Top 3 eCommerce Related Questions

https://awesomers.com/138 <-- full show notes with links here There are lots of opinions about when ecommerce began, but according to ecommerce-land.com it all began in 1991 when the Internet was commercialized. Here is a snippet: History of ecommerce dates back to the invention of the very old notion of "sell and buy", electricity, cables, computers, modems, and the Internet. Ecommerce became possible in 1991 when the Internet was opened to commercial use. Since that date thousands of businesses have taken up residence at web sites. At first, the term ecommerce meant the process of execution of commercial transactions electronically with the help of the leading technologies such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) which gave an opportunity for users to exchange business information and do electronic transactions. The ability to use these technologies appeared in the late 1970s and allowed business companies and organizations to send commercial documentation electronically. Many pundits wonder, especially when they are on camera, if ecommerce is going to kill traditional retail stores. A Forbes article written by Steve Dennis takes that question head on. We have our opinions on this topic as well, but overall the death of retail is over hyped. What is true is that the landscape is changing and those who fail to adapt will go the way of the dinosaur. Snippet: It seems as if those who spend a lot of time worrying about the future of retail have fallen into one of two camps. There are the “retail apocalypse” proselytizers who would have us believe that virtually all shopping will eventually be done online, that most brick-and-mortar stores are doomed and that anyone who says otherwise is a dinosaur. At the other end of the spectrum are the disruption deniers who acknowledge that the retail climate is indeed changing but who take comfort in the fact that physical retail is still growing and, more notably, that e-commerce represents “only” about 10% of all retail. Too many people ask the wrong questions about ecommerce making them rich or wealthy. If you start a business trying to get rich you are headed for trouble. If you start a business to help someone solve a problem you are far more likley to find "legs" for that business. Luckily the world we live in today allows you to pursue a business, which focuses on solving somone's problem, in a far easier way than ever before. eCommerce platforms like Shopify, Amazon, Wordpress, Wix, Square, and many others are not going to make you rich. However, you can create a business that creates equity and ultimately even wealth if you think about creating something that actually has value: e.g. a brand vs. trying to spin up a aliexpress to shopify site that has nothing of inherent value. https://awesomers.com/138 <-- full show notes with links here