Who we are

Snobal is part of a story that began nearly 40 years ago.

In May 1984, Jane Snowball, a 72 year old grandmother from Gateshead UK put an order for margarine, cornflakes and eggs through to her local Tesco from her television remote control.

She was part of a local council program – The Gateshead Shopping Experiment – to help the elderly with mobility problems. At the time little did Jane Snowball or indeed Michael Aldrich (creator of the technology through which Ms Snowball placed the order) know that she was to become the first person in the world to make an online shopping order from home.

When Ann and Murray came across this article they felt they had found the inspiration for what to call their company.

Snobal.

“We loved how the first online shopping order placed from home had a vision of using emerging technology to make someone’s life easier. To enable an elderly person to purchase their weekly groceries conveniently and easily. And from this a billion dollar industry has been created empowering small businesses to have global reach and impact. It has been truly transformative”. – Ann Nolan

While not focused on ecommerce or retail per se, Snobal is part of this story that began in 1984.

What the next generation brings in terms of the intersection of virtual reality, augmented reality and human interaction remains to be seen even within business. But we do know that enabling people to better communicate collaborate and understand their environments and information will be key.