The concentration of e-commerce in the world is pretty staggering. 58% of global e-commerce is concentrated in just six companies and just four Chinese companies account for almost half of global digital sales.
How big is the global ecommerce market? Consumers worldwide will spend nearly $3.46 trillion online in 2019, up from $2.93 trillion in 2018, according to the forecast from Internet Retailer, a Digital Commerce 360 brand.
Forbes reports, “Global e-commerce reached $3.4 trillion last year, according to a new report from Activate Consulting. Thousands of brands and retailers divvy up just 37% share of that, while six giants who are mostly Chinese companies vacuum up more than half of the pie. One key reason: retail in China is simply much more digital than it is in Europe or North America.”
E-commerce in Asia only keeps growing and it’s something for global retailers to keep an eye on as it’s an incredible market to tap into and scale. However, it is very different than markets like the North America, Europe, and Latin America.
The biggest digital commerce companies, with the percentage of the global e-commerce market that they own:
- Taobao.com: 15%
- TMall.com: 14%
- Amazon: 13%
- JD.com: 9%
- Pinduoduo: 4%
- eBay: 3%
On a side note, I think there’s something to be said for eBay still accounting for 3% of global e-commerce. While the giant has been left behind over the years, it’s still kept market share 20 years after. In the next 2-3 years, Walmart.com will be in that top 6 list.
About 5% of the global e-commerce share is taken up by a small group of still-massive companies:
- Rakuten
- Walmart
- VIP.com
- Sunning.com
- Apple
- Shopee
