Someone once said, ‘those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.’
So let’s review some e-commerce history:
- In 1994, Netscape launched the first internet browser in 1994
- In 1995, Netscape released SSL in 1995 which enabled secure internet browsing
- In 1995, ebay, Amazon and Craigslist were all launched
- In 1997 Dell became the first company to reach a million dollar in online sales in a single day
- Paypal was launched in 1999
- Google launched Adwords in 2000
- Amazon launched free shipping in 2001
- Shopify is founded in 2004
- BigCommerce is founded in 2009
So what can we learn from this bullet style history lesson?
- That most of what we do in e-commerce today was built out during the above years. Things change but they really don’t.
- Despite the huge growth and changes in e-commerce, it still counts for only 10% of the total US retail sales. So, there’s plenty of room for growth and opportunity.
- But with opportunity comes competition. So, there will be lots more competitors in the future.
So how are you going to grab the opportunities of e-commerce and protect yourself from all the competitors?
You guessed it – build your base of repeat customers.
Check out a demo of RewardCamp to put into practice the lessons of history