E-commerce is thriving with more growth potential in the years ahead. In 2023 alone, the retail e-commerce market globally grossed an astounding US$6.3 trillion in total revenue.
This number is predicted to skyrocket to about US$8.1 trillion in the next three years. If you do the math, that’s basically 24% of the entire global retail revenue.
However, owning—much less running—an e-commerce store is not an easy feat. With many online storefronts vying for attention, customers may not be aware of your presence unless it’s promoted online. That’s where a marketplace comes in, providing real visibility.
Explore 15 of the best e-commerce and online marketplaces today and start selling online!
What Are E-commerce and Online Marketplaces?
So, what is an online e-commerce business?
E-commerce stands for “electronic commerce,” which is the exchange of goods and services online. Thanks to the Internet, entrepreneurs, business owners and people everywhere can trade digital and physical goods and services electronically.
Some individuals and businesses use e-commerce platforms to distribute their products to a much wider audience. Nevertheless, e-commerce has a massive market, guaranteeing a profitable venture.
Now, what is an online marketplace?
It is actually an extended model of an e-commerce market. Online marketplaces create a platform where third parties can do business. In short, outside the actual owner, other traders or sellers can promote and offer their products.
For many retailers, a marketplace is a means to diversify their products and add variations minus the tedious extra duties. Around an online marketplace, the seller is responsible for the operations while the site serves as the sales channel to promote the goods and increase brand awareness.
What Is the Difference Between E-Marketplace and E-Commerce?
First of all, both an e-commerce platform and an e-marketplace have online stores. The only major difference is that the former operates to accommodate a single seller, who is the store owner, while the latter gives different sellers a platform to sell products, operating under a shared storefront with the actual store owner.
For your customers, though, they can’t see any difference, as the buying process transpires on the same application. Well, business owners can see beyond, where choosing one over the other has clear implications for the business operation.
What Is the Most Popular eCommerce Marketplace?
When choosing the best online marketplace for your product, consider your brand strategy. What exactly is your goal? Do you want to increase or expand brand exposure? Whatever it is, ponder on it before rallying up your top picks of e-commerce and online marketplaces.
Check out the top e-commerce marketplaces in the world today.
Amazon
What better way to start this list than with Amazon—the world’s current number one marketplace. It’s the platform for everyone, covering almost all product categories from 16,000 brands—from books and electronics to apparel.
The main draw of Amazon is its seller-friendly features and excellent customer experience. It is easy to operate with a quick checkout and order system. Moreover, it serves more than 55,000 independent sellers, shipping fast to over 100 countries and regions.
Read on: How to Build Your Online Store with an Amazon Virtual Assistant
Tmall
Introduced in 2014, Tmall has slowly become a force in the world of online marketplaces. It is Alibaba’s cross-border marketplace to cater to international brands and merchants that want to reach customers across China.
In 2022, Tmall earned US$596.9 trillion, owning an impressive 50.8% global e-commerce market share.
Taobao
Another Alibaba Group affiliate, this online marketplace prioritises consumers trading with other consumers. Taobao reached US $616.8 billion in revenue for 2022, with 0.3% annual increase.
Over time, it has transformed into a prosperous B2C and B2B selling hub, hosting about 10 million online stores.
eBay
Back in the day, eBay was just a consumer-to-consumer bidding website. During those times, consumers would send coins as payments attached to an index card.
Today, the platform has evolved into a full-fledged marketplace, serving brands, retailers, sellers and more than 187 million people who are buying from 1.5 billion listings.
JD.com
JD.com is hailed as China’s online retail king, just based on its strong net revenue, earning it a spot on the Fortune Global 500.
It’s one of the most competitive platforms, with a full range of product offerings for every Chinese consumer. It houses its own inventory and then ships to customers fast via its very own logistics network.
In 2010, the JD.com marketplace and JD.com Worldwide were introduced for third-party selling and cross-border selling, respectively.
Rakuten
A digital marketplace born in Japan, Rakuten has a stronghold in the global market. One of its latest achievements is the acquisition of the US-based marketplace Buy.com in 2010 and France’s PriceMinister in the same year.
The company has grown tremendously, expanding into an integrated online business in TV streaming and online messaging.
Etsy
Another rising star from America’s thriving marketplace is Etsy. Founded in 2005, this niche platform offers hand-crafted and vintage products to its 95.5 million active buyers while operating in 27 markets—Europe, Australia and North America.
Shopee
Originally built as a mobile-first platform, Shopee is from a highly tech-savvy nation, Singapore. The company has now branched out into the B2C marketplace, offering products in the SEA region markets with future sights set on conquering Latin America.
Pinduoduo
One thing that made Pinduoduo a formidable player in the e-commerce market is its tight-knit bonds with agriculture. In effect, this mobile-first app has attracted millions of eager Chinese consumers to buy goods through the platform from local suppliers.
Right now, Pinduoduo has covered almost all types of product categories you can think of, catering to around 751.3 million users, accumulated over time through shared links.
Zalando
Want to buy trendy fashion products? Look no further than Zalando, the number one destination for glam mavens and wardrobe wizards.
Since 2010, this online marketplace based in Germany has grown in popularity across Europe, serving over 50 million fashion lovers in 25 different markets, including the U.K., France, Italy and Spain.
AliExpress
Another e-commerce and online marketplace owned by Alibaba, this platform facilitates the international selling of products with competitive factory prices.
Just like eBay, it allows buyers and sellers to connect and do business around the world directly—eliminating the “middleman.”
Walmart
Sam Walton opened the first Walmart store in 1963, offering a variety of American-made products.
As a brick-and-mortar retailer, Walmart pushed on and entered the e-commerce market in the 2000s, selling its own goods. In 2009, Walmart’s webstore went live but only gained strong traction in 2016.
Lazada
Lazada is another Singaporean powerhouse e-commerce hub that is very popular in the SEA region. It has more than 155,000 sellers with over a million “seller's list items”, serving as many as 160 million customers.
With its massive user base and growing revenue of $1.8 billion annually, it aims to grow even more and serve 300 million customers.
Target
Target is a popular American retail chain that has its own marketplace. It is an invite-only, curated online retailer for brands. You can find a range of products across different categories in this billion-dollar growing marketplace.
In the next 5 years, the company is eyeing to double its third-party seller and same-day delivery service, raising its revenue growth to US$15 billion.
Topic you might be interested in: Trusted Solutions to Reduce Abandoned Carts
The Top Countries for E-Commerce
When you want better margins, target countries with the healthiest e-commerce markets and online marketplaces—that’s where you can find the strongest purchasing power.
These nations have a more mature digital platform capable of drastic expansion and next-level customer experience.
E-commerce success is closely intertwined with internet availability—how many people have access to the internet in a country? This typically goes hand in hand with high-purchasing-power consumers. Together, it creates a very appealing business landscape with strong profit margins.
Here are the countries that ranked at the top with the largest e-commerce markets:
China
At number one, with the second highest population in the world at over 1.4 billion, is China. It has the biggest e-commerce market, reaching a staggering US$1.5 trillion in 2022, of which around 76.4% have internet connectivity.
However, unlike America, the people’s purchasing power parity capital is disappointingly low at $17,600. Well, that’s expected to change in the years ahead, along with internet access.
USA
Next to China, America has the second-biggest e-commerce market globally, garnering a revenue of US$875 billion in 2022.
Uncle Sam has a total population of over 340 million people, of whom almost 92% are constantly online. The purchasing power per capita stands at $63,700, making the people of America one of the world’s most affluent clienteles.
Japan
Third on this list is another Asian country with a higher population density: Japan. The Land of the Rising Sun has a booming e-commerce market, amassing a total revenue of US$241 billion in 2022.
The country’s internet penetration is also very high, with 94% of Japanese people regularly plugged into the internet. The same can be seen in their increasing PPP/capita, placing the Japanese folks 34th in the wealthiest consumers in the world.
Navigating the World of E-commerce and Online Marketplaces
When you sell to customers without geographical restrictions, you get to do the following:
- Launch your brand to a new market
- Boost your sales revenue
- Strengthen your sales model
Using different channels to reach your audience will make this even more effective. However, it will require more work to get things rolling. By then, you can effectively target your specific market, leveraging the right e-commerce platforms with less competition and higher returns.
Sure, the task can be really challenging, but you can totally make it happen with the right knowledge, tools and support.
This is the most effective way to start and stay prepared for all the future impediments that might come your way.
Conclusion
Expanding your brand reach in today’s time means selling on online marketplaces. With more than 47% of consumers opting to buy products and services electronically, the way we do business has forever changed.
Although there are plenty of opportunities to be had in opening your store on e-commerce and online marketplaces, it can be a real headache. Streamlining and automating every process while meeting the demands can be too complex to handle by yourself.
The bigger the workload, the harder it is to control your time. That’s when you need a virtual assistant to carry the extra weight for you.
VAV can provide you with reliable remote professionals who take care of the little things while you scale your online storefront.
From order management and payment processing to customer support, we can help you break into your field by taking on your most time-consuming tasks.
If you agree, connect with us, and let’s take your business to the global stage.
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