In the past two decades, the e-commerce industry has shifted from a wide array of websites specialising in a single category, think Amazon (books), Zappos (apparel), Newegg (electronics) and Stubhub (tickets), to a few marketplaces stocking as many items as possible.
Wayfair is perhaps the best example of this change, in 2011 it combined over 200 niche stores, such as cookware.com, luggage.com and strollers.com into a single e-commerce marketplace.
In North America and Europe, Amazon led that transition from single category to everything. In 2005, it launched Prime as a way to speed up deliveries, and later added Prime Video, Prime Music and a host of other premium services to draw in more customers.
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Connect today!In the past five years, there have been a few new challengers to Amazon’s dominance in North America, namely Wish and Wayfair. However, in revenue and usage Amazon is still far ahead of these challengers, controlling 15.3 percent of all US e-commerce in 2021.
Outside of North America, Amazon has struggled to control the new challengers. Shopee and Meesho, both targeted at the Indian market, have surpassed Amazon in downloads and marketshare for some product categories.
In China, where Amazon is blocked, Alibaba has taken the role of both Amazon and eBay, with its Taobao and Tmall apps. JD.com is another formidable competitor, with 569 million active accounts in 2021. China is also at the forefront of new types of e-commerce, such as social commerce pioneered by Pinduoduo, which connects manufacturers and farmers directly with customers.
Latin America is another region that appears less sold by the Amazon pitch, with Mercado Libre and AliExpress (Alibaba’s international app) both surpassing Amazon in downloads in 202o and 2021.
The dynamics of certain countries lead to regional or even local rivals pushing past Amazon. For example, in Indonesia, Tokopedia has become the go-to e-commerce platform for millions of users in the country.
We have collected data and statistics on the mobile e-commerce app market. Read on below to find out more.
This is the first of two e-commerce sector profiles. We will cover c2c marketplaces in the next edition.
Key e-commerce app statistics
- E-commerce app revenue reached $3.56 trillion revenue in 2021, a 22% increase on the previous year
- About 10% of global e-commerce was conducted in the US, just behind China in total spend
- 7.3% of total retail in the US came from mobile e-commerce in 2021. In the UK, that figure was 15.6%
- Amazon was the most popular e-commerce retailer in the US and India in 2021
- Downloads and usage of e-commerce apps have grown over the past two years, with significant growth during the coronavirus pandemic
Top e-commerce apps
| Title | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| https://www.businessofapps.com/data/amazon-statistics/ | Amazon | E-commerce leader in the West, with 200 million people paying every month for faster shipping and other premium services |
| https://www.businessofapps.com/data/ebay-statistics/ | eBay | Originally a c2c business, eBay has transitioned into a marketplace similar to Amazon with businesses selling to consumers |
| https://www.businessofapps.com/data/wish-statistics/ | Wish | An amalgamation of Chinese e-commerce business practices and manufacturing tailored to Western audiences |
| https://www.businessofapps.com/data/wayfair-statistics/ | Wayfair | A marketplace dedicated specifically to furniture and home-goods, it works with 11,000 global suppliers |
| https://www.meesho.com/ | Meesho | Most downloaded shopping app in the world in 2021, targeted at just the Indian market |
| https://shopee.ph/web | Shopee | Another popular shopping app in India, owned by Singaporean tech conglomerate Sea Ltd |
| https://sale.aliexpress.com/ | AliExpress | Alibaba's international shopping platform, which is popular in Latin America and the Middle East |
| https://www.flipkart.com/mobile-apps | Flipkart | Considered by some to be the Indian Amazon, Flipkart is owned by Walmart and has a 39% share of the Indian e-commerce market |
| https://www.rakuten.com/blog/download-the-rakuten-iphone-app-today/ | Rakuten | Primarily an electronics marketplace. In Japan, Rakuten offers a wide selection of services, similar to Amazon Prime |
| https://huodong.taobao.com/wow/tbhome/act/app-lists | Taobao | One half of Alibaba's domestic e-commerce service, which functions similar to eBay |
| https://www.tmall.com/wow/portal/act/app-download | Tmall | The other half of Alibaba, Tmall, which larger businesses and international brands sell on |
| https://corporate.jd.com/ | JD.com | Alibaba isn't the only e-commerce platform, JD.com competes heavily with Tmall in the B2C market |
| https://en.pinduoduo.com/ | Pinduoduo | Considered the next stage of e-commerce in China, Pinduoduo pioneered social commerce and consumer-to-manufacturer sales |
| https://www.tokopedia.com/mobile-apps | Tokopedia | Part of the GoTo holding company, Tokopedia is the most popular e-commerce app in Indonesia |
| https://www.mercadolibre.com.ar/l/app | Mercado Libre | A popular alternative to eBay and Amazon in Latin America, with 139 million active users |
E-commerce app revenue
Mobile e-commerce revenue reached $3.56 trillion in 2021, accounting for more than half of total e-commerce sales.
Mobile e-commerce annual app revenue 2016 to 2021 ($tr)
E-commerce app revenue (US)
The United States contributed to about 10% of the total global mobile e-commerce revenue in 2021.
Mobile e-commerce annual app revenue in US 2016 to 2021 ($bn)
E-commerce app sales vs total retail (US)
Mobile e-commerce was responsible for 7.3% of total retail sales in the United States, and about 53% of all e-commerce.
Mobile e-commerce sales as percentage of total retail in US 2010 to 2021
E-commerce app sales as percentage of total retail (UK)
The percentage of total retail sales conducted through mobile e-commerce dropped slightly in the UK in 2021, from 16.5% to 15.6%.
Mobile e-commerce sales as percentage of total retail in UK 2010 to 2021
E-commerce app market share (US)
Amazon is far ahead of competitors in the US e-commerce market, with 40% market share. With around 150 million Prime subscribers in the US, it is difficult for a competitor to offer the same value proposition.
Mobile e-commerce market share in US 2021 (%)
E-commerce app market share (India)
The Indian e-commerce market is a two horse race, with Amazon and Flipkart at 28% and 25% market share, respectively. Meesho has seen the most year-on-year growth, with 153 million downloads in 2021.
Mobile e-commerce market share in India 2021 (%)
E-commerce app downloads
From 2017 to 2021, e-commerce app sessions have increased by 92%, while downloads have only increased by 11%.
E-commerce app downloads and sessions 2017 to 2021
More Shopping App Data
- Wayfair Revenue and Usage Statistics (2023)
- ASOS Revenue and Usage Statistics (2023)
- Pinterest Revenue and Usage Statistics (2023)
- eBay Revenue and Usage Statistics (2023)
- Shein Revenue and Usage Statistics (2023)
- Depop Revenue and Usage Statistics (2023)
- Etsy Revenue and Usage Statistics (2023)
- Wish Revenue and Usage Statistics (2023)
