The profitability of online shopping increases with each passing year. In 2022, the global e-commerce market reached $5.5 trillion, and it’s expected to reach $7 trillion by 2025. Of course, this makes the sector incredibly fruitful for businesses, big and small.
However, there are tons of e-commerce platforms and solutions on the market, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. In order for these businesses to thrive in the e-commerce space, they need to select the right platform to partner with.
Fortunately, the majority of these e-commerce platforms have simple implementations, so they get up and running quickly. Here are the top 6 e-commerce marketplaces.
Top E-commerce Marketplace: Amazon
It’s no surprise that Amazon takes the top spot when it comes to e-commerce marketplaces. The platform gets over 5.5 billion visits per month, making it one of only two e-commerce solutions to boast over a billion visitors each month.
Amazon sells a huge variety of general merchandise products, including household appliances, workout equipment, thank you gifts, and even some food items. This is because Amazon is both a marketplace and a retailer.
That being said, Amazon’s strong dominion over the e-commerce industry seems to be weakening, but only very slightly. Other retail companies, such as Walmart, have started their own retailer and marketplace combos.
While they’re not likely to dethrone Amazon anytime soon, the addition of their own marketplaces grants consumers more choices in product selection. Other marketplaces and retail combos create stronger price competition between competing platforms, as well.
There are a few different aspects that makeup Amazon’s stranglehold on the e-commerce market’s top spot. The first is consistency in smart business decision-making. For example, Amazon bought iRobot, the Roomba company, in 2022 for $1.65 billion.
It’s speculated Amazon wants to use iRobots insights into how people live to improve their Alexa smart home experience. Another aspect is Amazon’s place in general markets; general marketplaces sell the most products, so it’s only natural Amazon stays in the general sphere.
Top E-commerce Marketplace: eBay
EBay is a great example of a company that’s withstood the test of time. Having been around since 1995, and has remained a staple of the internet since the dot-com boom in the early 2000s. These days, eBay is a global e-commerce marketplace selling general goods and receives almost 3 billion visits per month.
It has also created a pretty great niche for itself; eBay was one of the first marketplaces to capitalize on online auctions. Using this business model, eBay acts as a marketplace for buyers and sellers to meet, with the company taking between 12 and 15% of each transaction.
EBay’s original buyer and seller auction model played a huge role in getting the company to the size it is today. This is because the model meets needs of both buyers and sellers. Buyers needed one convenient place to purchase a multitude of products, and sellers needed a simple, easy way to sell their products or things they simply didn’t need.
The fact eBay allowed sellers to sell basically any product was also a huge advantage to the marketplace’s accessibility. This led consumers to trust the eBay brand, granting the marketplace the brand recognition it still enjoys today.
Top E-commerce Marketplace: Shopee
The next top e-commerce platform is Shopee, a marketplace selling general goods in the Southeast Asia region. Shopee gets about 631 million visits per month and is touted as a tech and consumer focused e-commerce solution.
Shopee was created in Singapore in 2015, and has since expanded to several other countries, including Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. A few Latin American and European countries also contain Shopee users.
When it started out, Shopee was offering consumer-to-consumer (C2C) transactions, but now they offer both C2C and business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions. Additionally, Shopee works with a variety of courier services to streamline product delivery processes.
In terms of business model, Shopee works pretty similarly to eBay. As a marketplace, Shopee connects buyers and sellers while taking a small commission fee on each transaction.
One way Shopee differentiates itself from its competitors is its robust mobile offering, which allows the marketplace to capitalize on mobile shopping. Mobile shopping like this accounts for over 70% of all online commerce.
Another advantage Shopee has over its competitors is the platform’s simplicity and ease of use. Buyers can sort by region, choose their country, and see the storefront that serves their country and currency. There’s also a search function, categorical browsing, and exclusive sales.
Top E-commerce Marketplace: Rakuten
Rakuten is an E-commerce platform that was founded in 1997 in Japan by Hiroshi Mikitani. Originally he wanted to make a marketplace in which the focus would be placed on the buyers and sellers.
As of today Rakuten has formed into a massive conglomerate online marketplace in which Rakuten has partnered with over 3,500 companies to be able to provide their customer cash back deals for purchase.
As a business model Rakuten earns commission on all purchases made by customers through Rakuten’s platform, by partnering with multiple companies worldwide.
Instead of pocketing the revenue, Rakuten instead pays its customers back as cashback bonuses every three months depending on the amount of purchases made by the customer, along with discounts, and loyalty programs, which is vastly different from what other online marketplaces do.
Rakuten started in 1997 as a small online marketplace of 6 employees, and only 13 merchants when online shopping was still foreign to most people. Rakuten had listed themselves as a B2B2C structure, which it continues to this day.
By 2001, Rakuten had made 36 billion yen, and were setting their sights to make 1 trillion by 2006 which they succeeded in making. By 2004, Rakuten had spread out into different fields, entering the Japanese national basketball league Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
By 2008, Rakuten expanded overseas to Taiwan, by 2010, Rakuten set its sights globally by no longer focusing on a Japanese market but as a global internet service company. From 2018 onwards Rakuten continues to expand its features and services, partner with more companies, as well as break into the mobile market, as well as continuing to improve on their app
Top E-commerce Marketplace : AliExpress
AliExpress is the next platform on the list of the top ten e-commerce marketplaces. AliExpress is an online marketplace where third party sellers can list their products on Alibaba’s marketplace platform AliExpress.
What separates AliExpress from its other marketplace Alibaba is that while Alibaba is more focussed on larger orders for B2b business, AliExpress is suited more for B2C consumers.
When compared to Alibaba Group other marketplaces Alibaba which has a larger focus as stated on B2B business. There is a minimum quantity of what can be bought as Alibaba is meant for bulk purchases, not only that but for Alibaba shipping fees tend to be negotiated between the seller and customer due to the sheer size of the order, as opposed to AliExpress where in most cases the shipping is usually free.
AliExpress was founded by the Alibaba Group in 2010, as a way for smaller companies to be able to sell their goods on an online marketplace similar to Ebay and Amazon. But what is different is that AliExpress merchants sell exclusively outside China.
Not only that, as the majority of the sellers manufacture and operate in China the prices on AliExpress are lower overall. Another feature to note is that AliExpress does not sell any products themselves, they merely provide a way for small Chinese sellers to be able to connect and sell their products or services worldwide.
Top E-commerce Marketplace: Walmart
When one thinks of the top ten e-commerce marketplaces, one does not normally associate Walmart, the brick and mortar multinational retail corporation as an online retailer.
Walmart started in 1962 as a discount department store where customers can purchase low price goods without needing to go to the cities. Instead Walmart began in small rural communities and suburban areas, where their success would take off, now being located in all 50 states and all over the world.
By 2007 Walmart had become internationally known, and opened up its website walmart.com allowing customers to be able to make purchases online and pick up in store. As time passed Walmart online marketplace grew and so did its features. But what separates Walmart from other online retailers such as Amazon or Ebay?
Walmart’s entire business model as a B2C company is to purchase and partner with suppliers directly to avoid paying a middleman and ensuring that their customer will be paying the lowest price possible.
This applies to Walmart’s online retailer store, along with operating in all 50 states, and internationally. But as opposed to Amazon, Walmart is able to deliver groceries at a quicker rate as their stores operate close to everywhere in the U.S. They can deliver quality groceries that are fresher than competition since they come directly from the stores themselves.
Due to Walmart being available in many locations, Walmart customers are able to purchase their goods online and be able to be picked up by the customer when they arrive instead of waiting for the goods to be delivered as opposed to Amazon.
So to customers who have a Walmart close to them as many do in the United States, Walmart is able to provide the same ease and convenience as Amazon such as same day delivery or access to Paramount video subscription when compared to Prime Video for subscription customers, plus the inclusion of having a retailer store nearby for customer who wish to purchase directly or merely pick up their goods from a brick and mortar store.
Although Amazon does have more reach and different goods and products, Walmart is quickly catching up with Amazon and may prove to be a heavy competitor in the e-commerce marketplace.
E-commerce FAQs (525 words)
With an estimated reach of $7 trillion by 2025, ecommerce business is at the heart of every small and large scale business. Though we have only covered the top 6 ecommerce companies in this article, there are hundreds of ecommerce companies working innovatively to make customer journeys easy and fun. Social Media and Marketplace have made online business more accessible and convenient.
Social media and influencer marketing have revolutionized this industry. It had literally opened the doors of remote and small scale business owners. This is not only providing them with financial dependencies but also helping local small businesses with the right tools at their own convenience.
It gives them a new perspective and vision to make things executable. Artisans, by collaboration with social media influencers and using one roof digital solution, are making it possible to help save the year old art and converting it into profitable businesses.
With the omni channel retailing, digital first strategy, data driven approach, qualitative digital content and personalized marketing, companies are working towards creating a unique customer experience. Using omni channel retailing and inbound marketing experience companies are building an environment for customers which is organic, action driven and inclusive of different channels.
- What are the different types of e-commerce?
Answer: There are a total of 6 major types of e-commerce. As defined by their names they can be between business, consumer and government. Depending upon the different types a total 6 below businesses have been identified:
- Business to Consumer (B2C)
- Business to Business (B2B)
- Business to Government (B2G)
- Business to Business to Consumer (B2B2C)
- Consumer to Consumer (C2C)
- Consumer to Business (C2B)
- Which is the largest ecommerce company in the world?
Answer: As per the FY21 data, with a market cap of $1691 USD billion and revenue of $469.82 USD billion, Amazon is the largest ecommerce company in the world.
- What is the best ecommerce business platform to start an online business?
Answer: To start an easy and affordable online business, there are many good options available in the market. With so many available options it becomes difficult to choose the right one. To help the users, Forbes group has performed an analysis based on the key feature. Squarespace with a rating of 4.9 has been identified as the best overall solution, with an affordable starting price of $23 per month, drag and drop features and standout features such as Free domain and SSL certificate, no transaction fees, award-winning templates.
- What is the fastest growing ecommerce business category?
Answer: Fashion and Apparel sector is one of the fastest growing and most popular ecommerce business categories, with an expected sales reach of $1 trillion by 2025.
- Which country buys the most online?
Answer: United Kingdom has the most online spend with an estimated Ecommerce spend per capita of $4,201, with the United States of America being second on the list with Ecommerce spend per capita of $3,428.