E-commerce, or electronic commerce, is a term used to describe the buying and selling of goods and services online. While there is no single individual or company credited with “creating” e-commerce, it emerged in the mid-1990s with the growth of the internet and the development of new technologies and platforms to support online transactions.
One of the earliest examples of e-commerce was the online bookstore Amazon, which was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos. Another early e-commerce platform was eBay, which launched in 1995 as an online auction site. Over the years, many other companies have entered the e-commerce space, including major retailers like Walmart and Target, as well as small businesses and independent sellers.
Today, e-commerce has become an essential part of the global economy, with millions of transactions taking place online every day.