The primary aim of this paper is to critically review the literature that explicitly addressesthe adoption, application and impact of internet technologies, by retailers, for the promotion and sale ofmerchanidise. In particular, this paper seeks to present a holistic and critical review of the earlypredictions, with regard to the uptake and impact of internet retailing; critically reappraise theseclaims in light of current trends in internet retailing; and explore where e-tailing may be heading in thecoming years. The study adopts an extensive and critical review of theliterature, with regard to the adoption, uptake and impact of Internet retailing, as published in theacademic literature over the past twenty years. In hindsight it can be seen that many of the original predictions, made at the dawn of theInternet era, have not become a reality: retailers aren’t cannibalising their own custom, virtualmerchants aren’t dominating the market-place, and the high-street hasn’t, as yet, been put out ofbusiness. By contrast other predications have come to pass: electronic intermediaries are playing anincreasingly important role, ‘one-to-one’ marketing has become a reality, prices are more competitive,and perhaps most importantly the consumer has become more powerful. Providing a brief review of the past, present and future of onlineretailing is an extremely ambitious undertaking, especially given the vast amount of literature thathas been published in this area. In attempting to provide an overall impression of the broad themes,and most important findings, to emerge from this important body of literature, it is inevitable that wewill have either missed or underplayed many important pieces of work. Consequently, there is a needfor follow-up studies that aim to provide deeper and richer reviews of more narrowly defined elementsof this vast landscape. This study presents one of the first and most thorough reappraisals of the initialliterature with regard to the likely development, implications and impact of Internet retailing. Moreoverthe paper seeks to break new ground by attempting to use the current literature to help predict futuredirections and trends for on-line shopping.