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That's yet another whole potential article about lobbying and regulation in America, labeling what "high-speed Internet" is until it's watered down to DSL or so at 4 mbps. At least a few years ago they redefined it to 25 mbps.

Or even earlier. Catalog sales and mail order have been around for a long time. 1-800 numbers for orders by phone started in the 60s and became standard in the 80s. The internet didn't invent remote ordering.

Do any still exist? They weren’t implying you always needed a high speed connection.

Yes, wine.com was one of the the early ecommerce sites. Started in 1995, but may not have been transacting until a few years later.