Chapter 11: Online Consumer Behaviour: Reinterpreting Marketplaces Through the Viable System Approach

Since the first online retail purchase on 11 August 1994 (Lewis, 1994), the Internet has significantly expanded shopping possibilities, with rapid growth during the COVID-19 pandemic (Singh & Basu, 2023). This shift has engaged not only millennials but also older generations (Nalluri & Rao, 2023). The Internet has transformed e-commerce by reshaping daily life, altering how consumers communicate, learn about products, and purchase goods and services (Darley et al., 2010). It offers a unique retail environment where products can be searched, evaluated, and bought directly (De Los Santos, 2018; Fu et al., 2020), disrupting traditional shopping patterns even for categories like groceries (Bezirgani & Lachapelle, 2021; De Magalhães, 2021).