A lot of people when they hear eCommerce – which of course is short for electronic commerce – they think of doing business on the Internet. But long before you could download electronic goods eCommerce already did exist. Using technology for electronic funds transfer that made it possible to use credit cards, automated teller machines or telephone banking were the big daddy of eCommerce known today. And not to forget the airline reservation systems that were possibly the grand-grandfather of eCommerce.
Did you know that the first recorded business to business transaction was in 1981 with Thomson Holidays and the first recorded online shopper was a lady in Gateshead, England in 1984? Amazing that during the 1980s auto manufacturers were one of the leading industries that used online shopping in their early basic forms.
Over 20 years later it is impossible to think how a world pre-Internet did work for trade and exchange of goods. eCommerce phenomena like book retailer Amazon and of course the auction platforms eBay and their earlier smaller start ups did raise the awareness of people for using the Internet as shopping platform. While traditional home shopping TV programs or the traditional mail order business never lose their power most people nowdays fire up their computer when they want to do product research and order quickly and easily what they need.
And it ius a known fact that successful businesses use similar marketing stratergies to direct mail order companies and shopping adverts; why becaise these all work well in today's eCommerce world.
One of the best effects of doing business via the Internet is that the customers are there on their own terms and their own time. If someone is in the buying mood, it is actually much easier to close a sale on the Internet as to the rather "hit and miss" offline marketing approaches. Traditional physical stores often stress consumers to make a buying decision right there, whether the timing is right for a customer or not. eCommerce solutions like websites are also not as staff intense like a traditional store are – even with companies offering live chat support to support better customer interaction on their websites in real time.
Overall can be said that eCommerce helped much to increase profits worldwide and that with the new electronic tools that enable companies to track where customers came from that actually bought from their websites, offers get more and more customized to their specific audiences.
The world is changing fast when it comes to eCommerce as after 2000 with the growth of social media and web2.0 people no longer just go to a website and order from a static cycling shopping cart – today's customers are getting themselves educated, chat and post experiences on forums and seek real human interaction, before they spend any money.
Companies who evolve with their eCommerce strategies to make them more human are the real winners.
Copyright (c) 2009 Daren Paul Burbridge