How we buy, sell and market, goods and services has changed dramatically since the United States’ early foundings. Nowadays, whether a company actually sells goods or services online in the United States, there is a good chance that they have a website with at least a minimum amount of information about what the company does and how to contact it.

During the times of the first thirteen colonies, the British settlers initially had to pay taxes to England. Their trade was heavily restricted and they needed to rely on Great Britain for imported supplies and goods. There were no banks and colonists had to rely on bartering and credit to get what they needed. The colonists revolted and eventually gained independence- and thus began the United State’s independent economy and commerce.

In the mid to late 1800s, the pioneers that settled the west would wait in anticipation for the Sears and Roebucks catalogue to come. For many people in these isolated regions, this catalogue was their main avenue to hear about new goods, including things such as fashion and new technologies of the times. The way people shop has changed dramatically in the last two centuries and even more so in the past three decades.