What Is Ecommerce? A Beginner‘s Guide to Online Business

What Is Ecommerce?

Ecommerce, short for electronic commerce, involves buying and selling goods and services online. Transactions take place via websites, mobile apps, and online marketplaces like Amazon—not in a physical store.

Ecommerce can be a good way to make the shopping experience easier, faster, and more convenient for brands and consumers.

Ready to learn more about how ecommerce works and how to set up an ecommerce business? Let’s dive in.

A Brief History of Ecommerce: How It All Started

In the early 1990s, the World Wide Web became accessible to the general public. This was the first real breakthrough for ecommerce. Many businesses started selling their goods online.

An ecommerce website is a digital storefront where customers browse products, make purchases, and interact with the brand. The website serves as the primary point of contact between the business and its online audience.

One of the most iconic pioneers of this era was Amazon.

Amazon, founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994, started as an online bookstore. The original Amazon website looked pretty basic:

Amazon eventually expanded to sell a vast range of products. Amazon’s customer-centric approach, data-driven recommendations, and constant innovation set a new standard for ecommerce businesses worldwide.

Then, the late 1990s saw a period of rapid growth for online businesses. Many ecommerce startups emerged, hoping to replicate Amazon’s success. Some, like eBay and PayPal, are still successful today.

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