The Development Of Ecommerce And Other Services Online

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There is no denying that many consumers today prefer buying products online instead of their local brick-and-mortar stores. And this is evidenced by the kind of sales revenue generated by many leading eCommerce platforms. To put this into perspective, we need only look to an article published by Yahoo Finance, which recently compiled a list of the 15 most prominent players in the eCommerce space. Some of these companies, which are immensely popular in the United States, include Amazon, eBay, Best Buy, and Walmart. And they each have valuations that are in the high billions or trillions in 2023. 

Of course, online shopping is trending not only in the U.S. but also in other parts of the world. For example, Shopee was named the largest online marketplace in South East Asia in early 2023, with a valuation of $38 billion. Second, there is Lazada, yet another online marketplace based in South East Asia, which reported a valuation of a little over $3 billion in the same year. 

Indeed, consumers, now more than ever, thoroughly enjoy the convenience that comes with ordering online and having their products delivered to their homes in 2023. 

Understanding E-Commerce And The Type Of Platforms Available To Consumers 

To better understand why eCommerce has become as big as it is today, it helps to know more about its history, which, according to several studies, got its start in the 1960s. And this is quite fascinating when you consider that the internet hadn't become mainstream until 1991. Long before Amazon, eBay, Best Buy, Walmart, Shopee, and Lazada, all of which are top of mind when most consumers think of eCommerce, there was CompuServe, a company that made a name for itself by selling digital products to businesses in the U.S. and around the world. 

Essentially, CompuServe was the first business-to-business (B2B) eCommerce platform on record. Soon after being founded in 1969, the Columbus, Ohio-based company began marketing, selling, and supporting electronic mail (email) capabilities for personal and business computers. In the 1980s, the company began focusing its efforts on innovations that would specifically appeal to the corporate world, such as developing real-time chat online and wide-area networking business solutions. 

Following in the footsteps of CompuServe, many other companies started offering digital products to corporate clients. Some of these companies include Adobe, Apple, Cisco, Google, and Oracle, for example. The success of these various business-to-business (B2B) eCommerce platforms eventually led to the creation of business-to-consumer (B2C) eCommerce platforms, which first began with traditional brick-and-mortar stores offering consumers the option of purchasing in-store or ordering online. From there, retailers operating solely within the digital realm, namely Amazon, eBay, Shopee, Lazada, and others, eventually jumped on the proverbial business-to-consumer eCommerce bandwagon. It is worth noting that, along with business-to-business and business-to-consumer, the following also fit under the umbrella of e-commerce: 

• Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) 

C2C is a business model that fosters commerce between private individuals, usually in an online environment. C2C companies act as intermediaries to foster engagement and help consumers reach bigger audiences.

• Consumer-to-Business (C2B) 

Within this rapidly evolving digital arena, many businesses recognize the need for specialized expertise in developing robust software solutions. This has given rise to the phenomenon of an enterprise software development agency. The task of the latter is to help businesses build scalable and secure eCommerce platforms. Such agencies contribute significantly to the ongoing expansion of the eCommerce landscape.

What Are The Most Popular Products Being Sold Online? 

Along with the convenience of having their product delivered right to their door, many consumers cite a broader selection of goods and services in explaining why they prefer buying online rather than buying from a traditional brick-and-mortar store. Some of the most in-demand products and services sold and marketed to consumers worldwide in recent years are in the 6 following categories: 

Devices

Among the many devices being purchased by consumers online are electronics, namely laptops, smartphones, tablets, and the like. To contextualize to what extent, we need only look to a study published by Ecommerce DB, a website that details revenue data for some 5,000 online shopping platforms worldwide. According to the data, Amazon generated over $45 billion in electronic sales alone in 2022. And it does not end there as Apple generated more than $11 billion in electronic sales in the same year. Lastly, multinational consumer electronics retailer Best Buy generated close to $6 billion in electronic sales. 

Food 

Another trend when it comes to online shopping has to do with food. Studies show that more consumers are taking to eCommerce platforms, namely Amazon, Whole Foods, and Walmart, to do their grocery shopping. That said, many cite the following in their decision to shop with these online retailers: 

• More cost-effective 
• Easier returns 
• More food choices 
• The convenience of having food delivered to their home 
• Reduces the compulsion to impulse buy 

Clothing

Along with food and electronic devices, many consumers are also buying clothing online. And many say they do so because the items they want are often less expensive. Plus, the variety of styles, colors, and even brands are more plentiful when compared to that of traditional stores. 

Medications

For those with medical conditions that make it difficult to go to a physical pharmacy, the option to buy much-needed prescription drugs online is a godsend. And this also applies to individuals struggling with a human growth hormone (HGH) deficiency, which can trigger an array of unpleasant symptoms, including low libido, low bone density, weight gain, anxiety, depression, and much more. To boost low growth hormone (GH) levels and simultaneously gain relief from symptoms associated with an HGH deficiency, many people are now buying the same GH replacement drugs they once purchased at traditional pharmacies from online ones instead. 

Some of the in-demand, injectable GH replacement medications being sold to consumers online and HGH prescription online is also available. These brands of human growth hormones include the following: 

• Sogroya 
• Humatrope 
• Norditropin 
• Saizen 
• Genotropin 

Toys 

As much as adults enjoy buying for themselves online, they seldom skip out on an opportunity to buy for their kids while they peruse the virtual shelves of their favorite online retailers. And this is evidenced by a study published by Statista. The study revealed that eCommerce sales in the toy and games segment accounted for $18 million in revenue recently. 

Cosmetics And Household Products  

Rounding out the in-demand items that consumers tend to purchase online are cosmetics and household goods. Again, the reason behind this preference has a lot to do with more selection and lower prices, the two areas where brick-and-mortar retailers are unable to compete. Current data shows that 8-9% of all cosmetic and household good sales, respectively, occur online. 

Bottom Line On E-Commerce Sales

In summary, shopping online is becoming more of a standard than an alternative for many consumers today in 2023. What's more, this relatively new trend is driving considerable year-over-year growth for nearly all eCommerce platforms.

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