In recent years, we have all heard of e-commerce and practically all of us have used it.
Technically, e-commerce, or electronic commerce, is the process of buying and selling goods or services over the Internet.
It includes a variety of commercial activities that use digital technologies to conduct transactions between businesses, consumers and other actors. The term also encompasses the transfer of money, the exchange of data and the logistics involved in the transaction.
Transactions are digital. And, therefore, transactions are carried out via online platforms, from product selection to payment.
Online shops can reach customers anywhere in the world, eliminating geographical barriers, and there are no closing times, allowing customers to shop at any time.
But there are many interesting facts about it, and many types of e-commerce, with which we may not be so familiar. For example, it is not a 21st century invention. Although e-commerce as we know it today did not exist, there were some developments in the 1960s and 1970s that paved the way.
In the 1960s, companies began using Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), a system that allowed business documents (such as invoices and purchase orders) to be exchanged between computers. This system facilitated transactions between large companies without the need for paper documents.
In the 1970s, the use of EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) enabled financial institutions to process electronic money transfers, facilitating payment and business transactions.
Between the 1980s and 1990s, the first signs of e-commerce as we know it today began to appear.
CompuServe, founded in 1969, was one of the first companies to offer online services via a dial-up platform. In the early 1980s, CompuServe allowed consumers to make purchases through its platform, marking one of the first attempts at online shopping.
In France, the Minitel system (1982) allowed users to conduct online transactions, such as booking train tickets or making purchases, through a terminal connected to a network.
The 1990s was a key decade for the development of e-commerce thanks to the massive expansion of the Internet and the development of the World Wide Web (WWW). Later we will come to the e-commerce boom.
Types of e-commerce
Similarly, it can be said that there are different types of e-commerce depending on the parties involved.
B2C (Business to Consumer) trade is from companies that sell directly to end consumers, such as Amazon.
B2B (Business to Business) trade is from companies selling products or services to other companies, such as Alibaba.
C2C (Consumer to Consumer) trade involves transactions between consumers, such as eBay or MercadoLibre.
In C2B (Consumer to Business) trade, it is consumers offering products or services to businesses, such as freelance platforms.
Some examples of e-commerce are online shops, such as Amazon, eBay, Shopify, and other services, such as Netflix, Spotify, Uber (services contracted and paid for through digital platforms). But there are also Digital products: Sale of software, eBooks, music, among other digital products.
E-commerce has transformed traditional commerce by offering more convenience, access and options to consumers, while reducing operating costs for companies.
STM Logistics offers a complete e-commerce platform for B2B and B2C e-commerce.
