Consumers are increasingly heading online to fulfill their shopping wants and needs. The dramatic growth in the ecommerce industry presents entrepreneurs with many great opportunities to connect with shoppers by creating online stores.
Your ecommerce business can benefit from affordable marketing options, convenient access to a global customer base, and even enhanced online security. These and other advantages help make it relatively easy to launch an online store and grow an ecommerce business.
With numerous ecommerce websites dominating the market around the world, a closer look at the industry leaders is in order. This will help you to learn from these platforms’ efforts and strategies for your own ecommerce store’s benefit.
In addition, you can list your online store’s products on many of these platforms to improve your visibility and to expand product sales opportunities.
Note that you do, of course, have the freedom to bypass creating your own store website for your business if you want to start selling online. You can always just plan to list your items directly with one or more of the many marketplace options available.
When people are just starting to get involved in online sales, they may wonder if they should use an ecommerce platform to create a store to sell their products. They often look for an easy, uncomplicated way to display their goods to potential customers.
If they’re lacking in technical or web skills, they might think that creating their own website and managing an online store will be too much work. For this reason, they may opt to skip this step and decide to sell on a single marketplace platform.
However, this probably won’t be the best path for business owners hoping to achieve as many sales as possible and maximize their experience in ecommerce.
Launching your own online store with a top-notch ecommerce website builder gives you more control over how you run your business. Having your own ecommerce website will also help you to better develop your brand!
Building your own ecommerce site with WiziShop
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In addition, a dedicated team of ecommerce experts, our Business Coaches, will be available to help you every step of the way. With their knowledge and experience, they can answer a myriad of questions related to your site, providing all kinds of support in your ecommerce journey.
The WiziShop platform offers an enjoyable experience for users of all technical backgrounds. It features more than 400 incredible tools designed to assist in boosting your sales, all free of charge when you sign up.
With the platform’s intuitive design, building your site is super easy and can be completed without a huge time committment!
Furthermore, you won’t need to add any third-party functionalities (though you’ll have the freedom to do so if you like), and you won’t need to deal with any complicated installations. Everything’s already there to help support your sales efforts. You’ll soon be selling in no time!
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Now that you’re hopefully inspired to create your own ecommerce store, let’s take a look at some of the most powerful players in online selling in terms of site traffic, revenue, and more.
These are among the top ecommerce sites that you may want to get familiar with as you search for great ways to get your products in front of potential customers.
1. Amazon
Amazon’s history tells the tale of how even the smallest home-based businesses can expand epically in the ecommerce industry. This website launched in 1994 as an online bookstore, and its product offerings rapidly grew to meet the needs of its customers.
Its site is easy to search to find goods of all kinds, providing an enjoyable shopping experience for users.
In 2020, Amazon saw an average of over 3.6 billion visitors monthly, according to Statista. In addition, the business has more than 750,000 staff members. This makes the company a true ecommerce industry leader.
Amazon has a history of expanding to fill shoppers’ needs by buying out competitors, tapping into niches that it identified, and taking other significant steps.
While its roots are in book sales, Amazon now sells everything from sewing supplies and dog toys to furniture, clothes, and more through its website and mobile app.
The platform also has numerous branches and divisions that include Whole Foods, Amazon Prime, and others. This is one of the largest ecommerce sites that small-business owners can use to list their store’s products for sale and to connect with customers around the world.
2. Walmart
While many shoppers visit Walmart stores close to home, others take advantage of the convenience of online shopping through this retail giant’s website. The company’s website saw approximately 492 million visitors each month in 2020.
Unlike Amazon, Walmart’s products are most heavily sold in North American countries, including Mexico, Canada, and the United States.
Walmart sells groceries, furnishings, home décor, clothing, seasonal items, toys, and more. A customer shopping on Walmart’s website can choose to pick up their purchased items at their local store or enjoy the convenience of home delivery.
Walmart’s diverse product line makes it a go-to store because it often serves as a one-stop shop for most needs. Smaller businesses can tap into Walmart’s expansive reach by listing their store’s goods through Walmart Marketplace.
3. eBay
Another well-known name in the ecommerce industry is eBay, whose website launched in 1995. The company features a unique auction-style platform design that enables individuals as well as businesses to connect with a huge base of customers.
On average in 2020, eBay received more than a billion visits from online shoppers each month. It sells everything from pre-owned and new apparel to toys, sporting goods, and even vehicles.
For smaller ecommerce businesses that need to get products in front of a larger pool of potential customers, eBay is a smart option to consider.
4. Target
Like Walmart, Target has stores in many locations throughout the US that customers can shop in directly. This company also has an extensive ecommerce site that enables people to conveniently shop online.
Target provides free shipping for online purchases, and it also offers in-store pickup as a faster alternative.
Statista states that Target.com’s monthly traffic volume consisted of 181.5 million visitors in September 2020. It sells clothing, décor, toys, electronics, and other items, and it’s known for its many promotions and discounts.
Similar to Walmart, small-business owners can list their products on the company’s marketplace, Target+ (plus). However, this marketplace channel is currently only available to third-party retailers by invitation only.
5. Alibaba
Alibaba is a China-based ecommerce giant that dominates the industry throughout Asian countries and beyond. It’s known for connecting suppliers and manufacturers with direct buyers and resellers.
Alibaba’s online retail branch is AliExpress, and this platform received an average of 596 million visitors per month in 2020. Because the company’s products are sourced in China, its prices are generally significantly lower than Amazon’s prices.
This business’s product line includes jewelry, apparel, toys, home goods, and automobiles. For ecommerce business owners who want to break into Asian markets, Alibaba is likely one of the best platforms to consider.
6. Flipkart
Based on monthly traffic, Flipkart is among the top 10 ecommerce websites worldwide. While it serves consumers in many countries, this India-based company is most popular with shoppers in India and in other Asian countries.
Like Amazon, Flipkart was started as an online bookstore. It gradually began selling an increasingly diverse range of products to serve its customers’ various needs. Today, the company’s product offerings include electronics, lifestyle items, home goods, clothing, and more.
Flipkart shoppers benefit from the ability to easily learn about merchandise for sale by reading a short description. In addition, many items are listed with comments from real customers so that shoppers can make an informed selection.
With affordable prices and fast delivery, Flipkart can help ecommerce businesses connect with consumers all throughout Asia to increase their sales.
7. Newegg
Newegg serves a more refined niche than ecommerce giants like Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and others. The online store’s primary customer base is shoppers who are interested in technology and tech-related goods.
This company’s loyal following and its product list that includes more than 3 million tech-related products are among the primary reasons why it’s one of the most visited ecommerce sites on the web today.
Its many items for sale include tablets, laptops, development software, audio and video software, and other items. Through the Newegg Marketplace, both smaller and larger retailers can list their products on the Newegg website. By doing so, they can tap into a huge, engaged base of potential customers.
8. Overstock
Overstock is one of the newer ecommerce stores on this list, and it’s made a name for itself by offering incredible prices on quality goods. Products include clothing, jewelry, bedding, furniture, home décor, and even cars. This company’s website includes many items from major brands.
The website serves hundreds of thousands of visitors monthly from areas around the world. In addition to the great deals that it features for its products, Overstock is known for its fast delivery. Through Overstock’s Partner program, it’s also an ecommerce platform that businesses can use to list and sell their store’s products online.
9. Best Buy
Best Buy is a leader in its niche, and it features a robust range of products both in its many retail store locations and through its ecommerce website. It’s most commonly known as an electronics store because it sells computers and related products, televisions, gaming systems, and other tech-related items.
It also has appliances, audio and video products, mobile phones and related goods, car audio equipment, and more. Best Buy also notably offers installation and repair services for some of its products.
While Best Buy is one of the few ecommerce giants that specializes in a niche, its website receives significant traffic. This makes it among the top ecommerce stores in the United States today.
In addition, online sellers can list their electronics and related products on the Best Buy website through the Best Buy Marketplace.
10. Jingdong
Based out of Beijing, Jingdong, also known as JD.com, is one of the biggest rivals of the previously mentioned ecommerce dominant player, Alibaba. According to China Internet Watch, as of the end of September 2020, Jingdong’s ecommerce website had 441.6 million active users.
Although Jingdong may not be as large of a platform as Alibaba, Jingdong earned approximately $15 billion (USD) more in revenue than Alibaba in 2017. The company is especially well known for technologically advanced delivery services, using drones to deliver products to customers.
11. Etsy
Etsy is known for its unique products that are mostly handmade or crafted by smaller artisans. Its products include everything from candles and soaps to holiday décor, clothing, and more.
The site receives approximately 450 million visitors each month and easily makes its way to the center of the list of top ecommerce sites serving a worldwide base of customers.
Unlike other ecommerce giants that sell their own products or that resell products from major brands, Etsy is a marketplace specifically for smaller businesses and individuals to use.
Because of how easy it is for crafters and others to create an Etsy store and to start reaching customers, it’s often an entryway into the world of ecommerce for many artisans.
12. Rakuten
Founded in 1997 by Japanese businessman Hiroshi Mikitani, Rakuten is Japan’s largest ecommerce site, though it operates websites based in other countries as well.
In addition to its online store, the company manages credit card payments, runs the country’s biggest online bank, offers food delivery and travel book services, and much more.
Often called the “Amazon of Japan,” Rakuten’s ecommerce website features a wide range of products, and the company employs 14,826 people as of June 2017. Statista reports that the site’s average number of visitors per month in 2020 was 799 million.
In October 2018, Rakuten partnered with Walmart to launch a grocery-delivery service in Japan. This platform allows customers to buy groceries online and get them delivered directly to their homes.
13. Zalando
Zalando, one of Europe’s leading ecommerce platforms, is based out of Berlin. Operating in over 15 European markets, this company mostly sells a variety of fashion-related products, including apparel, shoes, and accessories.
Its online stores feature a wide range of brands, accommodating customers with different pricing preferences.
In 2017, this ecommerce forerunner had 24 million customers and 90 million orders placed on its various sites. Statista notes that in 2019, Zalando made over €6.48 billion in sales across the company’s online stores.
Conclusion
Whether you’re preparing to launch a new ecommerce business or you want to expand your existing online store’s reach, these platforms can provide you with excellent opportunities.
While many of the ecommerce sites listed here offer a wide range of products, they’re also ideal for carving out a niche if you plan on selling to a specific market.
Because of this, several of these ecommerce websites could be great for you to expand your market reach for selling your products online once you’ve created your online store. Feeling inspired?
Take the first step and launch your ecommerce business with WiziShop, the best ecommerce website builder around.
You’ll be able to sign up with the English version of our platform in the coming months, so be sure to visit our homepage and provide your email address to sign up for early access and email updates!
