Rui.Ean.Agu. Not Simply E-Commerce: The History and Evolution of E-Commerce

Before we go through the topic, lets have a flashback to build a scope for you to explain what is E-Commerce. Simply put, e-commerce is the online transaction of business, featuring linked computer systems of the vendor, host, and buyer. Electronic transactions involve the transfer of ownership or rights to use a good or service. Most people are familiar with business-to-consumer electronic business (B2C). Common illustrations include Amazon.com, Dell.com and AirAsia.com

Due to the risen of Internet, the user of internet sharply increased in few years. While the Internet was developed in the late 1960s, the WWW came into existence more than a decade ago - in the early 1990s. Since then, however, it has grown phenomenally to become the most widely used service on the Internet. Beside, the numbers of user increase, the oppurtunity to build a market via Internet is no more a dream.

Not only entertainment, business also have been engaging in a form of electronic commerce, known as electronic data interchange, due to the risen of Internet. Electronic Date Interchange (EDI) occurs when business transmits computer-readable data in a standard format to another business. In the 1960s, businesses realized that many of the documents they exchange related to the shipping of goods - such as invoices, purchase orders, and bills of lading - and included the same set of information for almost every transaction. They also realized that they were spending a good deal of time and money entering these data into their computers, printing paper forms, and then re-entering the data on the other side of the transaction. Although the purchase order, invoice, and bill of lading for each transaction contained much of the same information such as item numbers, descriptions, prices and quantities - each paper form had its own unique format for presenting that information. By creating a set of standard formats for transmitting that information electronically, businesses were able to reduce errors, avoid printing and mailing costs, and eliminate the need to re-enter the data.

While Internet played an important role in the late 1960's, E-Commerce become a new business form and improved while techonology innovation. The new implication and support from technological frontier including hardware and software strengthen the advantage and growth of E-Commerce. The liberalization of the telecommunications sector and innovations such as optic fiber and DSL which has helped to expand the volume and capacity of communications that helped in the process of rapid growth. Beside, innovative hardware stabilize the process and running of E-Commerce such as providing a 24/7 working server, which can allowed the users and administrator access to the database in just a few second. This techonoly advancement greatly boost E-Commerce up and bring a big impact in traditional market and supply chain management.

Lastly, E-Commerce can be said as the biggest impact in recent year which involves conducrt business over the internet with the assistance of computers, overcome geographical limitation and create a true Global Village. Beside, E-Commerce stimulate the innovation and improvement on SPM( Supply Chain Management),CRM(Customer Relationship Management) and other business model. E-Commerce,which build on the foundation of Internet, not only playing an important role now, but will bring more impact in future buying and selling process.