In 1991 the Worldwide Web opened for commercial use. In 1994 other advances took place, such as online banking and the opening of an online pizza shop by Pizza Hut. During that same year, Netscape introduced Secure Sockets Layer encryption of data transferred online, which has become essential for secure online shopping. Also, in 1994, the German company Intershop introduced its first online shopping system. In 1995, Amazon launched its online shopping site, and in 1996, eBay appeared. 