Do you know how to define e-commerce? It's an English term resulting from the combination of the prefix "e," which in Portuguese means "electronic," with the word " commerce ," which means "commerce." Therefore, e-commerce can be defined as commerce conducted through electronic devices, or simply, electronic commerce.
Among the main electronic equipment on which e-commerce takes place, I can mention, for example:
- Smartphones;
- Tablets;
- Notebooks;
- Netbooks;
- Desktops;
- Terminals and totems.
However, most likely, electronic commerce began through telephones. Soon after, I tell a brief history of the emergence of this device. Additionally, I explain how it was fundamental to the first e-commerce experiences. Keep reading!
WHAT IS E-COMMERCE: DISCOVER THE HISTORY OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
E-commerce emerged in history, certainly, through the use of the telephone. The telephone, developed throughout the 19th century by the Italian Antonio Meucci, the American Elisha Gray and especially the British Alexander Graham Bell, became one of the largest means of communication in the world in the following decades.
With the success of the device, still in the 19th century, the first known telephone networks began to appear and operate. This, in turn, enabled the creation of the first telemarketing and telesales experiences.
In the following century, in the 1950s, companies began to make a telephone number available to consumers. In this way, consumers could now call companies and place orders after seeing advertisements. Thus, the telephone can be considered as the embryo from which e-commerce began to grow and evolve. In the next topic I show how this evolution occurred. Follow along!
EVOLUTION OF E-COMMERCE
In the 1970s, an Englishman named Michael Aldrich had the idea of combining telephony with televisions. He invented a system that allowed online purchases to be made via the telephone network on TVs. Thus, what can be called one of the first e-commerce platforms in history was born.
Through this system, 72-year-old Jane Snowball , a UK citizen, became the first person to make a purchase via an online interface from her home. Using a remote control, she selected cornflakes, eggs, and margarine on a TV screen. Then, she placed an order online in real time with a local supermarket.
A decade earlier, in the 1960s, the first computer networks were already under development. In this context, the internet began operating in 1969 under the name Arpanet and with the function of connecting universities, military institutions and research centers in the USA. In 1987, however, the government released it for commercial use, which was a big step towards the evolution of e-commerce.
With the release for commercial use, the first internet providers began to emerge in 1991. Because of this, companies and ordinary citizens started launching the first websites . At the same time, the first search engines also began to appear, and, in effect, the doors opened for the development of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and SEO for e-commerce.
HOW DOES E-COMMERCE WORK?
Now that you know what e-commerce is, I'll explain how it works. Basically, it operates through electronic devices. But it doesn't always happen via the internet. The company Magazine Luiza, for example, developed the first e-commerce model with an interface in Brazil in 1992. This e-commerce operated on terminals without web access. Read "The History of E-commerce in Brazil " to learn more.
In fact, those who live in large Brazilian cities have the opportunity to see, every day, when traveling by subway, machines that sell books, sweets, snacks, soft drinks and other products, which are a type of electronic commerce. By interacting with such a machine, a consumer can place an order, insert a card, make payment and receive the product immediately.
Furthermore, as already mentioned, telemarketing is considered a form of e-commerce, since sales are conducted remotely via an electronic device called a telephone. Moreover, as mentioned at the beginning of this article, e-commerce also occurs via smartphones , tablets , personal computers , laptops , and other technologies that connect to the internet.
HOW TO CREATE AN E-COMMERCE ON THE INTERNET?
Currently, the easiest way to create an e-commerce business online is through software called an " e-commerce platform ." This software allows you to set up an online store, a marketplace , a microsite , or another type of sales website.
The online store is one of the main e-commerce models in the contemporary world. It basically has two interfaces. One of them, called the front-end , allows consumers to select and buy products. And the other, called the back-end , is for the owners of online stores to manage their online business.
In any case, both interfaces can be viewed from internet browsers and applications. Therefore, consumers and e-commerce administrators can view and interact with these interfaces on smart TV screens, computers, smartphones , and other devices.
The easiest way to set up an online store, marketplace , or other type of sales website is to use the technical support of an e-commerce agency. The e-plus Agency , for example, has been developing e-commerce websites since 2015. It operates in more than 10 countries and has already completed over 400 projects for merchants like you using e-commerce platforms such as VTEX, Linx, Vnda, Wake, Shopify, uappi, and Nuvemshop, among others. To hire them, click the button below and start a conversation via messaging app right now:
TYPES OF E-COMMERCE PLATFORM
When it comes to e-commerce platforms for creating online sales websites, we can basically classify them into two types. The most basic type is the monolithic platform. Monolithic platforms have front-end and back-end systems that are intrinsically linked, which on the one hand makes scalability and evolution of online stores more difficult, and on the other hand offers a simplified structure.
Meanwhile, the most advanced type, headless e-commerce platforms , have separate back-end and front-end. This allows developers to work on these two modules independently and use Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to integrate them. This enables companies to choose the communication, payment, shipping, pricing, and marketing technologies, among others, that they want to implement on the front-end without interfering with the back-end.
Headless commerce , in short, opens the way for composable commerce to happen. Composable commerce is a concept that encompasses the use of ready-made solutions to create and evolve e-commerce websites. In other words, companies can integrate their own applications or those of other companies in order to expand their online business.
The use of headless platforms is highly recommended nowadays, in which the evolution of e-commerce happens very rapidly. Through headless platforms , you can set up and grow any type of e-commerce business with much more ease and practicality.
TYPES OF E-COMMERCE
Whether using a monolithic or headless platform , there are several types of e-commerce you can set up. Among the main ones, I can mention, for example:
B2C
Acronym for Business to Consumer, it is the trade of retail companies for the final consumer;
B2B:
Acronym for Business-to-business, it is trade from wholesale companies to retail companies;
D2C:
Acronym for Direct to Consumer, it is the trade from manufacturers to the final consumer;
B2G:
acronym for Business to Government, it is business-to-government trade;
C2C:
Acronym for Consumer to Consumer, it is consumer-to-consumer commerce.
In addition to these aspects of e-commerce, there are also more complex ones such as B2B2B, for example, which refers to integrated commerce carried out by a manufacturer for wholesale companies that, in turn, pass on to retail companies.
Anyway, whatever type of e-commerce you are intending to set up, make sure you do good planning beforehand. And, of course, to carry out the project perfectly, hire the e-Plus Agency!
