What is e-commerce, you ask? Well, e-commerce is the term used to refer to any business or commercial transaction that involves processing over the Internet. In today's world, the Internet is almost essential for everything you need to do, including shopping. There is not a successful business in America that does not use the e-commerce system in one way or another. For example, have you ever shopped online, perhaps you have heard of Craigslist, EBay, Eastbay or even Amazon, or have been successful because of their ability to purchase and for sale online. There are many other such companies, but these are just a few of the most popular. How did e-commerce start, you asked? Well, e-commerce has been around for about 40 years now. Even though it has been around for so long, it has started growing rapidly in the last 5 years and is expected to continue growing. EDI or Electronic Data Interchange started the whole movement by replacing traditional sending and faxing of documents with digital transfer of data from one computer to another. A man named Michael Aldrich, an English inventor, is considered the inventor of online shopping. It is said that the idea came to him during a day of shopping with his wife at the supermarket. In 1979, Aldrich connected a television to a processing computer with a telephone line and created what he coined, “teleshopping,” which means shopping remotely. It was a great idea, but like most great ideas, it takes time to turn into a successful movement, and this idea would not begin to grow with the spread of the PC and the World Wide Web, also known as the name of the Internet. The Internet, which really began to emerge in 1982, has connected millions of users middle of paper ......f to the disadvantages of e-commerce. Its benefits far outweigh the risks because for customers, it saves you the time of going to a store when the item you want may not be there. For businesses, this is a major advantage as it gives growth to a business as it gives more options to businesses. Customers no longer need to go to a store and order. They can now simply visit their favorite establishment's website and order directly online. This therefore gives the company time to process orders without having to rush orders. I actually order a lot of things online myself, so this is a really reliable source for me, since everything was sold online, you can even get car insurance or even buy a car online these days . So the next time you are getting ready to order something online, remember that with just one click you can order anything through e-commerce..