Have you noticed how our lives have become much easier with online shopping websites? Nowadays, we can buy books, accessories, electronics, food, and even cleaning products and have them delivered to our doorstep, often on the same day or the next day.

However, to have these online stores offering such a wide variety of products today, many paths were taken – and many pioneer companies studied the needs of customers to create the biggest e-commerce platforms we know today.

Are you curious as to what made them succeed? Then come with us to discover the 7 biggest e-commerce companies in the world.

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The 7 biggest e-commerce companies in the world

1 – Amazon

Certainly, Amazon couldn’t be anywhere but first on this list. Nowadays, it’s very difficult to find someone who has never bought anything on e-commerce or at least heard of this phenomenon. With a catalog of very diverse products, we can buy personal hygiene products, beauty items, cleaning supplies, books, electronics, and much more with just a click.

Considered by various experts as the largest e-commerce platform in the world, it was created in 1994 by the now multimillionaire Jeff Bezos. Amazon initially aimed to sell only books – however, with the expansion of the business and scalability, Bezos seized the opportunity and increased the variety of products in e-commerce.

One of Amazon’s great differentiators is the customer experience, product variety, and ease of purchase. Once your card is registered on the platform, your purchases can be made with a single click and delivered in record time, even on the same day depending on your region and the time of purchase.

Amazon’s average annual revenue is more than $10 billion – a 230% increase compared to the revenue of similar companies. To provide even more possibilities to customers, Amazon now offers Amazon Prime, a streaming service for videos and series – embarking on the Netflix trend just like Disney, Apple, HBO, and Paramount – and cloud services for data storage.

2 – Alibaba

Although not as common as Amazon and other e-commerce platforms, Alibaba is one of the pioneers in this field, offering a rather exotic range of products, particularly in the eastern world. Founded by Jack Ma in 1999, Alibaba’s e-commerce platform has over 250 million active buyers in China alone! One of the platform’s major differentiators is offering advertising services for businesses and focusing on selling promotional services and discount coupons.

3 – eBay

Alongside Amazon, eBay is one of the most traditional e-commerce platforms in the world, with a catalog as diverse as Amazon’s (if not more!). In the fourth quarter of 2020, the platform reported a net profit of $760 million, reversing the previous year’s losses.

Founded by Pierre Omidyar, eBay is a disruptive e-commerce platform because it focuses on the auction system. However, it is now possible to acquire traditional products as well. On eBay, you can sell almost any item. Since 2019, the platform has been increasingly focused on advertising, optimizing payments, and improving the user experience, which has been in decline in recent years.

4 – Walmart

Walmart was already a well-known company even before the rise of the Internet, serving now as one of the most profitable e-commerce platforms in the world. It’s known for its variety of items and unbeatable prices.

From perfumes to chocolate bars, Walmart offers imported and high-end items for gifting loved ones or even for collectors. Above all, the retailer focuses on the user experience and the ease of delivering orders to the customer’s home.

5 – Otto

The Otto e-commerce platform, currently valued at 12.5 billion euros, offers a comprehensive portal for purchasing fashion items, electronics, appliances, and sports equipment. Its entry into the digital world was in 1995 and brought in more than 80% of the company’s revenue from the digital portal, with highly effective marketing campaigns.

6 – Mercado Libre (or Mercado Livre)

Mercado Libre is one of the most well-known companies in Latin America when it comes to e-commerce, holding the rights to many startups and hosting a delivery system that covers pretty much all of South American territory, from Argentina to Mexico.

With over 24 years in the e-commerce industry, it has certainly influenced generations of people who began their online shopping in the mid-2000s.

7 – Etsy

Etsy is an e-commerce platform focused on the sale of creative items, hosting hundreds of artists and reaching almost 15 million people on its website.

The platform is open to all types of handmade, digital, or imaginative art, holding a community dedicated to customers that is expanding even further. It is considered one of the largest e-commerce platforms in the world, especially when it comes to artistic products.

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Get professional help with marketing strategies for businesses

Now you know some of the biggest e-commerce companies in the world. So, do you want to launch your company into the world of digital influence and marketing strategies? Fortunately, you’re in the right place, for we can help you with anything marketing-related.

As a digital marketing agency specializing in small and medium businesses, Laços provides the right team for all your needs on this front. In fact, you can schedule a free meeting with us right now – and you’ll leave the reunion with a vast overview of what your company requires, the first steps to creating lucrative strategies, and how to optimize your current online activities.

Speak to our agents today and leave all the hard work to specialists!