The first shopping carts ever were placed at Humpty Dumpty grocery shops in Oklahoma City on June 4, 1937.
The shopkeeper in Oklahoma named Sylvan Goldman, who created the shopping cart in 1937, was unable to boost sales at his establishment due to an issue. When their hand baskets were filled, the ladies who shopped at Goldman's stores鈥攚ho were primarily women in the 1930s鈥攃eased to make purchases. After a tiring Saturday, I can picture Goldman thinking about the issue and how he might expand his company by making it simpler for these ladies to purchase.
Her clients may have purchased more items if the basket had been bigger. Goldman used a folding chair as the frame for the basket and added wheels because lifting it would have been impossible due to its weight. Goldman felt his prototype was adequate for a market test even if it was a little bulky.
Like other business owners, Goldman discovered that his target customer was fiercely anti-change. He observed his patrons' objections: males opposed because wheeling a cart didn't seem manly enough, while women complained that it looked like a baby carriage.
Persuaded that he had a winning concept, Goldman employed men and women to push carts while they went shopping. In order to help customers in getting carts at the business door, he also hired an assistant.
It was successful. Goldman trademarked his innovation, carts gained popularity, and he made enough money to become one of Oklahoma's multimillionaire benefactors.
By providing superior customer service, Goldman also aimed to expand its clientele. In addition, he had a smart exit strategy, as any successful businessman would have, licensing his shopping cart patent to a business that enhanced the design to create the telescopic baskets that we use today.
