Amazon and Alibaba have different business models: Amazon is a sales platform, while Alibaba operates online marketplace Tmall and Taobao, a consumer-to-consumer (C2C) ecommerce site (as well as AliExpress, which is geared toward foreign buyers). In some ways, though, Amazon and Alibaba have taken similar approaches, recognizing the value of brick-and-mortar retail and realizing that food sales are becoming more omnichannel. While Amazon acquired Whole Foods Market in 2017, Alibaba created Hema (a chain of futuristic grocery stores) from scratch.
US brands trying to break into China's market often gain entry selling through Tmall. Kroger is one of the latest retailers to try this approach. The company is offering selections from its organic Simple Truth line to capture consumers in China who buy food and supplements cross-border for authenticity. On the flip side, retail brands in China appear to be less interested in courting customers in the US.
So, who was third among online marketplace usage worldwide? According to Website Builder Expert, MercadoLibre held that distinction with 341.0 million users in nine countries. Latin America is an online retail microcosm, though; MercadoLibre ranks first in all of the countries where it had a presence, not Amazon.
Data from comScore Inc. backs that up. In May 2018, MercadoLibre was the No. 1 retail ecommerce site in Latin America as ranked by unique visitors (56.3 million). Amazon sites were second (22.4 million) and Brazil-based B2W Digital was third (16.1 million). Alibaba came in fourth.
Rounding out the top five online marketplaces on Website Builder Expert's list were South Africa-based Naspers (261.2 million) and eBay (132.1 million).
Ecommerce has opened up the world to online buyers, yet even the top three online marketplaces have users that are still concentrated regionally. Amazon has aggressively moved into the most countries, but Alibaba still dominates in China. MercadoLibre is the first choice for digital buyers in Latin America, while a number of smaller merchants in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East and Africa are favored over these global retail giants.