E-commerce, or in full name, electronic commerce is the process of transactions which involve buying, selling and exchanging products or services and information via the electronic system like Internet and other computer networks. E-commerce that is conducted between businesses is known as business-to-business (B2B) while e-commerce that is conducted between business and consumers is known as business-to-consumer (B2C). E-commerce is considered to be the sales aspect of e-business.
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) were introduced in the late 1970s and they allow businesses to send commercial documents electronically. In the 1980s, the acceptance of credit cards, automated teller machines (ATM) and telephone banking were also forms of e-commerce. The airline reservation system used by Sabre in the USA and Travicom in the UK was another form of e-commerce. Electronic commerce would include enterprise resource planning systems (ERP), data mining and data warehousing from the 1990s onwards.
In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee invented the first web browser, WorldWideWeb, using a NeXT computer. Netscape releases the Navigator browser in October, 1994 under code name Mozilla. Netscape 1.0 was introduced in late 1994, SSL encryption that made transactions secure. In 1995, Amazon.com and eBay were launched while Dell and Cisco began to use Internet aggresively for commercial transaction.
In 1998, DSL, or in full name, Digital Subscriber Line, provides fast and always-on Internet service to all the subscribers across California. This makes people to spend more time, and money, online. In 1999, business.com, which was purchased for US$149,000 in 1997, was sold for US$7.5million to eCompanies. Napster, which is a peer-to-peer filesharing software was launched. In 2000, the dot-com bust.
eBay acquired PayPal for $1.5billion in 2002. In 2003, Amazon.com had its first year of full year profit. Business.com was acquired by R.H. Donnelley for $345 million in 2007. In 2009, Zappos.com was acquired by Amazon.com for $928million. In 2010, US eCommerce and Online Retail sales projected to reach $173 billion, where there is an increase of 7 percent over 2009.
Electronic Commerce Aka E-Commerce History, from http://www.ecommerce-journal.com/articles/electronic_commerce_aka_e_commerce_history
Wikipedia (Electronic commerce), from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-commerce
The Evolution of E-Commerce, from http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Evolution-of-E-Commerce&id=1517989
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