History of e-commerce: How logistics and communications paved the way

Retracing the steps from mail-order to mobile order

You might be an everyday online shopper, curious about the backstory of your digital cart. Or perhaps you’re running your own Shopify store, trying to navigate the world of e-commerce. You could even be part of the warehouse crew, ensuring that shoppers get their orders on time.

Regardless of your place in the e-commerce world, I’m writing this Medium series to share my learnings and excitement on the historical moments that happened over the past few centuries to make e-commerce possible today.

I’m planning 6 posts in this series. Each post will chronologically cover a key period ranging from the pre-e-commerce (that’s a mouthful) times to the modern day.

The key periods are as follows:

[BC (Before e-Commerce)] Laying the foundations: The advent of parcel deliveries, mail-orders and telephone orders

Before the digital cart and click, there was the catalog and call. This look-back traces the essential DNA of e-commerce, from the birth of USPS in 1775, to the concept of parcel deliveries being introduced by UPS, to the telephone transactions that began it all.

11/13/2023 Update: Post available here!

[The 1960s — 1980s] Before the web: When you could order groceries from a TV

The concept of e-commerce was actually born before the internet was in every home. It’s a world of peak phone orders, early data exchange, and the seeds of an idea that would change the marketplace forever. This was also when FedEx was born as one of the earliest cases of a modern-day startup, with $91 million raised (almost $700 million today) for a disruptive idea that revolutionized logistics by air.

11/30/2023 Update: Post available here!

[1990s] The world wide web and the e-commerce spark

Then, we’ll hit the 90s, when the internet opened up a new frontier for commerce. We’ll trace the steps of the first major players like Amazon and how they shaped the online marketplace we know today.

12/21/2023 Update: Post available here!

[2000s] The birth of free shipping and other logistics strategies

The 2000s brought us the magic words: free shipping. We’ll explore how this and other logistics innovations helped online retail really take off, setting new standards for the shopper experience.

[2010s] The new kid on the block: automation

The 2010s saw the rise of robots and smart tech in logistics, streamlining the way products are stored, sorted, and sent. We’ll look at how these advances have sped up shipping and what they mean for the future.

[2020s] The current landscape

Catching up to the present, we’ll discuss how e-commerce has adapted to our ever-changing shopping habits and the technology that’s keeping pace with consumer demands.

Through this series, I aim to share the key milestones that have made e-commerce what it is today. I hope you’ll find valuable takeaways, whether you’re deeply embedded in the industry or just enjoy the convenience of clicking ‘buy now’. Stick around for a thoughtful look back at the path e-commerce has taken, and a glimpse forward at where it might go next. See you in the next post where we dive into prehistoric times, BC (Before e-Commerce).