Shopping is not just a term. It encompasses various meanings within it. It is a phenomenon. For many, the very word shopping brings a glee on the face. Shopping is blissful, it is therapeutic and it can really refresh the soul. But here we are not going to talk about the therapeutic effects or the blissful aspect of shopping. Shopping can be of various things. Shopping is the purchase of any sort of goods and commodities from retailers. We do most of our shopping in exchange of money. Shopping can be something that has a close link with something financial or economic. These types of shopping is however not what the generally people would want to indulge in. these are the exclusive areas of the businessmen and those who deal with shares and other such similar goods and services. Shopping definitely existed since long. In ancient ages shopping was of a different kind. It is quite obvious that it was quite different from the shopping that we do in the present times. It is said that in ancient Rome, there was something known as the Trajan's Market which had tabernas. The tabernas are actually a single room shop. These tabernas actually played the role of retailing units. In those times there was no use of money for doing shopping. This was because in ancient times, currency is something that did not exist. During those times, the system that was extremely prevalent was that of the barter.

In barter there is no use of money. It is a form of exchange where exchange is made with goods or services of a tentatively equal amount. Thus this was the version of shopping that existed the. Then there was something called trade as well. Barter is nothing but an early form of trade. In ancient times, society also functioned a lot on the basis of gift economics. The modern versions of trade and barter are regarded as important weapons of increasing business by utilizing the surplus goods and items. Thus those who wanted to get rid of the surplus products can get rid of them in exchange of something that they might have needed. This is true that barter depends a lot on a favourable situation which can occur only if there is a coincidence. But in barter the amount of profit is really high because you actually do not have to make any extra investments as you can get goods in exchange of your surplus production. This kind of system in turn benefits both the parties.

In a trade exchange, there is a trading platform and a bookkeeping system that is offered for the clients and the members. The goods and services are bought by these clients and the members with the help of the use of an internal currency. This internal currency is known as barter dollars or trade dollars. With times barter and trade has evolved a lot. These two methods have played an active role in improving the business and sales around the world.