Unless you've been living in a cave, completely isolated, for the past few decades, you've probably heard of e-commerce ! And yet, nowadays, we see that some consumers tend not to understand what it is exactly...
In general, when we talk about e-commerce we can also talk about electronic commerce in French , although this term is very little used.
Concretely, as you can imagine, e-commerce consists of reproducing a store, as one would see in a physical store, but online! Of course, the entire management and purchasing process is adapted and has been able to be developed in recent years.
More generally, to simply summarize e-commerce, we can say that it consists neither more nor less of buying and selling products (or services) online. In itself, one could imagine a classic B2C (business to consumer) model, in other words where a company sells its products directly to the consumer, but in reality, it can go much further than that…
History of e-commerce
You thought you knew everything about the history of e-commerce? Well, there is a good chance that you will be surprised... Indeed, if one could think that e-commerce had appeared in the 90s or the beginning of the 2000s, in reality, you have to go back a long way...
1979: from television… to online sales!
It was in 1979 that electronic commerce appeared for the very first time, in the person of Michael Aldrich. At the time, we were far from the online sales sites we know today! This involved modifying a television and connecting it directly to a computer. At the time, consumers could directly buy the products presented to them, without having to travel! A small revolution that has come a long way since...
1982: from the American Revolution to the French Revolution
In 1982, it was the American company Boston Computer Exchange that was able to make the world of e-commerce talk, because it was the very first online trading company! The founders, Alexander Randall and Cameron Hall, enjoyed real success for a few years, offering computer parts for sale. At the time, the concept was already very evolved, because the platform also made it possible to exchange articles… During this same year, we can also count on a great French invention: the minitel!
Even if we tend to forget it today, this object that used to be found in French homes has helped 25 million people to shop online! But, of course, that was nothing that we were going to be able to know a few years later...
1990s: the massive arrival of the Internet in e-commerce
The 1990s were the symbol of a real explosion in the world of online sales… It all started in 1992, with the company Book Stacks Unlimited, which developed the first online store. Charles M. Stack, its creator, had the ambition to be the first bookstore on the web! Moreover, in 1994, with the site books.com, this company could quickly become very flourishing. A mere coincidence? Not really !
During this same year, the Netscape browser was able to democratize the web, with the possibility for Internet users to find future online sales sites more easily... During this decade, we also saw the arrival of the big names in today, like Amazon, eBay, PayPal, or even Alibaba!
2000s to 2000s: the explosion of online sales…
Between the arrival of ADSL, fiber optics, modern payment methods (such as Apple Pay, Stripe, or Google Wallet), and specialized CMS for e-commerce (such as PrestaShop , Magento , or Shopify ), e-commerce has really taken off since the 2000s.
With, moreover, the possibility of launching marketing actions more easily through Google Ads, Google Shopping, or even Instagram Shopping, the adventure is far from over...
Advantages of e-commerce
If you are still hesitating about getting started in online sales, it's time to introduce you to the main advantages of e-commerce!
24/7 availability
To begin with, with a store that will be open permanently, and which will not close during public holidays or during the weekend, in other words, physical merchants are facing a formidable opponent!
Easier and more economical creation
Between the creation of a "hard" store and an online store, there is a whole world! By choosing this second option, you will not need to think about your physical location in various stores in France, except possibly for the production of your own products. With the creation of a store that does not require commercial premises as restrictive as a physical store, e-commerce is also a good way to save on the costs that a store window, lighting, shelving, but also the availability of sellers!
Endless selling possibilities
If it wouldn't occur to you to create a shop that specializes in animal-shaped smartphone cases in the depths of the Creuse, it is still quite possible in e-commerce!
Indeed, in the world of online sales, there is no limit: a trader can very well launch into consumer products, as well as so-called "niche" products...
In addition, sales possibilities have also increased tenfold since the advent of dropshipping. Concretely, this practice simply consists of selling products on your website, without you needing to manage the stock. In a way, you only deal with marketing. Although this practice may have been decried for the wrong reasons in recent years, especially with resellers who have chosen to turn to low-end products sold at high prices, dropshipping can also be practiced honestly, and with good quality products...
Marketing tools to boost sales
While physical stores can hardly measure the average length of time spent in the store, the conversion rate, or even the most viewed products, this is still quite possible in e-commerce! Indeed, whether it's webanalytics solutions to track and optimize conversions, or other tracking and marketing tools, you could even offer an advertisement to a consumer who has consulted your product, but who doesn't has not finalized his purchase!
E-commerce developments
It is difficult to predict what tomorrow will bring, especially in the digital world which is evolving at breakneck speed! Nevertheless, there is a good chance that e-commerce will continue to develop further in the years to come...
We imagine that digital companies will still come up with new ideas for selling products and services online. On the device side, if we have been very used to computers and smartphones, it is also possible that uses will change with new devices that could see the light of day soon.
Although the GDPR regulations could have put a real brake on this aspect, we also imagine that the personalization of the user experience should also be at the heart of the problems of tomorrow's online sales.
Finally, since the democratization of artificial intelligence, the potential of e-commerce has not finished developing! If some already imagine being able to delegate their customer service to a well-trained artificial intelligence, it is also very likely that AI will also be used to create products...
