The time when there was no such thing as shopping online has become an increasingly distant memory...

While there was television-based shopping, the internet was still in its infancy and in very few homes. Even those few who had access to the net during this time would have thought of buying anything over the internet as something which was very far off in the future.

However; in less than twenty years we've seen (what was not long ago considered possible) internet shopping become one of the dominant uses of the World Wide Web.

What Online Shopping Is

Online shopping or internet shopping (if you want to split hairs), is the practice of buying and selling over the web along the model of retail sales. Consumers now have their choice of an enormous number of different products and services online from e-stores and even e-malls.

Encryption and other information security technologies have made shopping online not only practical but safe as well. Websites who offer online shopping can ensure the security and privacy of their customers with the utilization of these latest technologies in information security. This is one of the prime reasons why online shopping is not only the most practical but also the most preferred method of buying those things you need and desire most.

Growth

There was explosive growth in the online retail sector in the late 90s as millions of consumers began having access to the internet. By 1997, there were about 41 million people worldwide who had tried shopping online. At this time, the number of people purchasing goods over the internet was still very small comparably, with many web users still reluctant to buy anything online. Up until the late 90s, however, the audience for online shopping was largely male – a situation which had reversed itself by 2001, when women now made up 52% of online shoppers. Today, this percentage stands at around 60%.

Decline

The burst of the dot com bubble around 2000 caused many online businesses to fail. Many of these companies were devoting far too much of their budgets to marketing efforts and very little to developing products, services and delivery systems. This deeply flawed business model led to the demise of hundreds of e-tail businesses and a brief slump in online shopping in general.

Comeback

The decline in internet shopping was not to last long, however. Consumers had become used to shopping online and soon the industry was bigger than it had been before the crash. From $3.6 billion in 1997 to $35 billion as of 2008. Online shopping is one economic sector which has managed to thrive even in a worldwide recession.

Security

Online security is vital to the entire e-commerce business model.  The number one concern of shoppers is whether their personal information will be secure when they shop online; it's more important to consumers than price or even if the site will deliver as promised.

Anything which consumers see as a priority is necessarily also a priority for businesses, so online security is well implemented on the vast majority of e-commerce sites.

If you're looking to keep your identity and your financial information as secure as possible while shopping on the web, these basic online shopping security guidelines can help you to protect yourself:

• Make sure that your web browser is kept up to date. Even though the security measures in place on online shopping sites should be more than sufficient to keep your personal information protected, always use the latest version of your web browser.

• Look at the address bar in your browser before you supply any personal or financial information at the checkout page. You should see that the address of the website begins with https:// instead of http://. The "s" after the http in the address stands for secure and indicates an encrypted page. You should also check your browser for a padlock logo which indicates that you are on a secure page.

• Avoid using the same password for every site you use for shopping online.

• Carefully read the site's privacy and sales policies (and make sure you understand them) before you make any purchases from the company. You should be extremely skeptical about any site which does not provide this information. You may want to get in touch with the company by phone; but don't give them any of your personal information on their website or over the phone.

Lastly, make sure that the information you enter on the site is accurate before you make any online purchases – this prevents any misunderstanding between yourself and the website. You'll want to print your order as well so you have it to refer to later if needed.

If you make a habit of the above tips, you should enjoy a safe and fruitful internet shopping experience for years to come.