The Invention of the WWW and E-Commerce

(Tech Daily, 2021)

Defining World Wide Web

The term World Wide Web, commonly abbreviated as the Web, WWW, or W3, encompasses the entirety of publicly accessible websites and pages that individuals can reach on their personal computers and other devices via the Internet. These web pages and documents are linked together through hyperlinks that users activate to access various forms of information, such as text, images, audio, and video content (Awati, 2023).

History and Evolution of World Wide Web 

In the same article, Awati (2023) states that Berners-Lee and his team created a text-based web browser, which was made available in early 1992. Nevertheless, it wasn't until the more user-friendly Mosaic browser was introduced in 1993 that the widespread adoption of the WWW gained momentum. Mosaic featured a point-and-click graphical interface that closely resembled what people had been using on personal computers for a few years. This familiar interface significantly piqued the public's interest in the WWW, leading to its rapid global expansion.

 

Further, Awati (2023), also states that entrepreneur and software engineer Marc Andreessen, along with others, developed Mosaic in the United States. They also designed the Netscape Navigator browser, which quickly became the dominant browser in 1994, until it was overtaken by Microsoft's Internet Explorer in 1995. Internet Explorer held a dominant position in the web browser arena until it faced competition from browsers like Mozilla Firefox (released in 2004) and Google Chrome (released in 2008). In 2015, Microsoft phased out Internet Explorer and introduced the Microsoft Edge browser as its replacement.

Defining E-Commerce

"E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the buying and selling of goods and services, or the transmitting of funds or data, over an electronic network, primarily the internet. These business transactions occur either as business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C), consumer-to-consumer or consumer-to-business" (Lutkevich, 2022)

Further, Lutkevich (2022) also affirms that the terms e-commerce and e-business are frequently employed interchangeably. Additionally, the phrase e-tail is occasionally utilized to describe the transactional aspects comprising online retail shopping.

History of E-Commerce

In an article published by Kiriakidis (n.d.), it states that In 1997, Amazon's founder, Jeff Bezos, unveiled "Earth's largest bookstore," providing many with their first introduction to the thrilling world of e-commerce. His rapidly expanding online store generated over $252 million in its inaugural full year, marking the beginning of a transformative journey. A similar trajectory was observed with Pierre Omidyar, a French-born American entrepreneur, whose company, AuctionWeb, raked in approximately $95 million during its second full year, eventually evolving into the well-known platform we now know as eBay.

However, this path to success was not without its challenges. The turn of the millennium brought about the .com collapse, resulting in the demise of numerous internet businesses. Paradoxically, rather than spelling the end of e-commerce, this collapse served as a catalyst for its resurgence. It gave rise to a fresh wave of enterprises that laid the foundation for the contemporary online shopping experience we enjoy today (Kiriakidis, n.d.)

Reference(s): 

Awati, R (2023) TechTarget Available at: What is the World Wide Web (WWW)? | Definition from TechTarget (Accessed: 18/08/2023)

Lutkevich, B (2022) TechTarget Available at: What is E-Commerce? Definition and Meaning (techtarget.com) (Accessed: 18/09/2023)

Kiriakidis, D (n.d.) Fleximize Available at: History of E-Commerce - Fleximize (Accessed: 06/09/2023)

Tech Daily (2021) Person holding black android smartphone Available at: Person holding black android smartphone photo – Free Techdaily Image on Unsplash (Accessed: 06/09/2023)