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E-commerce might be a relatively recent concept as compared to other phenomenon; nevertheless it would be interesting to follow the history of it no matter how short. Of course the concepts of international trade have been there for a long time and people have been involved in exchange of good and services in form of import/exports and global sourcing in other form since long back. In this article a brief history of e-commerce would be looked at so that its contribution to the concepts of international trade can be adjudged in the right perspective as well its role in promoting cross border transfer of good and services or import/exports and global sourcing.
In the true sense of the world e-commerce has been in existence much before the evolution and common use of the miracle machine namely the computer. This should not come as a surprise since electronic technology has been around since much before the advent of computers and so have been the phenomenon of international trade in various forms such as import/export and search for viable alternatives has been there, which is a form of global sourcing.
Still this does not mean that e-commerce has been around for centuries, but the earliest available records or e-commerce are available as early as 1984 when then the electronic data interchange was invented, which helped companies to carry out their dealings in a much more reliable manner than before in terms of international trade, import/export and global sourcing.
The first records of a company letting people buy things off the computer is present as early as 1992 in the form of Compuserve, which may not have offered a great boost to international trade, import/export or global sourcing but it did provide a humble basis for future development in the arena.
The year of 1995 cannot be forgotten as it marked the beginning of two giants of Amazon and Ebay which do not need any introduction these days have certainly contributed in their own ways to international trade, import/export and global sourcing. In fact as early as 1999 the retail sales on the internet had reached as high as twenty billion dollars.
The rest as they say is history and currently the expanse and scope of e-commerce is there for all to see and its impact on international trade, import/export and global sourcing is certainly felt tremendously in all areas of the global economy. The future of e-commerce is certainly even brighter as compared to the current situation although some experts do express some concerns over the growing expansion of e-commerce and its influence in international trade, import/export and global sourcing.