As each brand enters 2019, they have held on to their positions in the top 10 online retailers in the USA, but some have seen better growth than others, for example Amazon which saw growth from 43.5% of total US online retail market share in 2017 to almost 50% by 2019. Overall, brands that have invested in more customer – centric approaches and more convenient fulfillment strategies for example Walmart’s faster online shipping and new pickup points, and Home Depot’s new network on customer pickup points have seen growth forecasts soar, as the brands continue to align with customer preferences for convenience and experiential shopping. Walmart saw a huge payoff from its investment in automation and fulfillment strategy and has managed to push Apple into 4th position as of 2019.
With its heavy reliance on bricks and mortar stores, Macy’s position is the most precarious in 2019. Its overall share price continues to decline despite the implementation of a turnaround plan in 2018. Other analysts have expressed concern regarding Ebay’s strong reliance on retailers and established revenue streams to generate profit, which can be contrasted with Amazon’s multi-faceted approach and entry into new market segments like media.
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- Amazon.com is the largest eCommerce retailer by online revenue in the world.
Together with its large marketplace amazon.com dominates the online retail space. The online store has a very wide product selection but focuses on consumer electronics and books and media. Amazon.com, Inc. runs multiple other online stores like amazon.co.uk, amazon.de and amazon.fr all over the world and exported its business model successful abroad. The revenue on ecommerceDB does not include income from subscription services and provisions for third party sales and fulfillment.
US$20,000m
40.6%
walmart.com, operated by Walmart, Inc., is an online store with nationally-focused sales. Its eCommerce net sales are generated almost entirely in the United States. With regards to the product range, walmart.com is an all-round online store, with products on offer that cover different categories, such as “Electronics & Media”, “Toys, Hobby & DIY” as well as “Furniture & Appliances”. The online store was launched in 2000.>
US$20,000m
85.1%
- EBay (6.8 % of the US online retail market in 2018)
Ebay is unique marketplace, which generates revenues from seller fees comprising listing fees and commissions taken on individual sales. Ebay holds the second largest share of the US e-commerce market, holding 6.8% of the e-commerce market share in 2018 and 6.1% of market share in 2019, compared to Amazon, which holds almost 50%.
As shown in the chart below, Ebay has struggled to hold on to its market share as it entered 2019, although it has benefitted from year on year growth in active users (180 million users as of 2019). Said to be losing market share to Amazon, Walmart and Target, Ebay doesn’t have the high standards for customer care, or indeed the customer centric approach that has won so many loyal customers for Amazon.
Ebay is also stymied by comparison to Amazon on account of its relative static business model. Whereas Amazon has regularly and successfully reinvented its approach to business over the last 10 years, rendering it almost unrecognisable compared to its 10 year old self, the same cannot be said for Ebay. Amazon has invested heavily in its fulfillment centres, its infrastructure and has developed a number of new concepts like the Amazon Prime feature on its website, the Clicks and Mortar scheme, AI and data driven strategies. By comparison, Ebay has grown by expanding its product category, with no major changes to its infrastructure or operations.
Ebay is also particularly reliant on its retailers for revenue. By comparison, Amazon has created several new, and novel income streams in recent years, including their foray into own brands (the Amazon Basics range) and their entry into the film and TV industry. In doing this Amazon has effectively reduced the risks to their brand that a mass exodus of customers would create. Ebay can’t claim the same benefit and many agree this places it in a far riskier position.
US$15,000m
144.4%
homedepot.com, operated by The Home Depot, Inc., is an online store with nationally-focused sales. Its eCommerce net sales are generated almost entirely in the United States. With regards to the product range, homedepot.com achieves the greatest part of its eCommerce net sales in the “Furniture & Appliances” category. Furthermore, products from the “Toys, Hobby & DIY” category are part of the offer. The online store was launched in 2000.
US$15,000m
81.8%
- Apple
With its unique combination of bricks and mortar outlets and its strong digital presence, Apple continues to retain a large portion of the global online retail market, and appears to be recovering very well after its growth suddenly stalled in 2016.
Strong i-phone sales have bolstered Apple’s position, particularly since the end of 2017, which i-Phone sales began to pick up after a period of stagnation. Nevertheless, between mid-2017 and mid-2018 the iPhone has accounted for more than 50% of Apple’s total revenues.
Apple also generates revenues from their AppleCare services, the Apple App Store and licensing. Apple also benefits from a growing wearables market (responsible for 11% of Apple’s overall growth in 2017-2018), with burgeoning sales for its AirPod and Apple Watch products set to increase further in 2019.
Apple’s share of the online retail market has been overtaken by Walmart in 2018 and 2019. Walmart’s share of the online retail market increased from 3.3% in 2017, to over 4.5% in 2019, whereas Apple by comparison has enjoyed little substantive growth in terms of market share, with their share of the US online retail market remaining at 3.8% between 2017-2019.
- Home Depot (1.7% of the US online retail market in 2019)
Home Depot has experienced a growth spurt in the last 3 years, positioning it in the top 10 online retailers in 2019, with a 1.7% share of the total US retail market. Forbes reports that Home Depot shares have increased by 14.4%, by 94.6 billion USD to 108.2 billion USD in 2018, with revenues expected to increase by 2.9%, to 111.3 billion USD in 2019.
The burst of growth is attributed to stronger sales in their stores, per square foot compared to earlier years. Otherwise Home Depot has invested heavily in its infrastructure to deliver a better, faster and more convenient service to its customers. Changes Home Depot has introduced to increase footfall include the addition of “pickup lockers” in 1,100 locations, so that customers can order their items online and pick them up at a convenient time. The brand has made so-called “front-end” store improvements, designed to reduce queuing in stores and enable customers to make purchases faster.
- Home Depot (1.7% of the US online retail market in 2019)
Home Depot has experienced a growth spurt in the last 3 years, positioning it in the top 10 online retailers in 2019, with a 1.7% share of the total US retail market. Forbes reports that Home Depot shares have increased by 14.4%, by 94.6 billion USD to 108.2 billion USD in 2018, with revenues expected to increase by 2.9%, to 111.3 billion USD in 2019.
The burst of growth is attributed to stronger sales in their stores, per square foot compared to earlier years. Otherwise Home Depot has invested heavily in its infrastructure to deliver a better, faster and more convenient service to its customers. Changes Home Depot has introduced to increase footfall include the addition of “pickup lockers” in 1,100 locations, so that customers can order their items online and pick them up at a convenient time. The brand has made so-called “front-end” store improvements, designed to reduce queuing in stores and enable customers to make purchases faster.
- Best Buy (1.3% of the US online retail market in 2019)
Many analysts agreed that Best Buy was headed for bankruptcy, but after a company wide turnaround strategy was implemented, the brand appears to be recovering as it enters 2019. The turnaround strategy included a complete corporate restructure, cost cutting and improvements to customer service. Best Buy has yet to see any substantive growth as a result of its turnaround plan, however market share has remained stable at 1.3% in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
- QVC Group (1.3% of the US online retail market in 2019)
Like many brands occupying positions in the top 10 online retailers in the USA, QVC has experienced exponential growth over the last few years, particularly within the accessories, beauty and apparel sectors. In 2018, QVC reported strong customer growth and growing digital and mobile sales, after a company overhaul saw the management changed and a 1% increase in total company revenue, to 4.37 billion USD in 2018.
- Costco (1.3% of the US online retail market in 2019)
According to Forbes, the value of Costco shares has doubled since 2015. In the 2015 financial year Costco reported revenues totaling 116.2 billion USD, which shot to 141.6 billion USD in 2019. Forecasts for the brand’s continued total revenue growth are positive, and Costco’s total revenue is expected to rise to 150.5 billion USD in 2019.
- Macy’s (1.2% of the US online retail market)
The well-known department store chain occupies a top ten position in terms of the biggest US online sellers in 2019, but this is somewhat misleading because Macy’s market share and overall share price is in overall decline. In the later half of 2018 Macy’s issued a “turnaround plan” which includes the closure of over 100 of its famous department stores. Its plans to revive its brand include an investment in ‘store experience’ business B8ta. B8ta plan to enhance the Macy’s customer in-store experience by focusing on innovations and reducing the density of products on display to create more user-friendly in-store experiences. Otherwise, Macy’s has focused on creating new and exciting experiences for their customers. One innovation that has proven to be popular is the Virtual Reality facility that allows customers to “see” how furniture would look like in their homes.
In terms of their digital sales position, in 2019, Macy’s has reported a 40th consecutive quarter of double-digit e-commerce growth. Much of this growth is attributable to sales made in mobile apps, which generated $1 billion USD in sales in 2018. Macy’s mobile app sales is expected to grow by 50% in 2019.
- Wayfair (from 1.1% of the US online retail market in 2018 to 1.3% in 2019)
Wayfair has seen strong sales growth as it enters 2019, a payoff from increased spending on advertising. Total revenues in the second quarter of 2018 were 1.66 billion USD, compared to 2.34 billion USD in the second quarter of 2019. Wayfair has also seen payoffs associated with expansion of its infrastructure and fulfillment strategy, with the brand hiring hundreds of fulfillment operatives in 2018 and 2019.
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