E-commerce is also known as electronic commerce. It is the
process of buying, selling, transferring or exchanging the products, services, and/or information over the electronic system like internet and/or other computer networks.
The meaning of e-commerce has changed over the last 30 years.
Originally, e-commerce refers to the facilitation of commercial transactions electronically, using technology such as
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and
Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) which are both introduced in late 1970s.
In 1980s,
credit cards,
automated teller machines (ATM) and
telephone banking are also accepted as forms of e-commerce.
From 1990s onwards,
enterprise resource planning systems (ERP),
data mining and
data warehousing would also additionally be included in the meaning of e-commerce.
There are several steps involved in the history and evolution of e-commerce:
1st step=>
Development of Electronic Data Interchange(EDI)- EDI is a set of standards developed in 1960s to exchange the business information and execute the electronic transactions. But, there are numbers of EDI formats to be used by business and hence the companies is unable to interact with each other. In 1984, EDI was standardized through ASC X12. This enable the companies to complete transactions with one another stably and reliably.
2nd step=>
Development of online retailing- In 1992,
CompuServe offers online retail products to its customers. This is the first time that the people are able to buy things off their computer.
3rd step=>
Development of web-browser- In 1992,
Mosaic web-browser was available and it was the first “point and click” web-browser. After that,
Netscape 
browser was introduced in 1994. It provides the users a simple browser to surf the Internet and a safe online transaction technology called Secure Sockets Layer.
4th step=>
Two of the biggest names in e-commerce are launched-
Amazon.com and
eBay.com were launched in 1995.
5th step=>
Development of Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) - DSL allowed quicker access and a persistent connection to the internet. This stimulates people spend more time and money online.
6th step=>
Retailing spending over the internet- In 1999, retail spending over the Internet reaches $20 billion, according to
Business.com.
7th step=>
Hackers’ Attack to the e-commerce players- In February of 2000, some major players of e-commerce such as
Yahoo, eBay and Amazon were attacked by the hackers. The attacks represent the need to improve the security in the development of e-commerce.
Current step=>E-commerce applied broadly compared with old time; however the development of e-commerce is embarrassed by the security issue.
Reference:
History of E-commerce-
www.ecommerce-land.com/history_ecommerce.html
History of E-commerce- www.flysyk02.netfirms.com/Ecommerce/History.htm
Electronic Commerce- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-commerce
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