Infographic Alert: The Evolution of Shopping, 100 AD thru Today

Augmented reality company, SeeMore Interactive, has created a great infographic that charts how we have shopped since the beginning of time…or at least since we can remember actually shopping as a cultural/societal phenomenon.

It starts around the year 100-110 AD in Trajan’s Market, a Roman bazaar which today is thought to be the oldest shopping center and an ancestor to the modern shopping mall. It then charts Istanbul’s infamous Grand Bazaar, an outdoor/covered market that even today is one of the largest shopping centers in the world.

Fast forward to the 1950’s and the graphic covers malls, which were a byproduct of improved highway systems and the popularity of automobiles and traveling outside of and away from city centers. And let’s not even get into today, because you know what that’s all about. (How many of you do more than half of your shopping online? Because I know I do.)

Some fun facts you’ll find in the graphic:

– In the late 80’s through the early 90’s, 60 malls were built on average every year.
– About 26,000 employees staff the 3,000 shops of the Grand Bazaar, which still sees 250,000 to 400,000 visitors per day.
– Today, two out of three shoppers use at least one mobile device and to research and purchase while shopping.
evolution_of_shopping