Less than a generation ago, e-commerce was only in its infancy, born on the World Wide Web as a vision of entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos.
Today, e-commerce accounts for almost $1.2 trillion in annual retail sales in the U.S., or 16% of the total retail industry. Globally, e-commerce sales total more than $5 trillion, led by companies such as Amazon (AMZN +1.23%) and China’s Alibaba Group (BABA -2.42%), as well as brick-and-mortar retailers such as Home Depot (HD +1.04%).
Image source: Getty Images.
The tremendous growth in e-commerce has propelled a number of big winners on the stock market, but there's still plenty of opportunity left in online retail. Annual e-commerce sales grew about 15% in the 2010s, and the adoption of online shopping accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
After the pandemic surge, e-commerce's share of total retail sales actually fell through the beginning of 2022. Growth has slowed as spending patterns normalize following a shift back to brick-and-mortar stores and services such as travel and restaurants, settling at around 7%. Still, there's plenty of long-term growth left in e-commerce. If you're looking for a list of the top e-commerce companies in the world, keep reading below.
Top e-commerce stocks to buy right now
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1. Amazon
NASDAQ: AMZN
Amazon
Today's Change
(1.23%) $2.96
Current Price
$243.89
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$2.6T
Day's Range
$239.54 - $244.79
52wk Range
$161.38 - $258.60
Volume
692K
Avg Vol
46M
Gross Margin
50.05%
- Amazon (AMZN +1.23%) launched in 1995 and today sells more than 350 million stock-keeping units (SKUs) through its marketplace.
- Amazon has not had a true direct competitor in the U.S. and has grown through its third-party marketplace and Amazon Prime. It now has more than 100 fulfillment centers in the U.S.
- The company is set to top Walmart as the biggest company in the world by revenue this year.
- The stock is up more than 100,000% from its 1997 initial public offering (IPO).
2. Shopify
NASDAQ: SHOP
Shopify
Today's Change
(-0.44%) $-0.74
Current Price
$167.71
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$219B
Day's Range
$164.72 - $168.18
52wk Range
$69.84 - $182.19
Volume
47K
Avg Vol
7.9M
Gross Margin
48.57%
- Shopify (SHOP -0.44%) has emerged as Amazon's closest competitor, with more than 2 million merchants around the world, ranging from mom-and-pop businesses to global brand giants like Kraft Heinz (KHC -1.62%).
- Shopify provides an end-to-end platform for any business to sell online, handling web design, marketing, payment processing, financial tracking, and even loans.
- The company has reached a detente with Amazon, agreeing to integrate its Buy with Prime feature, allowing Amazon Prime members to get free delivery on items labeled "Buy with Prime."
- Shopify's revenue has grown from $389 million in 2016 to $8.9 billion in 2024, and it continues to deliver strong growth as it expands its merchant base, adds new AI features, and flexes its pricing power.
3. Coupang
NYSE: CPNG
Coupang
Today's Change
(-1.06%) $-0.25
Current Price
$23.28
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$43B
Day's Range
$23.17 - $23.65
52wk Range
$19.02 - $34.08
Volume
189K
Avg Vol
12M
Gross Margin
29.62%
- Coupang (CPNG -1.06%) is headquartered in Seattle, but operates primarily in South Korea.
- South Korea is one of the most densely populated countries in the developed world, creating efficiencies in delivery distances and internet speeds.
- Coupang has followed a similar strategy to Amazon with a first-party e-commerce business and a third-party marketplace.
- It's also launched a Prime-like membership platform, Rocket WOW.
- It has started smaller businesses like food delivery, video streaming, mobile games, and digital games, and it acquired Farfetch, an online fashion luxury platform.
- Coupang reported 24% revenue growth in 2024 to $30.3 billion with $1.4 billion in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA).
4. MercadoLibre
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- Another international e-commerce company, MercadoLibre (MELI -0.84%), has delivered standout growth throughout its history.
- MercadoLibre operates across Latin America, but gets half of its revenue from Brazil.
- Its primary business is e-commerce, which includes third-party sales. Its MercadoPago fintech platform has also become a sizable business and includes mobile point-of-sale systems.
- Most of MercadoPago's payments now come from sources other than the MercadoLibre platform.
- The company finished 2024 with 100 million unique buyers and more than 60 million fintech monthly active users. Revenue reached $20.8 billion, and its margins are expanding.
5. Walmart
NASDAQ: WMT
Walmart
Today's Change
(-0.75%) $-0.86
Current Price
$113.48
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$911B
Day's Range
$112.10 - $114.69
52wk Range
$79.81 - $117.45
Volume
395K
Avg Vol
19M
Gross Margin
23.90%
Dividend Yield
0.82%
- Walmart (NYSE:WMT) is best known for its brick-and-mortar business, but over the last decade, it's built a formidable e-commerce business.
- Walmart has opened thousands of grocery pickup stations, leveraging its physical footprint to drive online sales.
- Like Amazon, Walmart has also built an advertising business around its e-commerce platform, and it's added an e-commerce marketplace.
- The company has been gaining market share on Amazon in e-commerce, consistently delivering growth of around 20%.
Benefits and risks of investing in e-commerce stocks
Like any other subset of stocks, there are both benefits and risks in e-commerce stocks. Let's take a look at some of the bigger ones:
Benefits:
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- Although growth in the category has slowed down, e-commerce remains a growth industry and will continue to take market share from brick-and-mortar retail.
- E-commerce stocks like Amazon and Shopify have been some of the top-performing stocks on the market. The industry creates opportunities for explosive stocks because of its large addressable market and potential for disruption.
- Companies like MercadoLibre, Sea Limited, and Coupang have shown there's still a long runway for e-commerce growth in international markets.
Risks:
- Pure-play e-commerce stocks have a history of being unprofitable or struggling to turn a profit due in part to expenses like logistics and investing in growth.
- Some e-commerce stocks like Etsy (ETSY +2.33%), Chewy (CHWY -0.31%), and Wayfair (W +0.98%) soared during the pandemic, but have struggled since then. The pandemic led some e-commerce companies to over-invest, and they couldn't cover their costs once the economy normalized.
- Competition from Amazon has been a risk for both brick-and-mortar retailers and e-commerce companies.
- The market is maturing, and brick-and-mortar companies have improved their e-commerce operations, meaning that growth will be harder to find.
What to look for when investing in e-commerce companies
E-commerce investors should pay attention to certain metrics and factors with e-commerce stocks. Those include:
- Growth rate: Most e-commerce stocks are still growth stocks, so maintaining a high growth rate, ideally of 20% or better, is key to the stock's future. You'll also want to keep an eye on growth in the company's gross merchandise value (GMV), the total value of goods sold on an e-commerce platform.
- Business model: There are different kinds of e-commerce businesses. The two primary ones are direct sales and marketplace. Some companies, like Amazon, operate as a hybrid. It's important to understand the business model that the company uses since that will affect its financial outlook. A direct, or first-party sales, company will have much higher revenue than a marketplace, though a marketplace should have higher margins. Other business models in the e-commerce space include software, and some logistics companies have exposure to e-commerce.
- Take rate: This is the percentage of GMV that is converted into revenue. It only applies to the marketplace, but it's an important metric to follow since it shows how efficient or inefficient a business is at monetizing income.
- Operating margin: profitability is key for any company, and that is especially true in e-commerce. Some stocks have emerged as profit machines after years of losses; others, like Wayfair, have struggled. Revenue growth or billions of dollars in revenue don't necessarily signal a healthy business without a profit.
- Competitive advantage: Competitive advantage isn't quantifiable, but it's worth assessing in e-commerce. Many e-commerce stocks tend to be category leaders, like Wayfair for home furnishings and Chewy for pet products. It's worth considering concepts like brand strength and barriers to entry when assessing an e-commerce company's competitive advantage.
How to invest in e-commerce stocks
If you're considering investing in e-commerce stocks, it's not hard to do. Just follow the steps below.
- Open your brokerage app: Log in to your brokerage account where you handle your investments.
- Search for the stock: Enter the ticker or company name into the search bar to bring up the stock's trading page.
- Decide how many shares to buy: Consider your investment goals and how much of your portfolio you want to allocate to this stock.
- Select order type: Choose between a market order to buy at the current price or a limit order to specify the maximum price you're willing to pay.
- Submit your order: Confirm the details and submit your buy order.
- Review your purchase: Check your portfolio to ensure your order was filled as expected and adjust your investment strategy accordingly.
Related investing topics
Are e-commerce stocks right for you?
E-commerce stocks offer a lot of upside potential for investors, but they come with risks. Many e-commerce companies aren’t profitable, and even the ones that are profitable generally have only minimal profits. The hangover in the sector from the pandemic recovery has abated, but the sector is unlikely to return to its pre-pandemic growth rate as a whole.
Investors should be aware that e-commerce is riskier than most stock market sectors, but the track record of these stocks shows that just one successful e-commerce stock can deliver life-changing returns.
FAQ
About the Author
Jeremy Bowman has been a contributing Motley Fool stock market analyst, covering technology, consumer goods, and macroeconomic trends since 2011. Before The Motley Fool, Jeremy was a newspaper reporter, restaurant manager, and English teacher abroad. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Colorado College and a master’s degree in business administration from American University. One of his Motley Fool headlines was briefly featured on Late Night with Stephen Colbert.
Jeremy Bowman has positions in Amazon, Home Depot, MercadoLibre, and Shopify. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Chewy, Etsy, Home Depot, MercadoLibre, Shopify, and Walmart. The Motley Fool recommends Alibaba Group, Coupang, Kraft Heinz, and Wayfair. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
