The history of e-commerce - from its simple beginnings to its digital revolution

Some may believe that electronic commerce was born in the third millennium, but the truth is that electronic commerce arose a long time ago, reaching more than 40 years, and had a long history until it settled on the picture that we see now in all its current forms.
We will learn about the history of e-commerce , how it began, the factors that contributed to its spread, and the companies that became giants thanks to e-commerce.

Definition of electronic commerce

E-commerce is an unconventional process of buying and selling goods, information, and services through the Internet. E-commerce has witnessed a remarkable boom in recent times due to its continuous development and keenness to meet the desires of consumers, to the point that it has expanded to include the smallest and strangest goods ever.

Areas of electronic commerce

Do not think that e-commerce is limited to selling devices and clothes. It has recently expanded to include all services such as paying bills, issuing ID cards, and renewing driver’s licenses.

E-commerce has expanded and permeated all aspects of life to the point that it has become almost impossible to dispense with it.

History of electronic commerce

Since its inception, electronic commerce has been limited to facilitating commercial transactions, especially commercial documents such as invoices from suppliers and commercial customers.


Its beginning dates back to the period of World War II during the siege of the German capital, Berlin. The system of ordering goods via text messages was introduced, and then it was extended to include many simple electronic commercial transactions.


With the emergence of the World Wide Web in 1991, electronic commerce opened its doors.
Later, after the spread of smart phones and the presence of coverage of the entire world via the Internet, electronic commerce became a reliable pillar in the field of trade and exchange of products, information, and commercial services.

Stages of development of electronic commerce

There is a development in the history of electronic commerce, and we can divide it into two stages:
The initial stage of electronic commerce , which appeared from 1995 until 2000, and although that period witnessed the emergence of different strategies for electronic presence, it was absent from the approved organization, legislation and laws that govern it because it was a nascent entity and not all of its pillars were understood.


The first online commercial service, Computerserv, was launched in Ohio in 1969 by two electrical engineering students from Columbus University. Ten years later, in 1979, the English inventor Michael Aldrich laid the foundations for online shopping.


In 1982, the first online market was opened in the American state of Boston. Later, in 1995, the giants Amazon and e-Bay launched, and by 1997 they alone collected one million commercial electronic transactions.
Then the electronic payment system appeared in 1998.

The second stage of electronic commerce
This phase began from 2001 AD until the present day, during which there were tremendous developments in the pattern of transactions and government legislation and international agreements regulating electronic commerce were enacted.


By the year 2000 AD, the Google AdWords advertising service was launched and companies were allowed to create commercial advertisements. In 2003, the technological revolution was at its peak, and the volume of e-commerce exceeded $3.8 trillion. Then, by 2004, the number doubled to reach $6.8 trillion.


In 2005, the giant Amazon launched the Amazon Prime service, and later, through the financial services company Square, retailers were able to accept debit and credit payments.
Then in 2014, Apple launched Apple Pay.
The pace of e-commerce is still accelerating, and its services and fields are diversifying.
The value of the e-commerce market is expected to reach $200 billion by 2026, and finally
She talks to us at Dopamine Store about the history of e-commerce. If you want to know more about e-commerce, you can read the article by clicking on the colored word.

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