The history of retail encompasses the sale of goods and services to consumers across all cultures and time periods from ancient history to the present.
Commerce first took the form of bargaining between early human civilizations. Beginning with Middle Eastern towns in the 7th millennium BCE, retail markets emerged when civilizations created money to facilitate commerce. Various ancient civilizations in the Middle East and Europe established open-air markets for merchants and producers to sell their goods to consumers. The earliest known permanent retail centers, the forums, were created in ancient Rome. Similar shopping centers were thought to have been created in China. By the first millennium BCE, Chinese retail was extensive and included branding and packaging.
In medieval Europe, consumers no longer purchased from fixed stores and instead went straight to the tradespeople's workshops. Markets or street vendors were used to sell perishable goods. The first commercial district in Europe, Chester Rows, was established in England in the thirteenth century. At this time, stores were typically no bigger than booths, and merchants kept goods out of sight until they were sold. Depending on its size, a European town or city had daily or weekly markets and fairs. Early modern Europe saw the rise of permanent stores with set hours as the predominant form of retail. More stores sold general goods rather than specializing in particular goods. Stores also grew in size which enabled customers to browse inside. The rise of general merchants also separated wholesale from retail, and consumers returned to shopping in stores rather than in tradesmen workshops.
The Industrial Revolution and the emergence of the department store in the 19th century reformed modern retail. Early department stores functioned as cultural centres where consumers could congregate and seek entertainment. Mail order catalogues also became popular. In 1954, the first modern shopping mall, Northland Mall, opened in the United States. Shops increased in size significantly during the 20th century, with warehouse stores occupying vast areas and selling a large variety of goods. In the 21st century, online shopping has become popular and competes with traditional physical stores.
Antiquity
Selling and buying supposedly emerged in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) around the 7th-millennium BCE. According to Herodotus, a Greek historian, retail trade, along with gold and silver coins, originated in Lydia.Jones, Brian D.G.; Shaw, Eric H. (2006). "A History of Marketing Thought", Handbook of Marketing. Weitz, Barton A.; Wensley, Robin (eds), Sage, p. 41, .Herodotus (1858, p.56) "The Histories". Translated from Greek by G. Rawlinson. United States: Alfred A. Knopf. Gharipour points to evidence of primitive shops and trade centers in Sialk Hills in Kashan (6000 BCE), Catal Huyuk in modern-day Turkey (7,500–5,700 BCE), Jericho (2600 BCE) and Susa (4000 BCE).Gharipour, M., "The Culture and Politics of Commerce", in The Bazaar in the Islamic City: Design, Culture, and History, Mohammad Gharipour (ed.), New York, The American University in Cairo Press, 2012 p. 3
Open-air, public markets were known in ancient Babylonia, Assyria, Phoenicia, and Egypt. These markets typically occupied a place in the town's center. Surrounding the market, skilled artisans, such as metalworkers, goldsmiths, and leather workers, occupied permanent premises in alleys that led to the open marketplace. These artisans may have sold wares directly from their premises, but also prepared goods for sale on market days.Bintliff, J., "Going to Market in Antiquity", In Stuttgarter Kolloquium zur Historischen Geographie des Altertums, Eckart Olshausen and Holger Sonnabend (eds), Stuttgart, Franz Steiner, 2002, pp. 209–50 In ancient Greece, markets operated within the agora, an open space where goods were displayed on mats or temporary stalls on market days.Thompson, D.B., An Ancient Shopping Center: The Athenian Agora, ASCSA, 1993 pp. 19–21 In ancient Rome, trade took place in the forum.McGeough, K.M., The Romans: New Perspectives, ABC-CLIO, 2004, pp. 105–06 Rome had two forums: the Forum Romanum and Trajan's Forum. The latter was a vast expanse, comprising multiple buildings with shops on four levels.Holleran, C., Shopping in Ancient Rome: The Retail Trade in the Late Republic and the Late Republic and the Principate, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2012, p. 12 The Roman forum was arguably the earliest example of a permanent retail shop front.Coleman, P., Shopping Environments, Elsevier, Oxford, 2006, p. 28 In antiquity, exchange involved direct selling via merchants or peddlers. Bartering systems were also commonplace.
The Phoenicians, noted for their seafaring skills, plied their ships across the Mediterranean and became a major trading power by the 9th century BCE. The Phoenicians imported and exported wood, textiles, glass, and produce such as wine, oil, dried fruit, and nuts. They also developed a network of colonies which spanned the Mediterranean coast and stretched from modern-day Crete through to Tangiers and onto Sardinia.Cartwright, M., "Trade in the Phoenician World", Ancient History Encyclopedia, 1 April 2016 In addition to commerce, the Phoenicians were also instrumental in cultural exchange. Their extensive trade networks necessitated considerable bookkeeping and correspondence. In around 1500 BCE, the Phoenicians developed a consonantal alphabet which was much easier to learn than the complex scripts used in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Phoenician traders and merchants were largely responsible for spreading their alphabet around the region.Daniels (1996) pp. 94–95. Phoenician inscriptions have been found in archaeological sites at several former Phoenician cities and colonies around the Mediterranean, such as Byblos (in present-day Lebanon) and Carthage in North Africa.
In the Graeco-Roman world, markets primarily served the local peasantry and were also important centers of social life.ar, F., "The World of the Golden Ass", Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 71, 1981, pp. 63–67 Local producers, who were generally poor, would sell surplus from their farming activities, purchase minor farm equipment, and occasionally buy a few luxuries for their homes. Merchants often directly visited major producers such as the great estates. Very wealthy landowners managed their own distributions including imports and exports. The nature of export markets in antiquity is well documented in ancient sources and archaeological case studies.Bintliff, J., "Going to Market in Antiquity", In Stuttgarter Kolloquium zur Historischen Geographie des Altertums, Eckart Olshausen and Holger Sonnabend (eds), Stuttgart, Franz Steiner, 2002, p. 229 The Romans preferred to purchase goods from specific places: oysters from Londinium, and cinnamon from a specific mountain in Arabia. These location-based preferences stimulated trade throughout Europe and the Middle East.Paquet-Byrne, L., The Urge to Splurge: A Social History of Shopping, ECW Press, Toronto, Canada, 2003, pp. 23–25
While the rise of retailing and marketing in England and Europe has been extensively studied, less is known about developments elsewhere.Southerton, D. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Consumer Culture, Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage, 2011 p. 888 Nevertheless, recent research suggests that China exhibited a rich history of early retail systems.Moore, K., and Reid., S., "The Birth of the Brand: 4000 years of Branding", Business History, Vol. 50, 2008. pp. 419–32. From as early as 200 BCE, Chinese packaging and branding were used to signal family, place names, and product quality. Government-imposed product branding was also used between 600 and 900 CE.Eckhardt, G.M. and Bengtsson. A. "A Brief History of Branding in China", Journal of Macromarketing, Vol, 30, no. 3, 2010, pp. 210–21 Eckhart and Bengtsson have argued that during the Song Dynasty (960–1127), Chinese society developed a consumerist culture, where a high level of consumption was attainable for both ordinary consumers and the elite.Eckhardt, G.M. and Bengtsson. A. "A Brief History of Branding in China", Journal of Macromarketing, Vol, 30, no. 3, 2010, p. 212 This rise in consumer culture also led to commercial investment in carefully managed company image, retail signage, symbolic brands, trademark protection and sophisticated brand concepts.Eckhardt, G.M. and Bengtsson. A. "A Brief History of Branding in China", Journal of Macromarketing, Vol, 30, no. 3, 2010, p. 219
Medieval Europe
In Medieval England and Europe, relatively few permanent shops existed. Instead, customers walked into the tradesman's workshops where they discussed purchasing options directly with tradesmen. In 13th-century London, mercers and haberdashers were known to exist and grocers sold "miscellaneous small wares as well as spices and medicines". Fish and other perishables were sold through markets, costermongers, hucksters, peddlers, or other types of itinerant vendor.Thrupp, S.L., The Merchant Class of Medieval London, 1300–1500, pp. 7–8
In the more populous cities, a small number of shops began to emerge by the 13th century. In Chester, a medieval covered shopping arcade represented a major innovation that attracted shoppers from many miles around. Known as "The Rows", this medieval shopping arcade is believed to be the first of its kind in Europe.Pevsner, N. and Hubbard, E., The Buildings of England: Cheshire Penguin, 1978, p. 170 Fragments of Chester's Medieval Row, which dates to the mid-13th century, can still be found in Cheshire.Jones, P., Building Chester, Chapter 5 In the 13th or 14th century, another arcade with several shops was recorded at Drapery Row in Winchester.Keene, D. and Rumble, A.R., Survey of Medieval Winchester, (Part 1), Oxford University Press, 1985, p. 578 The emergence of street names such as Drapery Row, Mercer's Lane, and Ironmonger Lane in the medieval period suggests that permanent shops were becoming more commonplace.
Medieval shops had little in common with their modern equivalent. As late as the 16th century, London's shops were described as little more than "rude booths" and their owners "bawled as loudly as the itinerants."Knight, C., London, Vol. 5, 1841, Knight & Co, London, p. 132 Shopfronts typically had a front door with two wider openings on either side, each covered with shutters. Cox and Dannehl suggest that the medieval shopper's experience was very different. Glazed windows were rare during the medieval period and did not become commonplace until the eighteenth century. This meant that shop interiors were dark places. Outside the markets, goods were rarely out on display and the service counter was unknown. Shoppers had relatively few opportunities to inspect the merchandise before consumption. Many stores had openings on the street from which they served customers.Cox, N.C. and Dannehl, K., Perceptions of Retailing in Early Modern England, Aldershot, Hampshire, Ashgate, 2007, p. 155
More specialised purchases of artisan goods such as clothes, furniture, metalwork, decorative pottery, and art were often made by visiting the workshop where they were made, often first to discuss the objects and later to approve and collect them. Except at the lowest level, dressmakers typically visited the customer in their home for instructions or fittings.