chains
dedicated exclusively to particular brands created new avenues of
growth and fuelled profitability. Retailers pursued direct manufacturing
relationships, acquired established brands outright for their exclusive use
and became less reliant on national brands that subjected them to price
competition. Retail brands altered the dynamics of retailer and supplier
relationships that had existed in the consumer packaged goods world
for most of the 20th century, caused huge shifts in market share and
contributed to consolidation in the consumer packaged goods world.
Meanwhile, other retailers infused product assortments long dominated

by well-known consumer packaged goods brands with their own retail
brands. Early efforts and poor quality generic style products positioned
solely as a low cost alternative were unsuccessful, but soon retailers
upgraded product quality and began applying the same type of
strategies that made national brands successful.
The result was steady market share growth for retail brands in food and
in particular, consumable categories. Retail brands are now evident
in virtually every merchandise classification and some retailers offer
multiple brands within a single category to the detriment of all but the
strongest of national and regional brands.
112
113
Modern Shopping
1962 - 1963
Hypermarket
A hypermarket combines the concept of a supermarket

and a department store into one. To be defined as a
hypermarket. THERE MUST BE at least 150,000 square
feet of floor space and at least 35% of that space will
be used for the sale of non-food merchandise.
114
Intel Chip
In 1969, Nippon Calculating Machine

Corporation asked Intel to design 12 custom
chips for its new Busicom 141-PF printing
calculator. Intel suggested a family of just
four chips, including one that could be
used in a variety of products. The four
chips were known as the MCS-4: it included
a central processing unit chip the
4004 as well as supporting a read-only
memory chip for the custom applications
programmes, a random-access memory
chip for processing data and a shift-register
chip for the input/output port.
The concept was first seen in 1934,

when Meijer became the first name
to open a one-stop shopping
centre, selling groceries and drug
store goods, with home products
and clothing added later. Meijer
also had large car parks and a
petrol station. It opened its first real
Supercentre called Thrifty Acres
in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1962.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
We take for granted how fast our computers and

technology work today. Microprocessors (chips)
have speeded up not just our office and home
computers but the world of the Internet too.
They represent a huge achievement
in modern engineering and one
company stands out: Intel, who
developed the first microprocessor
for calculators.
There is one name larger than

all: WalMart, the largest
hypermarket chain in the US,
followed by Carrefour in
France. These have the capacity
to stock a staggering 200,000
different brands of goods
under one roof.
In 1963, Carrefour opened its first

Hypermarket at Sainte-Genevievedes-Bois, France. From 1974 to
the 1990s, the Steinberg group
had four hypermarkets in Qubec.
By the late 1980s and early 1990s
Walmart, Kmart and Target had set
up hypermarkets discounting goods
throughout the US. Walmart called
their stores Hypermart USA in 1987,
and later Walmart Supercenter.
Kmart called their stores Super
Kmart. In 1995, Dayton-Hudson
opened its first SuperTarget store
in Omaha, Nebraska. These
hypermarkets began to sell fuel too.
Modern Shopping
1971

The hypermarket model has grown to dominate the retail landscape globally.
The combined food and non-food offering created the efficient one-stop
shop and iterations of it have enabled the likes of Carrefour, Auchan, Walmart
and Tesco to achieve massive scale. Having been a truly global phenomenon,
the hypermarket in its current form is facing several challenges, not least from
the growth of Internet retailing and the time pressure consumers are under.
In 1971, Intel purchased the rights to their

microprocessor back from Nippon, and
launched the Intel 4004 processor and
its chipset. The advertisement placed in
Electronic News on November 15, 1971,
announced A New Era in Integrated
Electronics. The Intel 4004 processor
became the first general-purpose
programmable processor on the market.
Engineers could use it as a building block to customise their
own software, allowing it to perform different functions in a
wide variety of electronic devices.
Of its time, the Intel 4004 microprocessor was one of the
smallest designs ever commercially produced. To illustrate
its power, think about this: the 4004 was the size of a little
fingernail, but it could deliver the same computing power as
the first electronic computer built in 1946 (and that computer
occupied an entire room).

Electronic and computing equipment with the Intel
Inside logo (the famous mark that tells us of the
presence of an Intel chip within the device) are used to
power the retail supply chain, from end to end. Stock
control, distribution, display boards, accounting, online
shopping the entire modern e-commerce process is
reliant on microprocessors like these.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
115
Modern Shopping 1970s
Modern Shopping
1970s
EAS Security
System
Radio Frequency Identification Technology (RFID) uses

wireless frequencies to transfer electronically
stored data from one tagged item to somewhere else.
The tags are usually embedded into the tracked object.
RFID
Technology
Two-way radio transmitter

receivers send a signal to the tag
and read its response. RFID tags can
often only be read within restricted
zones. They can also be made
incredibly small scientists have
even glued them to ants!
Electronic Article
Surveillance (EAS) are the
plastic and metal security
tags that are fitted to goods,
and removed or deactivated by
the assistant at the checkout
when the item is purchased. If
a tag is not removed, when the
customer tries to leave the store
the sensors in the detection system
at the exit pick up the presence of the
tag and sound an alarm to alert staff.
Since the WWII various governments

had been experimenting with RFIDlike devices for covert listening. But on
January 23, 1973, Mario Cardullo patented
his passive radio transponder with
memory. He had demonstrated it earlier,
in 1971, to the New York Port Authority as a
device for toll payment.

Retailers particularly those of clothing and high value
items have always fought a running battle against
shoplifters. The EAS system acts as a deterrent to theft
of goods, thereby improving retailers profitability. It
also delivers an effective way to catch the perpetrators;
although it still requires security staff to apprehend the
potential thief, it enables them to identify them in the
act, helping to support subsequent prosecution.
EAS systems may be magnetic, acousto-magnetic, radio

frequency, microwave, or linked to video surveillance
systems. Most clothes retailers now tag their high value
products electronically. Such systems save them hundreds of
thousands of pounds a year in what would otherwise be lost
stock or shrinkage as retailers call this. (Entrepreneur magazine
reported that US businesses lose about $33 billion a year due
to theft).
Some manufacturers now fit EAS security tags at source, rather

than leaving it to the retailer. Source tagging allows the EAS tags to
be concealed and they are more difficult to remove. It also saves the
retailer time and costs.
116
The RFID system is superior to barcodes,

as the tags can be read if they just pass
near a reader, even if the object is covered
or not visible. Tags can also be read when
they are inside cases and boxes, and the
radio transmitter/receiver can read many
simultaneously, whereas barcodes can
only be read one at a time.
RFID technology is getting cheaper and
more reliable to use, leading to a wider
use of RFID in industry. Car manufacturers
use it to tag a car as it begins the
production process, and follow it through
its various assembly stages to the end.
Almost any type of goods can be followed
through the supply chain processes using
the system. In the fashion industry the
RFID label is attached to the garment at
the production stage and may be read and
traced throughout the entire supply chain,
until it is removed at the Point of Sale.

RFID use in retail is already widespread and multiplying.
The tags enable better and more secure stock control
for retailers across the supply chain.
117
Modern Shopping
1974
Planogram
A tool for optimising visual merchandising in
store, the planogram is a diagram or model
that indicates the placement of retail products
on shelves and throughout the store.
A full planogram shows every level of the store, what is being
exhibited on each level, what products are stocked on what shelves,
and the volume of each product on each shelf. If the rules of the
planogram are followed, then (the theory is), the products sales
and the customer experience are maximised. Kmart is credited with
pioneering the planogram.
Sometimes planograms will consist of texts and boxes and others
for instance, those used by clothes manufacturers may use
pictures that show how the products should look when on display.
Planograms are often distributed to stores ahead of a new product
launch to ensure the product is displayed consistently across each
of a stores branches.
Retailers use research to decide how best to make use of the
available space.
Analysis of past and current sales patterns influence the planogram.
For example, the number of facings a certain product should
have on display. Margin placement allows the retailer to put those
products with a higher profit margin in specific parts of the store
and market share placements allow a product to be placed alongside
others of a similar nature, decided by how much its likely to sell.
Planogramming software helps retailers to conduct stocktaking
more speedily and accurately and enables virtual teams of
manufacturers, retailers, researchers, store managers and of
course, the planogrammer, to come together to plan what goes
where, in stores all over the globe.

Made more scientific by the vast quantities of shopping
data that is now available, the planogram helps maximise
revenues by translating shopper insight (gleaned from
the data) into the optimum on shelf assortment.
118
119
Modern Shopping
1977
Modern Shopping
1981
Learning From
Las Vegas
Loyalty
Card
The loyalty card is an iconic symbol of a marketing

strategy which is widespread within the retail industry.
Shoppers embraced retailers
loyalty cards as a means to obtain
a wide range of rewards based
on their level expenditures while
retailers coveted the wealth of
shopper insights data generated by
card usage to help develop more
effective promotional strategies.
Learning from Las

Vegas by influential
20th Century architects
Robert Venturi, Denise
Scott Brown and Steven
Izenour was first
published in 1972 and is
still available in a revised
edition today.
The airline industry, American Airlines,

is credited with the development of
the first loyalty programme in 1981, but
retailers were not far behind in recognising
the business value associated with
rewarding their best customers. This was
especially true of retailers operating in a
consumer packaged goods marketplace,
characterised by an abundance of retail
outlets and intense price competition.
Those factors made attracting and retaining
shoppers key business considerations. The
loyalty card represented a way for retailers
to enhance their value proposition and establish differentiation with shoppers.
An architectural manifesto
and endorsement of US
popular culture, it used an
analysis of the buildings, lights
and signage of the Las Vegas
strip to explore modern day
architectural communication.
Learning from Las Vegas was produced as a result of a road trip taken by
Venturi, Scott Brown, Izenour and a group of their Yale architecture students.
On this trip they collected data and photographs and used them to support
their argument that the decorated shed (the dominant architectural
influence in Las Vegas) was as valid as more orthodox architectural forms.
The book dismissed the rigid functionalism of International-style
modernism in favour of the energetic and spontaneous design eruptions
of American car culture, expressed in the neon lights and signs along the
Las Vegas Strip.
Although it created a furore when first published, it also helped usher
in a new understanding and appreciation of commercial architecture.
Venturi Scott Brown and Associates in Philadelphia won numerous
awards and honours for their work.
Contribution to
Retail History
Learning from Las Vegas (LFLV) is that rare
thing - an influential polemic from a grande
architect in praise of the everyday.
Since the the modern built landscape
has come to be greatly influenced, if not
dominated by, the architecture, design and
communications of the shopping experience,
the LFLV manifesto gave a welcome, if
belated recognition to the role of retail
vernacular in helping to shape social culture.
120
Today it seems at times that virtually every retailer offers some form of a branded
loyalty programme with incentive structures that vary widely to include cash back offers,
reduced prices, percentage discounts, access to special promotions, free shipping of
online orders or the ability to accrue points that can be redeemed for merchandise.
Although retailers and their trading partners incur costs associated with loyalty cards,
the expense is justified by the wealth of purchase behaviour data generated by card
usage. The data allows retailers to know the intimate details of shoppers purchase
behaviour and in turn more precisely target shoppers or shopper segments with
relevant offers to drive even greater loyalty. Increasingly powerful data analytics
capabilities now give retailers the ability to blend loyalty card usage information with
other data streams to develop an even deeper understanding of shopper behaviour.
Today, loyalty cards are so prevalent that retailers are challenged to develop ever
richer reward structures to drive participation and usage among shoppers whose
pocketbooks are stuffed with loyalty cards.
Contribution to
Retail History
The loyalty card changed retailers
approach to marketing and introduced
a new competitive dynamic to the
industry. Retailers sought to devise
and promote branded loyalty
offerings with incentive structures
optimised to drive participation and
shopping frequency. In the process,
a new type of value proposition
was created that required shoppers
to assess the value of loyalty card
benefits in determining where to shop.
121
I Shop
Therefore
I Am
Retailers use in-store television to influence

shoppers at the point of purchase. Screens of
varying sizes strategically located in key areas
allow for targeted messaging to drive purchase
intent of featured items and categories.
In-store television
systems also allow
retailers to show
content of interest to
the local community to
encourage loyalty.
American conceptual
artist, Barbara Kruger
began her career
working for magazines
in the late 1960s
and this exposure
to fashion and the
revolutionary culture
of the era strongly
influenced her work.
The use of this type of in-store television was limited to all but the largest retailers who had sufficient
means to make the sizable investment to install, maintain, operate, periodically upgrade the
technology and cope with the increased operational complexity.
Contribution to
Retail History
Kruger became most famous for her work that showed

pictures often in black and white with slogans or words
that highlighted the failings in society at the time. Her pop art
frequently dealt with consumerism and feminism. She began
by coining phrases such as Your comfort is my silence in 1981,
and in 1982, You invest in the divinity of the masterpiece.
Then, in 1987, she produced a screen print with the words I
shop, therefore I am. It was a statement on power and sexism
in modern society. That one phrase defined us as shoppers
and the explosion of retail in a secular age that lived by the
values of shopping too. Kruger explained her work by saying: I
work with pictures and words because they have the ability to
determine who we are and who we arent.
122
Technological advancements such as the barcode and point-of-sale scanning provided retailers
with a wealth of data regarding sales and product performance. These new sources of data were
robust and insightful when it came to understanding historical sales trends, but did little to advance
knowledge regarding how to influence shoppers on their path to purchase. Extensive study of
consumer behaviour prior to arriving at the store led to the view that many purchase decisions were
made in store while shoppers stood at the shelf.
Consequently, retailers and brands directed considerable energy against influencing customers while
they shopped. It was this desire that led to the development of in-store television. Early versions
introduced in the 1990s seemed innovative at the time, but rapid advancements in technology meant
large analog boxes used to display content had to be upgraded to higher resolution flat panel screens.
Retailers experimented with screen sizes and locations throughout the store with some opting to
integrate screens into endcaps where messaging could be surrounded by the featured product.
She was much acclaimed for her arrangements of

image with text and completed many advertising
commissions.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
In-Store
Television
In-store television gave retailers

and brands a new way to
communicate with shoppers
at the point-of-purchase. The
availability of in-store television
networks at some of the
worlds largest retailers caused
brands to reallocate ad budgets
and devise new marketing
strategies to communicate with
shoppers at store entrances, in
aisles and at the checkout.
Her profound definition of the human race as shoppers was

a deliberate play on the words of the French philosopher
Ren Descartes who famously said: Cogito ergo sum (I think
therefore I am). Today, other people also adopt and adapt
these words, with slogans such as I blog therefore I am or
I drink therefore I am.
Kruger has forever defined who we are in relation to our
huge thirst for shopping and our favoured brands which
identify who we are.

Few are likely to concur that the act of shopping defines
their existence, but most would agree that we are
defined by the brands we buy. In the 1960s the power
of the brand was rising and retail increasingly became
about selling a lifestyle, as well as product.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
123
Modern Shopping
1990s
Internet
The origins of the Internet
date back to the 1960s
when the U.S. government
began research into
computer networks. The
subsequent development of
interconnected networks
first allowed researchers
to share information, but
by the 1990s the commercial
potential of the technology
had become evident.
It is a phenomenon best exemplified by Amazon.com.

Founded in 1995, Amazon.coms initial focus on books and
music soon expanded to include other categories and new
geographies. The company was the first to recognise and
harness the power of user-generated content in the form of
product reviews. Shoppers loved reading others reviews
and contributing their own. This unique attribute and
Amazon.coms site functionality, commitment to supply chain
logistics and customer service, were a potent combination.
As assortments were expanded and more product reviews followed,
Amazon began to rival Google as a place where shoppers begin their
search for products. Traffic to the companys Web site now routinely
exceeds 100 million unique monthly visitors by a healthy margin.
Annual sales last year increased 27% to slightly more than $61 billion and
more growth is expected as the company executes a vision of being the
worlds most customer-centric company and a place where shoppers can
buy virtually anything at the lowest possible price.
The Internet gained mass market appeal

in the mid-1990s and usage of it has
grown exponentially ever since. More
than one-third of the global population
now accesses the Internet and the figure
continues to rise, creating new operational
challenges and unprecedented growth
opportunities for retailers.
The Internet offers shoppers
unprecedented access to information,
the ability to consume, share and create
content and engage in commerce like
never before. Presented with this collection
of amazing capabilities, the Internet quickly
gained popularity. The introduction of
devices which allow for mobile access
made the Internet an indispensable part
of daily life and transformed the retail
industry in the process.
124
125
Modern Shopping
1990s
Internet
While Amazon.com was busy leveraging the
internet to help shoppers buy, eBay was focused
on the sell side of the commerce equation.
The company launched its online
auction platform in 1995 and quickly
gained favour with sellers and buyers.
The auction approach evolved into
something much more significant and
soon encompassed all aspects of
commerce. Many users sold directly,
foregoing the auction process entirely, to
establish digital storefronts, in essence
making eBay the equivalent of the
worlds largest online mall. The company
enables users to buy and sell in nearly
every country and through its PayPal
subsidiary it facilitates the ability to
securely send and receive payments.
Today, eBay is the second most heavily
trafficked e-commerce site on the
Internet and generates annual revenues
of slightly more than $14 billion.
The likes of eBay, Amazon and other
online-only retailers were at one point
regarded as a death knell for traditional
brick and mortar chains, especially
those who offered categories that
were well-suited to online purchasing.
However, retailers such as Walmart,
Tesco, Costco and Macys recognised
their physical stores were not the liability
some believed them to be during the
Internets heady early years. Faced with
a new breed of competitor and shopper
expectations that were being elevated
higher and faster than ever before,

conventional retailers adopted a blended
approach to serving shoppers that came
to be known as multichannel retailing.
In Walmarts case, it recognised its
physical store base which exceeds
4,000 units in the US alone could be
used as miniature fulfillment centers.
The company acquired e-commerce
capabilities domestically and
internationally and created a global
e-commerce group charged with
transforming the Internet into a new
growth engine for the company. As
things stand now, Walmart.com is the
third most frequently visited retail site
on the Internet and routinely averages
more than 40 million unique visitors each
month. Its online sales total roughly $10
billion, a fraction of total revenues of
nearly $470 billion.
However, as Walmart and other
conventional retailers have discovered,
one of the realities of an increasingly
multichannel world is that attributing
a sale to a store, a website or a mobile
device is irrelevant. Shoppers dont care
how a retailer accounts for the sale only that all platforms and points of
interaction with the retailer are highly
integrated so as to provide a seamless
experience with the brand.
Contribution to
Retail History
The Internets contribution to retail history is
impossible to overstate and far from complete. In
roughly 15 years, the Internet spawned disruptive
companies such as Amazon, eBay, Google,
Facebook, Twitter and Alibaba. The growth the
Internet allowed these companies to achieve changed
everything retailers thought they knew about retail.
From the sourcing and development of merchandise,
to marketing communications, store operations and
supply chain logistics, retailers were forced to cope with an
unprecedented pace of change.
Retailers boardroom conversations were dominated by
discussions of e-commerce, multichannel integration and how
to serve customers rapidly advancing expectations. Traditional
retailers were forced to adjust to new marketplace dynamics
created by online only retailers who were gaining market share
at an alarming pace, while conventional retailers were shifting to
an integrated model that leveraged physical assets and the trust of
well established brand identities.
The Internets contribution to retail history remains a work in progress
as innovative companies seem to reinvent the future daily. However, an
enduring contribution promises to be one of consumer empowerment
and access to limitless possibilities. That is the new expectation of
shoppers in the digital age and the competitive climate in which retailers
now operate thanks to behaviours, communications and lifestyle choices
that didnt exist a generation ago. For many people, anytime, anywhere
access to the Internet and the ability to purchase a limitless assortment
of products is now taken for granted in much the same way as electricity,
indoor plumbing and air travel.
126
127
Modern Shopping
1993
Chip & PIN
We stand at the checkout or at an ATM, insert our cards

into a slot and key in our four digit Chip & PIN numbers to
withdraw funds or pay for goods or services.
The chip is embedded into our card, and the PIN is our Personal
Identification Number, and both have to be used in combination. The chip
holds the same personal data as the magnetic stripe customer name,
card number, expiry date but it is secured using advanced encryption.
During the course of the early 1990s and early 21st century, most of
Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand began to adopt Chip &
PIN smartcards (the US has yet to adopt it, although Canada has begun
the migration). The system replaced the old cards with magnetic stripes
down the sides, which had to be validated with a customer signature.
These gave rise to security concerns including forged signatures and
the ability for employees to swipe transactions through fraudulently
when they took customers cards out of sight. Chip & PIN technology
quickly became an established standard for safety and security for
card transactions, providing enhanced protection against fraud from
lost, stolen, and counterfeit cards. When France introduced the system
around 1993 it saw card fraud drop by 80%.
With the introduction of Chip & PIN, responsibility for paying the
cost of fraudulent transactions passed from the issuing bank to the
retailers themselves thus giving retailers an incentive to upgrade
to the new technology. These days, banks have to prove that the
cardholder is at fault if fraud does take place, rather than assuming
that it is the customers fault.
The advent of Chip & PIN technology coincided with the advances in
wireless data communication, enabling the card reader system to be
portable for example, for use in restaurants and ensuring that the
card need never leave the customers sight.

A key development in the move to a cashless society, Chip &
PIN made customer transactions and back office accounting and
reconciliation much easier for retailers. In reducing fraud (theft of
cash or from staff skimming information from customers cards)
the system has also lowered retailers costs. The ease of use of
Chip & PIN and the fact that there is no minimum spend per
transaction has encouraged customers to use them for even small
impulse purchases that they might otherwise not have made.
128
Modern Shopping
1994
QR stands for Quick Response, and it is the name given to

a two-dimensional barcode style recognition system.
QR Code
QR codes use square

black dots arranged
on a grid on a white
background, and have
a greater capacity for
storing information than
the traditional barcode.
Originally designed for
use within the Japanese
automotive industry, over
the past few years the use
of QR codes has become
more widespread.
Today, retailers and
consumers can read QR
codes using a handheld
device such as a smartphone.
The camera on the device
takes an image of the code
and underlying software
extracts the data that is
represented in the patterns
of the code, to return
information to the user. The codes can also be used
to launch videos, send a text, or direct the viewer
to a website. Applications of the QR to date include
product tracking, document management and
marketing communications.
QR codes have the potential to take online shopping to
new heights, as illustrated by Tescos recent development
in South Korea. The grocery retailer produced a virtual
store on a wall, displaying products with QR codes under
each. Customers simply read the QR code with their
smartphone to add selected purchase to their online
shopping basket, for subsequent home delivery.

Its still relatively early days for QR codes and they
are taking a long time to gain traction. However, as
smartphone penetration continues to increase it is likely
that the codes or ones based on similar principles
will have an important part to play in the evolution of
consumers searching and shopping habits, allowing more
information to be communicated to help inform decision
making and in assisting in more online purchases.
129
Modern Shopping
2007
Smartphone
Smart phones are powerful tools for shopping that give users
unprecedented access to information and the ability to instantly
communicate with a global audience via social media.
The earliest devices to combine telephony and computing emerged in the early
to mid-1990s and were produced by IBM and Nokia. However, the phrase smart
phone didnt appear until 1997 when Ericisson introduced a concept product billed
as a smart phone. A few years later it began actively marketing several products as
smart phones and then in 2002 the Blackberry arrived on the scene and quickly
gained acceptance among business users who found its email functionality addictive.
While these early models possessed various smart phone
attributes, it wasnt until 2007 with the introduction of Apples
iPhone that the smart phone revolution began. The iPhones ease
of use, feature set, elegant design, touch screen user interface
and most importantly, abundance of applications, made the
product an instant hit. Apple fans clamoured for upgrades of
the original model and soon other handset manufacturers
introduced competing products with similar feature sets running
on alternative operating systems. Smart phone sales quickly
outpaced those of conventional handsets and in the span of less
than six years the smart phone penetration rate had surpassed
50% and was climbing steadily.
Smart phones combine the

traditional voice calling
functionality of a cellular
telephone with an expanded
feature set and the ability to run
easily downloadable software
programmes that harness the
power of the Internet.
As smart phones became an integral part of daily life for millions

of people, the capabilities the devices offered shoppers
created new challenges and opportunities for retailers. Retailers
offered apps that allowed shoppers to connect with their brand, locate stores,
purchase products, create shopping lists, track online orders and receive marketing
communications such as incentives or product recommendations. Smart phones
also gave shoppers the ability to instantly compare prices while standing in store
aisles and provided access to product reviews which could impact sales.
Smart phones have had a tremendous impact on the retail industry in a compressed
period of time, but even greater change is expected as new shoppers join the mobile
revolution. The capabilities of smart phones are advancing, downloads speeds and
wireless access are improving and form factors are evolving to include the emerging
genre of wearable devices. The impact of smart phones and all manner of internetenabled mobile devices on the retail industry is just beginning.

The smart phone gave shoppers an unprecedented ability to access and share information via
a mobile device with significant implications for retailers. Most notably, smart phones brought
an unprecedented level of price transparency to the shopper and spawned the practice of
showrooming, where in-store prices are instantly compared to online competitors. Retailers
capitalised on the power of smart phones by introducing their own apps with extensive
functionality to enhance shopping and some retailers even equipped employees with smart
phones that ran company-specific apps to aid in customer service operations. The smart
phone forced retailers to move faster than at any time in history to keep pace with the elevating
expectations of a new generation of shoppers accustomed to life with a smart phone.
130
131
What do you think the future will be like? When you imagine
tomorrow what do you see? Do you see jet packs and flying
cars? Is your future a utopia of possibilities or a dark dystopia
of events gone horribly wrong? Are you ready for the future?
Well, the future isnt what it used to be.

The Face of Retail
We find ourselves in an amazing time. Our science

and technology have progressed to the point
where what we build is only limited by our own
imaginations. No longer do we need to sit back
and passively accept the future. We can build it.
Future Objects
A glimpse of the retail future through objects not yet invented/commercialised
Written by
Brian David Johnson
Futurist, The Intel Corporation
and
David Roth
Whether its browsing in a store or clicking through

a website, the Face of Retail captures what we will all
see when we shop. How will the physical and visual
experience of shopping grow and evolve with the
introduction of new technologies and gadgets?
This is why imagining and exploring the future

is so important. To envision the future of retail
we used a process called futurecasting. Its a mix
of social science, technical research, economics,
statistical data, global interviews and even a little
science fiction to model what it will feel like to live
and shop 10 to 20 years from now. The goal of the
process is to create a realistic, fact- based vision
for the future that we can then go and build.
As we set about futurecasting the future of retail,
we quickly saw that the experience of shopping
really hasnt changed that much. Stretching back
in history, the human experience of shopping
has remained remarkably the same. What has
changed over the years are the objects that fill that
experience. This is why we found the 100 Objects
of Retail project so fascinating and revealing. The
history and the future of retail can be told best
through the objects that have and will enrich the
shopping experience.
To best explain the future of retail, we developed
and created new models and frameworks to
illuminate each part of the sometimes complex
and varied shopping experience for the future. We
broke the experience of retail into three sections:
the face, the bones and the brain. These three
parts make up a persons holistic experience.
The Bones of Retail

Underneath the visible world lies a vast and
complex network that enables the world of retail.
These infrastructures and supply chains, fuelled
by innovation and striving for efficiency, are the
engines of the industry.
The Brains of Retail
Retail has always had big data but with increasing
computational intelligence the industry will become
smarter and more responsive than ever. The Brains
of Retail will open up new opportunities, enriching
the experience of shoppers and deepening the
connection to employees.
The future is not an accident. The future doesnt just happen.
The future is not what it used to be. The future is built every day
by the actions of people and businesses. The Future of Retail in
Seven Objects gives us a glimpse into that future. Lets imagine
what it will feel like to be a consumer and shop in the future.
Lets ask ourselves what kind of future we want. Can we
challenge ourselves to imagine a radically different future to
what we have today? Can we see a more prosperous, sustainable
and mindful tomorrow?
You will build and shape the future of

retail but you have to imagine it first.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
133
The Face of Retail
Smart Clothing/
Intelligent Fashion
Intelligent Shelves
How many times have you looked for a
product in a store, only to be confused
by the many sizes, options and
attributes of all the options available?
Holostores
The viability of holographic
technology is drawing ever closer
due to technological advancements in
3D cameras, sufficient computational
performance, advanced compression
algorithms, improved broadband
speed, and holographic display.
Holograms will be used in-store to deepen the customer
experience. Aside from being a high-end draw for
shoppers, retailers will be able to integrate them as part of
the physical store to create virtual environments. Shelving
may not be physical but a fully digital display of current
products and offers. Retailers will no longer be bound
by capital expenditure to update stores, as daily updates
and rearrangement of the store will now be possible. The
photon will replace the euro hook.
Whether a few centimetres high and projected on the
counter top, or several metres in height and used in
windows or in-store display, 3-D projections will play
through scenarios, ask the customer questions, and
respond accordingly. Using Big Data and information held
on the individuals smart device, the holograms will be
programmed to interact and deliver calls to action based
on the customers history and preferences.
Use of holograms in the home will also prompt greater
consumer engagement and such a volumetric display
would remove many of the physical retailing setbacks
for home commerce. Consumers would be able to see,
accurately assess dimensions and possibly touch (using
developments in haptic sensory feedback), any product
that they are viewing online.
Bio Sensors will be built into clothing

in response to the growing desire
to be able to quantify self. Sensors
in garments will track the wearers
physical and mental state, for
example, monitoring blood pressure,
heart rate, temperature, blood sugar
level, sleep patterns.
Statistics show that on average, consumers are

hesitant to try new products, making it a challenge for
manufacturers to introduce new offerings successfully.
To turn this around, brands and retailers are looking at
Intelligent Shelving solutions to provide eye-catching
digital graphic displays right next to new products,
which increase awareness and encourage consumers
to try them. The solutions can inform shoppers about
special promotions (70% of purchase decisions are
made at the point-of-sale itself), and in doing so,
move products that are nearing their sell-by date, thus
reducing the amount of product lost to waste.
Anonymous Viewer Analytics technology can be used
to gather anonymous consumer data such as age
and gender at the point-of-sale, which can then
be used to analyse buying patterns and optimise
promotion strategies and inventory. Imagine these
scenarios... if you own a 2007 Honda Accord and need
an air filter, intelligent shelves can detect your presence
and highlight the proper products price tag. If you have
nut allergies, the shelves will highlight the products
containing nuts. If youve recently purchased salmon,
the shelves will highlight the wines that make a good
accompaniment
These intelligent shelves can serve as a link between
experience shopping and the purchase of Soft Goods
or even Fast Moving Consumer Goods such as food
or beverage. Ideally, the intelligent shelves could
transform get it done activities to a more social and
meaningful shopping experiences.
Intelligent shelves will also link to the infrastructure of
the store; in-built sensors will enable the shelves to
understand their stock level and know when to send an
automated request for replenishment.
Similarly, social sensors will be

embedded in clothing and will
alert you to opportunities and
developments in your immediate
vicinity, communicating with social
networks to tell you, for example,
when your friends are nearby. Retail
networks will be able to communicate
with customers in the same way;
gathering data on their preferences,
shareable information and secure
purchasing information.
Personal Flexible Augmented Viewer

As the concept of a standalone personal computing device
diminishes, computing will be everywhere and information
accessible from almost any environment. Yet the need for a
portable, personal screen to view content will be as important
as ever. Flexible and foldable displays will allow a tiny item to
transform into a large screen. These convenient screens will
fold or roll up or be worn comfortably to be deployed easily
by the user when any form of personal visual interaction is
required.
In-store, full-size screens will be lightweight and adaptable
enough to use as promotional flags and banners. Such displays
will be quick and easy to update and move around the store,
creating a more immersive experiential environment.
134
135
Sentient Stores
The Bones of Retail
The store of the future will not only

have a brain but will also sense. Able
to adapt to individual consumers or
manage groups, the integration of
intelligence through computing and
sensory feedback will enable a deeper
level of retail experience.
Stores will be able to manage the flow
of customers through the environment
and individually target a customer with
offers. The consumer will experience
accurate guidance and product
information. The store will be able to
promote products according to the
individuals preferences and where
those products are located in relation
to the shoppers current position. Stock
levels, down to the smallest detail,
will be monitored and replenished
automatically. Shopping will be
frustration-free, retailers will be much
more efficient, and marketing more
targeted and effective.
Drones
Drones will have a part to play in
several key stages of the supply chain.
As intelligent autonomous machines,
they will allow retailers to operate with
greater computational intelligence in
the real world, getting to places and
spaces that would be impossible for
human employees. From monitoring
the environment and stock levels
within all areas of a warehouse, to
implementing the last mile personal
delivery service to customers, drones
will be both reconnaissance and
dropship carrier vehicles.
Personal 3D Printing
Before the modern age, many of us were defined by what
we made. Do you know anyone named Smith? Or Mason?
Or Cobbler? Products were made by someone in the
community with the creativity to design and the knowledge
to build. Creativity and production resided together in the
forges and shops of a creative artisan class. Goods were
produced specifically to the needs of the customer.
Mass manufacturing prompted a redefinition. Specialisation
meant that creativity and production split into separate groups.
Both became cogs in the factories. Products were produced for
the masses instead of for the individual. Massive distribution
systems were built to deliver the benefits of economies of
scale and mass manufacturing.
3D Printing and advances in other fabrication and distribution

technologies will create another shift in the relationship
between creators, producers and consumers. Markets are
now emerging where creators and designers sell their designs
without ever producing or manufacturing anything. Production
can exist anywhere, so design can be localised to the needs
of the community. Products can be designed and then
redesigned by the individual.
Distribution systems designed for concentrated centralised
production, will be optimised for faster delivery of products
produced around the corner, instead of around the world. As
more products become uniquely produced for the individual,
the need for retailers to carry inventory will diminish but the
opportunity for them to offer print on demand will grow.
TransPak
The main focus of packaging
of the future will be
protection, new methods
of delivery efficiency,
sustainability of production,
and personal interactive
engagement with the
consumer. Printed packaging
will evolve into a richer digital
augmented reality experience.
The reduction in the cost
of computing will enable
packaging to have embedded
GPS and digital display rather
than printed information. The
packaging will know whats
in it and where it should be
delivered. This self-awareness
will allow it to constantly
communicate its position and
status as it progresses through
the supply chain.
136
137
The Brains of Retail

The Secret Life of Data
In the age of Big Data and the maturation of its usage, retailers
will deploy algorithms to process and understand the business
intelligence the data captures.
Optimisation will be used to
handle data relating to every
stage of the supply chain
from choice of designs,
production quantities, storage,
marketing, display and delivery.
Data and how to use it
effectively and responsibly
will radically change the
landscape of retail. One area
of significant impact will be
how digital consumers enrich
their shopping experiences and
improve their daily lives and
communities with data.
Shopping is often a social
activity. With the rise in
popularity of Internet-based
social networks, we cannot
only shop with our friends but
our data can shop with our
friends data. The stores data
can interact with the social
fabric of the customers to create
more informed, personalised
shopping experiences, as well
as, offering socially appropriate
options. Further, by combining
personal or local data with the

vast and varied sources of data,
a new value can be created.
Companies like Nike are
developing new personal data
tracking devices and working
to provide users with data
collection services to let them
learn more and more about
themselves and each other. For
example, users might map their
own personal run data against
that of others, using a run
tracking device like Nike+.
Or they might map their
personal run data against city
data on hiking trails or air quality
data from the Environmental
Protection Agency to
understand the safest days for a
run in an urban location.
A users data can connect with
other people they know and
create bundles tailored to them.
For example, they were going to
buy a lawn trimmer but if they
add a power washer like their
neighbours have, theyll get a
discount. (Or, conversely, dont

buy the same dress that your
friend just did here are some
alternative options). Data can
also connect them to people
they dont know but who have
similar tastes. Data can lead
to a personalised shopping
experience (coupons, discounts,
etc. that are targeted). Users
data can also be combined with
others to get a buying pool a
retailer sees there is a group of
new parents in a users area, so
invites them in with discounted
prams, or a group of new home
owners are offered a discount
on home appliances.
In summary, data will interact
across all stages of the
consumer purchase journey.
Every individual will have a
data avatar that embodies
their social and purchasing
persona; retailers will engage
with this data to optimise selling
and marketing opportunities,
irrespective of time or place.
138
139
Insight
develop strong brands
Brand value
2013 $M
Brand
contribution
Brand value %
change 2013 vs 2012
34%
Amazon
45,727
Walmart
36,220
5%
The omni-channel world

challenges retailers
The Home Depot
18,488
43%
eBay
17,749
40%
Tesco
16,303
-9%
Ikea
12,040
31%
Amazon became the BrandZ Most

Valuable Global Retail Brand in 2013,
ahead of Walmart, showing that the
history of retail is constantly evolving and
the importance of digital growing.
Target
11,879
13%
Woolworths
11,039
New
Aldi
8,885
-5%
10
Lowes
7,559
26%
11
Carrefour
7,372
-6%
12
Costco
6,789
33%
The resurgent US economy drove an

impressive 17 percent brand value growth
in the retail category in 2013. Brand value
declined 5 percent a year ago. But the US
was only part of the story. Brand became
a more important tool for differentiating
retail organisations and attracting
consumers who shopped anytime,
anywhere, often on mobile devices,
even visiting more than one location
simultaneously. Retailers developed brand
ecosystems for reaching consumers in a
unified way across all channels. To draw
traffic and build loyalty, retailers worked
to improve the in-store brand experience.
The impact of all of these initiatives
varied across geographic regions and store
formats. Brands with a major presence in
Europe, especially hypermarkets and food
retailers, felt the impact of the Continents
financial troubles.
13
Whole Foods
6,728
New
14
Walgreens
5,925
New
15
CVS
5,620
New
16
Falabella
5,611
7%
17
M&S
4,649
7%
18
Asda
4,617
19%
19
Lidl
4,524
-2%
20
Coles
4,416
New
The Top 20 Most Valuable Global Retail

Brands comes from the BrandZ Top 100
Most Valuable Global brands 2013. To
download a full copy of the BrandZ Top
100 Most valuable Global Brands 2013 go
to www.Brandz.com
The oldest brand in the

BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable
Brands ranking is Chase Bank
(started in 1799) most surely
a sophisticated version of the
Neolithic invented abacus.
The most modern brand is
Facebook (2004).
Retail
Top 100 013
2
Objects
p 100
BrandZ To le
ab
u
al
V
st
Mo
13
rands 20
Global B
10%
48%
49%
32%
42%
19%
Like any great brand, BrandZ stands apart

from its competition because its relevant
and meaningful to its customers. Constantly
updated, the propitiatory BrandZ big data
includes in-depth quantitative research with
more than two million consumers.
Year of recovery,
refinement,
relevance
The definitive
brand valuation
methodology
Ancient retail objects transformed

by Brands in the modern era
The time of invention for
retail objects goes back to
pre-historic times, but the
application for consumers is
brought to life in strong brands,
particularly in the modern era.
Brand value
growth across
categories
We examine 10,000+ brands in over 30

countries every year. This rigorous approach
is unique to BrandZ. The BrandZ analytic
database has yielded insights into the causal
links between brand strength, sales and
profits. We use this powerful proprietary WPP
resource to help our clients build and sustain
great local and global brands.
Valuations include data from BrandZ, Kantar Worldpanel, Kantar Retail and Bloomberg.
Brand Contribution measures the influence of brand alone on earnings, on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 highest).
140
- Helping
The Top 20 Most Valuable

Global Retail Brands
1960 +
Brand owners and members of the financial

community rely on BrandZ for the most
objective and reliable brand valuations.
Like all valuation methodologies, BrandZ
begins with sophisticated financial analysis.
We first determine how much of corporate
earnings can be specifically attributed to the
brand. But then we go further, much further
than any other methodologies, to understand
the power of brand where it most counts
in the mind of the consumer. For this critical
step we rely on the worlds largest brand
analytic database, BrandZ, to objectively
measure the Brand Contribution.
Methodology and valuation by
To download a full copy of the BrandZ Top 100 Most

Valuable Global Brands 2013 go to www.Brandz.com
1901-1959
pre 1900
To learn more about BrandZ Brand

valuations email Elspeth Cheung at
Elspeth.cheung@millwardbrown.com
141
Acknowledgements
contributors
Advisory Board
Andrew A. Grant
Helen Barraclough
Senior Legal Counsel
WPP
David L. Sisson
Carolyn Cummings-Osmond
MA Coordinator & Senior Lecturer
Southampton Solent University
Retail and Design Consultant and Professor

of Retail Innovation and Complimentary Studies
at TU Delft University
Matthew Edward Thomas White
Tamsin Grant
Wordscout
Sir Thomas Blane Hunter
William John Whiting
Chairman, Satalia Optimisation
PROFESSOR RODNEY FITCH CBE
Founder and Chairman

West Coast Capital
Head of Global Real Estate/Properties,

Best Buy Co., Inc
Design and Engineering Director,

SPARK Product Creation Ltd
Daniela Hornskov Sun

The Store WPP
Retired, formerly Chief Executive of B&Q plc

and Executive Director of Kingfisher plc
Nicola McCormick
Michael Simkins LLP
Boni Sones OBE
Executive Producer at
www.bonisonesproductions.com
Professor Jeremy Myerson
Director, The Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design,

Royal College of Art
From Intel Corporation:
Professor Peter Nolan CBE
General Manager, Retail Solutions Division
Chong Hua Professor and

Director, Centre of Development Studies,
University of Cambridge
Joe Jensen
Jose Avalos
Mike Troy
Editor-in-Chief
Retailing Today
Bryan Roberts
Brian David Johnson

Futurist & Principal Engineer
Peter Walshe
Global BrandZ Director
Millward Brown
David roth
Maroun Ishac
project management
Retail Insights Director, Kantar Retail
CEO, The Store WPP, EMEA and Asia
Worldwide Director, Visual Retail
Business Development
Amanda harrison
The Store WPP
design and production

Kay blewett
Bauernhaus Creative
Intel corporation project support team
photography
Steve BrowN - Chief Evangelist and Futurist

Adrian Whelan - Embedded Business Development Director
Daniel Brookes - Embedded Retail Operations
Megan Bednarz - End User/Ecosystem/Channel Enablement
Andrea Quock - Program Manager
Elaine Cook - EMEA Retail Marketing Manager
David Harrison - Program Manager
cecilie stergen
www.ostergren.dk
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
142
Sources
In addition to the expertise, judgement, experience and observations of the contributing

team, the following have been used as references, cross-references or sources.
Cecilie stergren is a professional photographer, based in Shanghai, who has

worked closely with WPP agencies since 2009. Cecilie specialises in documentary,
consumer insight and portraits. In collaboration with Added Value, she produced
award-winning insights on Chinese consumers. Shes travelled extensively in
China, Brazil and other locations to photograph images for the BrandZ reports.
Her photographs of China have been exhibited in the Houses of Parliament,
London. In collaboration with Danish book publisher Politikens Forlag, shes
photographed travel books about India, Greece and Denmark, her native country.
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www.departmentstorehistory.net
www.designboom.com
www.destination360.com
www.detail-online.com
www.displayarama.com
www.economist.com
www.ee.ryerson.ca
www.ehow.com
www.elect-mer.com
www.englishforeveryone.org
www.EzineArticles.com
www.fundinguniverse.com
www.guardian.co.uk
www.historyofpa.co.uk
www.hoistmagazine.com
www.hostmerchantservices.com
www.ideafinder.com
www.italyguides.it
www.lift.co.uk
www.livescience.com
www.livinglanguage.com
www.managementstudyguide.com
www.moah.org
www.nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk
www.nationalgasmuseum.org.uk
www.neonlab.com
www.old.readrussia.com
www.panoston.com
www.pinnaclejournals.com
www.popularmechanics.com
www.radio-electronics.com
www.recycling.com
www.scribd.com
www.searsarchives.com
www.shirebooks.co.uk
www.squidoo.com
www.stevens.edu
www.stormshock.com
www.telegraph.co.uk
www.tescopoly.org
www.theatlantic.com
www.thecalculatorsite.com
www.thehistoryoftelevision.com
www.themhedajournal.org
www.todayifoundout.com
www.ttt-services.co.uk
www.tupperwarecollection.com
www.ukfinancialoptions.co.uk
www.vendingmachine.co.uk
www.warpaths2peacepipes.com
www.waterstones.com
www.wired.com
www.wisegeek.com
www.worldshipping.org
www.zdnet.com
other
The story of the intel chip courtesy
of the Intel Corporation Museum
All photography 2013 The Store, WPP 2005 Ltd
with the following exceptions: Cuneiform Tablet, Greek
Agora, Rialto Bridge, Ledger, Royal Exchange, Galleria
Vittorio Emanuele II, Tannoy and the Ration Book are
used under license from Shutterstock.com. Southdale
Center Bobak HaEri. Kvass Barrel Jason Rogers.
Intel Chip 2013 Intel Corporation. Intel and the Intel
logo are trade marks or registered trade marks of Intel
Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and
other countries. All rights reserved. *Other names and
brands may be claimed as the property of others.
The History
of Retail in
100 Objects
143
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The History of Retail

2013 The Store, WPP

Welcome to the History

Inspired by The British Museums, History

thanks to them and the other experts

Arriving at the list of 100 objects has

To help navigate the way through this

Our list of 100 objects has been arrived

Whilst some of the items placed on

Using social networks around the globe we

Where this is the case, we have used our

History has a way of

Looking to the future. Exploring key

It is our belief that there will be more change

A special thanks to Professor Rodney Fitch CBE, for

David Roth - Editor, The History of Retail in 100 Objects

droth@wpp.com // twitter: davidrothlondon

The six ages

The history of retailing is one of constant evolution.

The innovations in, and subsequent

Trade (the production and distribution

Once hunter/gatherer societies became

In the great sweep of social and

18th and 19th

20th and 21st

Animal skins are used to create a

Mankind has made extensive use of animal skins throughout

Contribution to Retail History

The Abacus - or counting frame

Most were made from wood, and

2/5 abacus. From about 1850 this was

Balance scales were in use in Mesopotamia AS EARLY AS

Early balance scales measure relative weight (as opposed

Civilisations need to write things

In the late 18th century, a way to measure

Cuneiform used pictorial symbols set out in

Around the same period (in 1897), one of

This writing system began in Sumer, in Mesopotamia,

Contribution to Retail History

But as the ancient world increasingly urbanised, these

clay containers and they impressed onto the sealed

Contribution to Retail History

towns and cities grew, small retail stores

Contribution to Retail History

The shelf is a fundamental component of the store

Shelving materials can consist of wood, metal, glass,

Early Trading 1200 bc

Early Trading 1000 bc

In the earliest civilisations the concept of trading

The earliest paper money was used in China around

To get your food you would barter an

Although the use of paper money spread and continued

Archaeological evidence suggests that the first

The cowrie shell was indigenous to the Indian and

Early on in the introduction of paper money, European

Just as with currency exchanges today, the value of

Contribution to Retail History

The Portugese, English, French and Dutch played a

As the first recognised common currency, the cowrie