The History and Evolution of E-Commerce

One of the most popular activities on the Web is shopping. You can shop at your leisure or anytime. In addition, anyone can have their pages built to display their specific goods and services. E-Commerce refers to, how Information Technology has transformed business processes.

There have been several key steps in the history of e-commerce. At first, the term E-Commerce meant the process of execution of commercial transactions electronically with the help of the leading technologies such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), which gave an opportunity for users to exchange business information and do electronic transactions. The ability to use these technologies appeared in the late 1970s and allowed business companies and organizations to send commercial documentation electronically.

In the early years, there were several different EDI formats that business could use, so companies still might not be able to interact with each other, because there were high cost of EDI prohibited small businesses and medium-sized companies from participating in the E-Commerce. Besides that, slow development of standards hindered the growth of EDI; and the complexity of developing EDI applications limited its adaptation to a narrow user base. However, in 1984 the ASC X12 standards became stable and reliable in transferring large amounts of transactions.

The next major step of E-Commerce occurred in 1992 when the Mosaic web-browser was made available; it was the first ‘point and click’ browser. The Mosaic browser was quickly adapted into a downloadable browser, Netscape, which allowed easier access to E-Commerce.

The development of DSL was another key moment in the development to of e-commerce.

Although the Internet began to advance in popularity among the general public in 1994, it took approximately four years to develop the security protocols (for example, HTTP) and DSL which allowed rapid access and a persistent connection to the Internet.

Christmas of 1998 was another major step in the development of e-commerce. AOL had sales of 1.2 billion over the 10 week holiday season from online sales.

The development of Red Hat Linux was also another major step in E-Commerce growth. Linux gave users another choice in a platform other then Windows that was reliable and open-source. Microsoft faced with this competition needed to invest more in many things including electronic commerce.

In 2000 a great number of business companies in the United States and Western Europe represented their services in the World Wide Web. At this time the meaning of the word ecommerce was changed. People began to define the term ecommerce as the process of purchasing of available goods and services over the Internet using secure connections and electronic payment services.

Although the dot-com collapse in 2000 led to unfortunate results and many of ecommerce companies disappeared, the “brick and mortar” retailers recognized the advantages of E-Commerce and began to add such capabilities to their web. By the end of 2001, the largest form of E-Commerce is Business-to-Business (B2B). Businesses involved in B2B sell their goods to other businesses. In 2001, this form of e-commerce had around $700 billion in transactions.

It also can be seen that there will be a large growth in Business-to-Consumer (B2C) e-commerce, which online businesses is selling to individuals. However, even though B2C electronic commerce may be the most recognizable there are different varieties.

Other varieties growing today include Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) where consumers sell to each other, for example through auction sites.

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) is another form of e-commerce that allows users to share resources and files directly. According to all available data, E-Commerce sales continued to grow in the next few years and, by the end of 2007, ecommerce sales accounted for 3.4 percent of total sales.

Ecommerce has a great deal of advantages over “brick and mortar” stores and mail order catalogs. Consumers can easily search through a large database of products and services. They can see actual prices, build an order over several days and email it as a “wish list” hoping that someone will pay for their selected goods. Customers can compare prices with a click of the mouse and buy the selected product at best prices.

Online vendors, in their turn, also get distinct advantages. The web and its search engines provide a way to be found by customers without expensive advertising campaign. Even small online shops can reach global markets. Web technology also allows to track customer preferences and to deliver individually-tailored marketing.

History of ecommerce is unthinkable without Amazon and Ebay which were among the first Internet companies to allow electronic transactions. We now enjoy the buying and selling advantages of the Internet. Currently there are 5 largest and most famous worldwide Internet retailers: Amazon, Dell, Staples, Office Depot and Hewlett Packard. According to statistics, the most popular categories of products sold in the World Wide Web are music, books, computers, office supplies and other consumer electronics.

History of ecommerce is a history of a new, virtual world which is evolving according to the customer advantage. It is a world which we are all building together brick by brick, laying a secure foundation for the future generations.

Related Link:
1.http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P3-1074250791.html
2.http://newmedia.medill.northwestern.edu/courses/nmpspring01/brown/Revstream/history.htm
3.http://www.darwinproductions.net/Products/EvWebULeCom/