E-commerce, anyone?

E-commerce, online commerce or online trading is one and the same thing. And it’s truly becoming a part of our daily lives much more than ever before. Before you sing paens of praise, how about some trivia to get us even more moved by its overwhelming influence? Without further ado, here goes…

  • The first e-commerce transaction happened on Aug 11, 1994 when NetMarket sold Sting’s Ten Summoner’s Tales for $12.48.
  • The German police recently arrested a man for stealing more than one million screws from his employers and selling them on the Internet.
  • Since the birth of the Internet, thousands of online business owners have had their entire web sites stolen!
  • There are innumerable virtual schools, malls and even hospitals on the Internet; you can even go on a virtual holiday to any place on the planet
  • In 2000, lawyers started a new service called ‘click 2 split’, offering divorcing couples the opportunity to download free DIY divorce packages that contain forms and step-by-step guides, for uncontested divorces.
  • According to a survey in 2000, 55% of online gamblers happened to be women
  • 5,400 jobs were cut between January and June 2000 due to dot-com failures
  • Online surveys point out that men largely buy computers, CDs and videos on the Net while women shop for books, clothes and perfumes
  • Pierre Omidyar developed the idea for eBay after his fiancée complained that she couldn’t find people who shared her interest in Pez dispensers.
  • New York is the city in the US with the most Web grocers that offer door-to-door delivery