Tech History: The 1st Online Purchase Was Pizza

Today, we buy everything online—groceries, clothes, even cars. But did you know the very first documented online purchase was a pizza?

In 1994, Pizza Hut launched a simple website called “PizzaNet” that allowed customers to place orders over the internet. The very first order? A large pepperoni pizza. It was a groundbreaking moment—not because of the toppings, but because it proved people were willing to trust the internet with real money and real products.

At the time, the idea of buying something online seemed wild. Credit card security on the web was still in its infancy, most people didn’t even have reliable internet access, and websites were clunky and text-heavy. Yet that pizza order opened the door to the entire world of e-commerce as we know it.

Fast-forward to today: e-commerce is a trillion-dollar industry, and food delivery apps like Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub are everyday conveniences. But it all started with one pepperoni pizza in 1994.

So next time you click “add to cart,” remember—you’re taking part in a revolution that began with a slice.