The History and Evolution of E-commerce

Ecommerce 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 documents like purchases orders or invoices electronically. Ecommerce became possible in 1991 when the Internet was opened to commercial use. Since that date thousands of businesses have taken up residence at web sites.


In 1984, EDI, or electronic data interchange, was standardized through ASC X12. This guaranteed that companies would be able to complete transactions with one another reliably.


During year 1992, 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 electronic commerce. The development of DSL was another key moment in the development to of e-commerce. DSL allowed quicker access and a persistent connection to the Internet.


During 1994, Netscape released the Navigator browser in October under the code name Mozilla. Pizza Hut offered pizza ordering on its Web page. The first online bank opened. Attempts to offer flower delivery and magazine subscriptions online.


In 1995, Jeff Bezos launched Amazon.com. History of ecommerce is unthinkable without Amazon and Ebay which were among the first Internet companies to allow electronic transactions. Amazon.com, Inc. is one of the most famous ecommerce companies. It was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos and was one of the first American ecommerce companies to sell products over the Internet. Ebay was founded by Pierre Omidyar as AuctionWeb. Dell and Cisco began to aggressively use Internet for commercial transactions.


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.
History of ecommerce is a history of a new, virtual world which is evolving according to the customer advantage. There would be a glorious future of ecommerce in the 21st century. In the foreseeable future ecommerce will further confirm itself a major tool of sale.

Related link
http://www.ecommerce-journal.com/