Distribution - Digital Goods, Security, The Future Of Distribution

The manner in which commercial goods are distributed has evolved throughout history. Long ago, consumers directly traded physical goods and services. Eventually, different forms of physical currency, such as coins and paper money, were added to the mix. Increasingly sophisticated methods of communication played an important role in the evolution of distribution. As Purchasing explained, "In the past, to communicate needs, buyers used couriers, which evolved to using water, rail, and air as each new transportation mode came into being. For critical needs, telegraph replaced the horse followed by phone, telex, fax, private networks and, finally, the Internet."

The Internet, and later the World Wide Web, gave birth to e-commerce. For the first time in history, it was possible for buyers and sellers to communicate instantly with one another, regardless of physical location, and make arrangements regarding the exchange of goods and services. While it was relatively simple to enable online payments, the part of the transaction involving the movement of goods was another matter. Physical goods still had to be transported in some manner. On the other hand, digital goods could be transported as quickly as online payments.