It seems like online shopping has been around forever, yet the history of eCommerce is fairly short in timeframe. Today, the sky is the limit to what you can purchase online, but let’s consider where it all began. The transformation of eCommerce has been astounding and continues to this day. ECommerce has boomed in just the last decade and with it the volume and diversity of products and services that are offered.
When we think of eCommerce, we may focus on what it means respective of the B2C world, but it’s much more than that. ECommerce refers to all manners of conducting business online encompassing any form of products or services bought or sold over an electronic medium.
The Origins of eCommerce
Ecommerce emerged in the 1960s with ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) commissioning the world’s first routers in 1968. Within the next year, a network called ARPANET was created which ensured that crucial lines of communication could be maintained in the event of a nuclear disaster. Three years later, researchers developed a new method for dialing into ARPANET using just a computer terminal. Terminal Interface Processor (TIP) eventually led to Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), a familiar combination even in modern times.
This technology expanded the Internet from military bases and university labs to business offices. Companies used it to share business documents with one other, relying solely on Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), a digital information transfer technology that could replace mail and fax for sharing documents. This technology made it possible to transfer information from computer to computer seamlessly without the need for human involvement.
In 1979, English inventor Michael Aldrich pioneered what would eventually become known as eCommerce by connecting television and telephone lines. The story goes that Aldrich thought of the idea while on a walk with his wife, lamenting the inconvenience of making regular trips to the market. Wouldn’t it be so much easier if you could just order what you needed through the TV?
Shortly, thereafter, he invented a system that advertised goods and services on television, giving viewers the ability to call into a processing center to place orders. Aldrich called his system “teleshopping” and eCommerce was born.
eCommerce evolution in the 1980s and 1990s
As we entered the 1980s we were just learning the wonders of cable television, when a group of astute technology users formed the Boston Computer Exchange, which was a bulletin board system-based marketplace established to facilitate the sale and trade of used computers. The Boston Computer Exchange was groundbreaking in its development of a fully automated, online auction and marketplace for general commerce.
Ecommerce continued to advance and in 1990 the first web browser launched under the name of “WorldWideWeb”. With this in place, the development of what we know as the internet developed from the display of basic style sheets to the launch of eCommerce giants like Amazon and eBay in a few short years.
By the end of the 1990s, our email inboxes were inundated, and DVDs replaced VHS tapes as the preferred method of viewing entertainment, but this change did not last for long once Netflix was launched in 1997. Netflix was the world’s first online movie rental store building its success on the model of flat-fee unlimited rentals with no due dates, late fees, shipping & handling fees, or per-title rental fees. Netflix took the customer service game to the next level for all future online businesses and changed the entertainment industry altogether.
The following year, Paypal emerged as “Confinity” with a tool for transferring money. Paypal now functions as a bank, executing payment processing for online vendors, auction sites, personal and commercial users. Their services have expanded to allow customers to send, receive and hold funds in 26 currencies worldwide. To this day, Paypal Holdings and their subsidiary Venmo are huge players in the digital wallet game.
eCommerce today
As eCommerce continued to evolve, customers enjoyed the ability to access any item they want in the digital space, and in 2012 Instacart was launched in San Francisco by a former Amazon employee. Partnering with over 300 national, regional, and local retailers they provided personal shoppers who pick, pack, and deliver orders according to the customer’s time frame.
In 2014, it was time for Apple to jump into the eCommerce game, capitalizing on the boost in the use of portable devices with their launch of Apple Pay in the digital wallet and mobile payment realm. This paved the way for mobile devices as a new channel for marketers to reach a wider audience with easier access to shopping and payment methods
As eCommerce continues to evolve, social sites have become shoppable with Pinterest adding buyable Pins to their boards in 2015. These pins allow board followers to purchase right on the site without leaving the site.
After eBay partnered with PayPal, companies have partnered or acquired additional organizations to diversify or otherwise enhance their business model, and this practice shows no sign of stopping.
Monumental changes across the eCommerce industry have led large retailers to continue to push their online sales and even smaller, local businesses have turned to digital avenues to continue to drive their business.
As a result of these evolutions, the buying habits of both consumers and businesses have also evolved. Ecommerce business has adopted AI and automation to better meet the needs of their customers. It has also changed how we prospect for new customers, allowing us to map the customer journey to better understand how and why they purchase.
What has eCommerce taught us?
If we learn anything from the history of eCommerce, it should be that this evolution will continue, and we need to be able to evolve along with it.
Creating efficient, convenient, and personalized experiences with highly sophisticated tools will be the order of the day. Regardless of the trends your organization chooses to pursue, make sure that the work is intentional and reaches toward a seamless and engaging experience for all.
If there’s one takeaway from the origins and history of eCommerce, it should be that the industry is constantly changing. Innovations are always just around the corner, which means your company must constantly adapt to stay ahead. Fortunately, countless online businesses have proven this can be done. You just need to follow two rules.
First, always put your customer first. The very origins of eCommerce are rooted in a desire to give customers more of what they wanted: convenience, selection, and savings. No matter what Google does to its algorithm or which devices become the next user-favorite, if you put your customers first, you’ll be set up for success. Second, stay flexible. If you let success lead to complacency, you won’t be successful for long. Always look for new ways to keep your customers happy and they’ll be sure to repay your efforts.
The future of eCommerce looks to be just as exciting as its past. If you keep these two rules in mind, you’ll have plenty to be excited about, too.
In the United States, eCommerce sales are expected to overtake in-store sales by 2024. However, as legacy wholesalers go online and global retail giants like Walmart expand their eCommerce initiatives, digital competition will only grow. In addition, competitors in product categories that aren’t traditionally in-demand online, such as household essentials, health, and personal care items, will also be competing for eCommerce shoppers.
Take a look at a visual representation of the eCommerce timeline.
E-commerce has been evolving for years and has experienced a surge following the recent pandemic to become a powerful part of both online and physical business. Technological advances in automation have enabled more companies to take part in e-business, but these technologies are relevant to traditional brick-and-mortar businesses as well. Advanced inventory management and enhanced customer experience are important to all business ventures.
Inventory management is the backbone of any successful manufacturing or retail business. Using advanced automation technology can help implement a lean supply chain leading to sustainability.
E-commerce fulfillment center design is a focus of the ABCO design team. ABCO has a rich history of working with both large and small e-commerce companies to meet and exceed their order demand. Whether you are a small business looking for a scalable solution or a large organization looking to efficiently process large quantities of orders per hour; all can benefit from an efficient fulfillment center design.
Whether you are stepping into e-commerce or looking to make your fulfillment center more efficient, ABCO Systems can help design the right solution for you. CLICK to learn more about how we can partner with you to implement an efficient fulfillment center solution.
ABCO Systems offers conveyor maintenance and here is why.</5>
Many of our customers are choosing to automate within the facility. For many the choice to automate is an easy one as the high cost of wages and benefits, lack of qualified staff, unscheduled absences are reaching unprecedented levels. These are all compelling reasons to automate and keep your company competitive. There is one caveat, if neglected automation like employees can get “sick”.
Automation out of the box will reward you handsomely and for the most part will run worry free for some time. Yet over time the moving components are slowly wearing, and failure is on the horizon. An unexpected breakdown will leave you scrambling to find staffing, complete orders and make shipping deadlines. Implementing a pre-scheduled maintenance program will accomplish a few things. First, maintenance will preserve your warranty. The warranty will only cover a system that has be maintained per the manufacturers recommendations.
Secondly, you get to chose when your automation is down. While not a perfect science, most unscheduled breakdowns can be avoided with regular maintenance. For some, the amount of work that needs to be completed on a Monday or during black Friday could result in thousands of service failures to your customers. Will the result be cancelled orders or lost future sales? Planning for a shut down in the days and weeks before a peak can avoid the chaos. Regular maintenance can determine critical issues and help determine a plan to repair and replace.
Partnering with the ABCO Systems service team to protect your system will prove to be invaluable. The team consists of service technicians, project managers and internal support staff that handle everything. Keeping your system running at peak performance is their number one priority. On-site the team will help you make adjustments that will prolong the life of the system, reduce downtime, schedule repairs, document maintenance, manage your parts inventory, Offsite the staff will replace inventory, schedule repairs around your operation and submit warranty claims and.
If you are looking to safeguard your investment and keep your operation running smoothly contact our office to see how little peace of mind can be.
Give us a call at (201) 507-0999 or send us an email and we’ll be happy to help you.
Please join me in welcoming Matt O’Neill to the ABCO Systems team. Matt joins us as the VP of Business Development. Matt has a unique background and an exceptional amount of experience. For nearly 15 years, Matt specialized in the sale and implementation of conveyor systems. He went on to hold the position of VP of Operations for 8 years at Nuts.com where he was responsible for designing and building their e-commerce infrastructure lending to the company’s growth to over 60 million dollars. Matt has extensive experience and understanding of facility design and layout, project management, sales and most importantly, process flow. After more than two years of pursuit, we are extremely excited to finally have him join the ABCO team. As we continue building our capabilities as a full-service conveyor integrator, he brings an incredible amount of knowledge and value to our customers.
Please do not hesitate to reach out if you would like to consult with him and see how he can help your business.
It’s not just a product, it’s a service. It’s not just a commodity.
Certainly, if you are simply buying some uprights and beams, maybe even a few wire decks, then maybe racking is just a commodity.
However, in today’s world of expensive real estate, air tight leases and even more expensive labor, warehouse tenants are most times requiring so much more than just buying some materials.
The correctly optimized warehouse, over the lifespan of a lease, can save significant money both in real estate and labor.
But there is so much more to it than that. There is an incredible amount that goes into even the simplest pallet racking system. What might appear to be easy actually requires a lot of detail.
The existing floor, sprinkler system and even the amount of ingress doors the building has can affect what type of racking you can have, how tall it can be, and how you can install it. The proper column sizing, aisle spacing and footplates can also have a great effect on your racking system. The weight of your product, how flammable it is, and even how you package it, can severely limit your options.
The permit process, in and of itself, is a beast all to its own. It can take up to two weeks (or sometimes significantly longer) to gather all of the necessary information for the permit package. It is required that we submit a PE signed letter validating that your sprinkler system can adequately protect your product based on its commodity class and how it is stored. Or worse yet, it is very possible that your sprinkler system might even need to be upgraded in some older buildings. We also need a PE signed set of plans that show the racking, the egress/emergency lighting layout, and the racking calculations showing that the rack can support the weight of the product being stored.
For all of these reasons, and many more besides, it is important that you do not see pallet racking as not just a commodity. If you have a deadline to hit, or you need to optimize your space, or if you need to keep your overall costs down by most effectively utilizing your space, finding the right partner to deal with is integral to a successful long-term operation.
If you don’t already ready have a relationship with a racking company, start looking for one now. Even if you are not planning on any kind of work for years. If you think that you might need it in the future, developing the relationship now will save time and money later.
Then, once you know you are going to move or make any alterations, start engaging your racking company early in the process. If you pick the right one, they will actually assist in your search for a new building. The right racking company can help evaluate the building, desired layout, the sprinkler system, the electrical requirements and much more. And the right company will do all of this simply because they want to earn your racking business.
The individual pallet rack pieces themselves might be a commodity. But the value of the service that goes into it, most definitely is not. At the end of the day, the amount of money you will save by working with the right company, and creating the right solution for you, will be all the peace of mind that you need to perform at your best.
Choose ABCO Systems as your racking partner and we will do our best to help you design your space to its fullest potential. Our design and engineering team are ready to help optimize and layout your building with not only your business needs, but with safety and efficiency in mind as well.
Give ABCO a call at (201) 507-0999 or send us an email for more information.
It’s not just a product, it’s a service. It’s not just a commodity. Certainly, if you are simply buying some uprights and beams, maybe even a few wire decks, then maybe racking is just a commodity. However, in today’s world of expensive real estate, air tight leases and even more expensive labor, warehouse tenants are most times requiring so much more than just buying some materials. The correctly optimized warehouse, over the lifespan of a lease, can save significant money both in real estate and labor. But there is so much more to it than that. There is an incredible amount that goes into even the simplest pallet racking system. What might appear to be easy actually requires a lot of detail. The existing floor, sprinkler system and even the amount of ingress doors the building has can affect what type of racking you can have, how tall it can be, and how you can install it. The proper column sizing, aisle spacing and footplates can also have a great effect on your racking system. The weight of your product, how flammable it is, and even how you package it, can severely limit your options. The permit process, in and of itself, is a beast all to its own. It can take up to two weeks (or sometimes significantly longer) to gather all of the necessary information for the permit package. It is required that we submit a PE signed letter validating that your sprinkler system can adequately protect your product based on its commodity class and how it is stored. Or worse yet, it is very possible that your sprinkler system might even need to be upgraded in some older buildings. We also need a PE signed set of plans that show the racking, the egress/emergency lighting layout, and the racking calculations showing that the rack can support the weight of the product being stored. For all of these reasons, and many more besides, it is important that you do not see pallet racking as not just a commodity. If you have a deadline to hit, or you need to optimize your space, or if you need to keep your overall costs down by most effectively utilizing your space, finding the right partner to deal with is integral to a successful long-term operation.
If you don’t already ready have a relationship with a racking company, start looking for one now. Even if you are not planning on any kind of work for years. If you think that you might need it in the future, developing the relationship now will save time and money later.
Then, once you know you are going to move or make any alterations, start engaging your racking company early in the process. If you pick the right one, they will actually assist in your search for a new building. The right racking company can help evaluate the building, desired layout, the sprinkler system, the electrical requirements and much more. And the right company will do all of this simply because they want to earn your racking business.
The individual pallet rack pieces themselves might be a commodity. But the value of the service that goes into it, most definitely is not. At the end of the day, the amount of money you will save by working with the right company, and creating the right solution for you, will be all the peace of mind that you need to perform at your best.
Choose ABCO Systems as your racking partner and we will do our best to help you design your space to its fullest potential. Our design and engineering team are ready to help optimize and layout your building with not only your business needs, but with safety and efficiency in mind as well.
Give ABCO a call at (201) 507-0999 or send us an email for more information.
Automation out of the box will reward you handsomely and for the most part will run worry free for some time. Yet over time the moving components are slowly wearing, and failure is on the horizon. An unexpected breakdown will leave you scrambling to find staffing, complete orders and make shipping deadlines. 
