Shopping, in many ways, has always been a social activity. Before the rise of the Internet and online shopping, women would often shop for clothes or go to the mall with friends -- and, in the more distant past, were often on a first- or last-name basis with their service providers (their dry cleaner, the grocer, their doctor, etc.). Similarly, men have long been known to consult or compare opinions with other men when it came to, say, cars and/or farm or yard equipment and/or electronics, and likewise had "their guy" at the stores they frequented.
That social aspect of the shopping or commerce experience is in large part what instilled and maintained customer and brand loyalty. Then along came the Internet, which, to a large degree, changed shopping from a personal to an impersonal experience. Out went the social aspect of shopping, the leisurely browsing and discussions around what to get, and in came how quickly can we get shoppers to the product(s) they are looking for and to checkout.
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