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30 years? E-commerce hasn't been around that long - try 5 years of optimization MAX.

FWIW OpenAI is desperately trying to monetize and they think e-commerce is a "simple" problem to solve. I mean they do need to convert their funnel without alienating their users. I assume they are going to have some big payouts for agentic purchases gone awry or leave merchants on the hook.



So, you're proposing we've been optimizing E-Commerce since...2021? Amazon was founded in 1994. It was not the first site selling things online (but it's the most recognizable one). E-Commerce has been getting attention for a *very* long time [0]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_e-commerce


I remember having to describe a standard model to predict online shopping behaviors for my ML class exam in university. That was close to 10 years ago now.

Also remember a teacher telling us about that story of a company finding a woman was pregnant from her shopping behavior and pushing relevant recommendation. Prompting people around her like her dad or something to find out she was pregnant


30 years ago is 1996. Amazon had been around for 2 years (they were incorporated in 1994).


> 30 years ago is 1996.

as an aside, fall of '96 is when i started college. There was an elementary school on my drive to class where I would routinely get caught in drop-off traffic. All those kids i remember crossing the street are at least in their mid 30s now. ...I think i need to lay down and it's not even 9AM my local time.


This is a very confusing comment to me. How were people buying books from Amazon in the 90s if it wasn't e-commerce?




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