10 Top Ecommerce Companies List and Guide (2026)

In 1994, a Sting CD (Ten Summoner’s Tales) became the first item sold online via an encrypted credit card transaction. Since this internet history milestone, online shopping has experienced explosive growth. 

In the second quarter of 2026, online sales made up 16.4% of all sales in the United States, according to the United States Census Bureau. In a survey by Shopify and The Harris Poll, 86% of entrepreneurs say that ecommerce platforms have made starting a business easier today than it was a decade ago.

In this article, learn about the leading ecommerce companies and how to choose the best platform for your ecommerce store.

10 top ecommerce companies

The companies below are some of the biggest names in ecommerce. Some are global platforms with revenue in the billions, while others have a strong regional foothold in key areas like Latin America or Japan. All support online selling for individual business owners.

Shopify

• Year founded: 2006

• Headquarters location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

• Pricing and fees:Shopify plans start at $39 a month. 

Shopify is an all-in-one commerce platform that enables sellers to start, manage, and scale their shops online and in person. Since 2018, the number of Shopify business owners who have made a first sale has grown sevenfold.

With Shopify’s AI store builder, a few words describing your store generate a personalized store design, with no coding needed.

To start selling online, you’ll need to source products, list them on your shop, integrate additional sales channels (like the ecommerce marketplaces listed below), set up payment processing, and select your shipping methods.

Shopify’s built-in AI assistant, Sidekick, can help you launch and run your store by completing time-consuming tasks (such as setting up your domain and creating email campaigns). It also provides suggestions based on your specific shop. 

With embedded financial services tools, you can spend, save, transfer, receive, and earn money. 

Shopify’s point-of-sale (POS) system lets you sell anywhere and sync inventory across your digital and physical storefronts. And when it comes to expanding your reach across the internet, the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) connects your store to AI platforms, so you can sell in AI Mode on Google, Gemini, ChatGPT, and more.

The Shopify App Store has more than 16,000 apps to connect your store to third-party tools.

Amazon

• Year founded: 1994

• Headquarters location: Puget Sound, Washington, and Arlington, Virginia

• Pricing and fees: The Individual plan charges 99¢ per listed item, and the Professional tier starts at $39.99 a month plus referral fees.

Amazon is a global technology company with 2025 net sales of $716.9 billion. Amazon started as a direct-to-consumer (DTC) company, but in 2000, they began allowing third parties to sell on their platform. In 2025, 60% of Amazon’s sales came from third parties, making Amazon the world’s largest ecommerce marketplace.

There are three ways vendors sell on Amazon: 

• Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA): Vendors send their products to Amazon, and Amazon packs and ships the order. Amazon also handles customer service and returns.

• Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM): With this option, vendors ship the orders themselves after a customer places an order on Amazon.

• Seller-Fulfilled Prime (SFP): Sellers who prove they can offer fast shipping can have Prime branding on their listings. 

If you already sell on Shopify, you can use Shopify Marketplace Connect to connect your store to Amazon and manage your Amazon sales from your Shopify admin. 

eBay

• Year founded: 1995

• Headquarters location: San Jose, California

• Pricing and fees: eBay charges an insertion fee for each listing over 250 per month. There’s also a final value fee, which is a percentage of the sum of the sales price, shipping fees, and other handling charges. Learn more about how much eBay takes from a sale. 

eBay is a US multinational ecommerce corporation focused on consumer-to-consumer (C2C) sales. eBay’s annual net revenue was about $11.1 billion in 2025.

Use Shopify Marketplace Connect to join your eBay account to your Shopify store. Track your inventory and sales in real time, manage inventory, and automate and bulk import products to save time from Shopify admin.

Etsy

• Year founded: 2005

• Headquarters location: Brooklyn, New York

• Pricing and fees: Etsy charges vendors 20¢ per listed item, plus a 6.5% transaction fee per sale. There’s also a nonrefundable set-up fee for new stores. Sellers can also upgrade to an Etsy Plus subscription ($10 per month) for more tools. 

Etsy is an ecommerce marketplace specializing in handmade and vintage products, including jewelry, clothing, home décor, furniture, craft supplies, and tools. They reported revenue of $2.88 billion in 2025. 

For some store owners, selling on Etsy is worth it for the exposure to their more than 86.5 million active buyers. Unlike selling from your own online store, selling on marketplaces like Etsy means you won’t get access to valuable customer data.

Genna Tatu, owner of CrochetByGenna, sells amigurumi (stuffed animals) and digital products like crochet patterns. She started on Etsy and then launched a Shopify store. Genna currently uses both because each has advantages.

“Etsy is pretty low-risk,” Genna says. “It’s not like you have to buy a whole website platform and domain up front. Then, with Shopify, you can customize everything. You can make it exactly how you want it. I think it comes off more professional when you have a standalone website.” 

Mercado Libre

• Year founded: 1999

• Headquarters location: Montevideo, Uruguay

• Pricing and fees: There are no listing fees. Other fees (selling, shipping, storage, and pick-up fees) depend on the seller’s location. 

Mercado Libre is the largest ecommerce marketplace in Latin America. With 65 million buyers, it’s also one of the largest ecommerce platforms in the world. 

While only buyers in Latin America can shop on Mercado Libre, global entrepreneurs can access the marketplace, selling to customers in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico from one account. 

Shopify store owners can use a third-party data importer app to add products from Mercado Libre to their storefronts. 

Meta

• Year founded: 2004

• Headquarters location: Menlo Park, California

• Pricing and fees: Varies based on platform.

Meta is the parent company of some of the most popular social media platforms in the world: Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. 

If you want to sell on social media, you might be interested in at least one Meta platform. Meta has 3.56 billion daily active users across its platforms with 2025 revenue of $200 billion.

There are several ways to sell on Facebook, including Facebook Marketplace and Shops on Facebook and Instagram. 

Facebook Marketplace lets individual sellers list items for local pickup or shipping throughout the United States. Buyers can pay directly on Facebook Marketplace, but for local, in-person sales, sellers might accept cash or a person-to-person payment.

With Shops, you set up an online storefront on Instagram or Facebook. Customers can browse products on posts, Reels, or Stories without leaving the app. When ready to buy, shoppers are directed to complete their transaction on your website. 

Shopify store owners can connect their stores to Facebook and Instagram for free with the Facebook & Instagram app. That way, they sell from one inventory while increasing reach with shoppable social content on popular platforms. 

Rakuten Ichiba

• Year founded: 1997

• Headquarters location: Tokyo, Japan

• Pricing and fees: A Basic Shop Open plan has a roughly $385 registration fee and a $420 monthly fixed fee. There are also commission fees that range from 2% to 4.5%. 

Rakuten Ichiba is one of the leading ecommerce platforms in Japan, with more than 100 million members. In 2025, their revenue totaled more than $16 billion. 

Rakuten connects buyers and sellers, enabling customers to go from shop to shop without leaving the platform. Sellers from select countries like the US, Canada, Taiwan, France, and South Korea can open shops on Rakuten. 

After you apply to open a shop, an onboarding consultant helps you submit your materials before Rakuten screens your store.

Walmart

• Year founded: 1962, then launched an ecommerce marketplace in 2009

• Headquarters location: Bentonville, Arkansas

• Pricing and fees: Walmart Marketplace charges sellers a fee that ranges from 5% to 20%.

Walmart is a multinational retail company operating a chain of big-box stores, as well as a major ecommerce website of the same name. The company has stores in all 50 states and a significant presence (both physical and digital) in Canada and Mexico as well. Walmart’s revenue in 2025 was $681 billion.

Walmart has leveraged their brick-and-mortar footprint toward a successful ecommerce model by using existing stores as warehouses for online orders. Customers can buy items off the store shelf through Walmart.com and pick them up at the nearest store with availability.

Shopify store owners can integrate their store with Walmart Marketplace via Shopify Marketplace Connect. This expands reach while still managing all transactions from Shopify.

Target

• Year founded: 1962

• Headquarters location: Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Brooklyn Park, Minnesota

• Pricing and fees: No monthly fees, referral rates vary. 

Target is the second-largest retailer in their category, behind Walmart. They operate almost 2,000 stores throughout the United States and have an extensive ecommerce footprint alongside their brick-and-mortar operations. Target’s US revenue was about $104 billion in 2025.

Like Walmart, Target sells a wide range of consumer goods, including apparel, home décor, electronics, and groceries. Like Walmart, Target uses their brick-and-mortar stores as alternative warehousing for online orders shipped around the country. 

Target.com also sells items from third-party vendors through their marketplace program, Target Plus. You’ll need to apply to sell on Target Plus. 

In 2024, Target teamed up with Shopify to bring a curated selection of store owners onto the marketplace and its stores. Shopify store owners who are approved to sell on Target Plus can connect their accounts via Marketplace Connect. 

Alibaba

• Year founded: 1999

• Headquarters location: Hangzhou, China

• Pricing and fees: Plans start at $1,999 per year with a sales commission below 15%.

Alibaba is a Chinese multinational technology company providing services in ecommerce, internet, and technological development. The company provides consumer-to-consumer (C2C), business-to-consumer (B2C), and business-to-business (B2B) services.

AliExpress is Alibaba’s consumer site, a one-stop ecommerce marketplace offering an expansive range of products. The Alibaba site is a business-to-business (B2B) site selling wholesale goods. 

Alibaba Group’s revenue for fiscal year 2025 was about $148 billion. AliExpress operates in more than 200 countries and regions, giving store owners access to buyers in places such as the United States, South Korea, Brazil, and France.

Shopify store owners can dropship products from Alibaba or AliExpress using manual or automated ordering with dropshipping apps

Considerations when choosing an ecommerce platform

• Volume of sales
• Audience
• Tools and services
• Integrations

If you’re considering adding ecommerce functionality to your small business or a digital store from scratch, here’s what to consider when choosing an ecommerce platform:

Volume of sales

Your sales numbers will influence how much you pay in seller and processing fees. Jewelry brand Keyzar began on Etsy. As they grew, fees began to impact their profitability, so they moved to Shopify.

To decide which platform is most affordable for your business, consider your projected sales volume per month and calculate the fees for each of them. 

Audience

It’s important to know where your primary audience currently shops, so you can meet them where they already spend their time. Using secondary market research, you can learn what ecommerce companies appeal to your target audience. 

Most major marketplaces connect to Shopify, which also offers comprehensive customer analytics to help you learn more about your customer base.

Accessories brand Ridge has found success on both Shopify and Amazon. They believe that in the future, their audience will be more spread out across channels like ChatGPT and TikTok Shop. 

Instead of managing separate platforms, which can be complicated, they can run everything from one place. “Shopify will power all of those things,” Ridge CEO Sean Frank says on Shopify Masters. 

Tools and services

Some ecommerce companies come with more tools than others. For example, Etsy does not have built-in email marketing. While you can link your newsletter to your Etsy shop, you cannot send email campaigns from your Etsy account.

Business software like accounting services, marketing automation, and other tech and business practice compliance tools can reduce the number of third-party websites you need to run your store. 

For example, if you want to automate your loyalty program or want to time your email campaigns better, you can try Shopify Flow. It connects to any part of your store and creates workflow automations using triggers, actions, and conditions. 

Platforms like Shopify also facilitate shipping and fulfillment. The Shopify Fulfillment Network, for example, connects your store with 3PL providers who handle logistics for you.

Integrations

Ecommerce integrations are third-party tools that enhance the functionality of your store. A large catalog like Shopify’s helps you do things such as eliminate manual entry, scale your business, and increase efficiency.

For JJ Follano, cofounder of sustainable product brand Zero Waste Store, the Shopify App Store is a way to expand your store’s capabilities without investing too much money. 

“The App Store probably has the largest database of apps in the ecommerce industry,” JJ says on Shopify Masters. “There are functionalities that you can implement into your business with the Shopify App Store, which is huge for somebody that doesn’t want to pay a developer all that upfront cost to do that.”