These 8 e-commerce giants are redefining retail around the world

Amazon and Alibaba are leading the world-wide e-commerce revolution, according to a study from Website Builder Expert (WBE). In their study, WBE mapped out the world’s top online marketplaces. By geographically outlining the top online marketers, the power struggle for e-commerce domination becomes clear.

Digital transformation has morphed the brick-and-mortar retail experience to an online and omnichannel system. The evolution of retail has spiked in the past couple years, with 9,000 physical stores closing down in 2017, and 12,000 expected to close in 2018, according to real estate firm Cushman and Wakefield.

With worldwide online spending predicted to pass $4 trillion by 2020, the e-commerce market is becoming extremely competitive. Here are the top eight e-commerce firms and their respective online populations:

1. Amazon: 58 countries. 1,216,306,113 online population.
2. Alibaba: 15 countries. 1,072,076,950 online population.
3. MercadoLibre: 9 countries. 341,044,208 online population.
4. Naspers: 16 countries. 261,223,414 online population.
5. eBay: 13 countries. 132,117,951 online population
6. Rocket Internet: 8 countries. 103,691,145 online population.
7. Schibsted: 8 countries. 40,692,996 online population.
8. Be Forward: 6 countries. 12,465,441 online population.

If your firm has e-commerce efforts in a given geography, these are your biggest competition.

Amazon primarily dominates North America and Europe, but is making its way into the Middle East. So, if your company is wanting to sell through a market that reaches large regions, Amazon is definitely a good resource.

Alibaba, on the other hand, isn’t as uniform as Amazon, said a post from WBE. While Amazon has a presence in every continent, Alibaba-owned Taobao and Lazada dominate East Asia. Alibaba also heavily invests in Tokopedia, which is the main online marketplace for Indonesia, said the post.

MercadoLibre is the South American marketplace of choice, coming in at no. 3. Amazon, Alibaba, and MercadoLibre are a catch-all for products, selling items from most industries. If your company wants to sell products on a more publicized and general online store, one of those three would be your best option, depending on location and whether or not they offer access to a marketplace for third-party sellers.

The big takeaways for tech leaders:

• E-commerce is consuming the retail experience, shifting brick and mortar stores to online shopping sites.
• WBE found that Amazon is the most popular e-commerce platform, covering North America and Europe; Alibaba is the second, dominating East Asia, and MercadoLibre is the third, dominating South America.

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