In this increasingly-developed business world, there are a lot of advantages certain businesses have over themselves, and as such be considered as competitors when they rival against each other and strive to be a better establishment than themselves.
It can even be concluded that the presence of competitors within your business niche is a fundamental reality of doing that business as it is for every business. This aspect of the business world is mostly intentionally looked over and disregarded, but the truth is that it is inevitable. In fact, competitor analysis is very important in order to maintain the steady growth of your business.
Getting familiar with the competitors within your industry and having an insight on what they have to offer can help you differentiate your own products and services in a unique and improved way. This would help you improve the initiatives of your business as well as giving you an idea of how to craft a fair pricing model, and also develop strategic plans to counter rival marketing campaigns.
You can utilize this knowledge from the analysis to capitalize on the market and improve your own presence in the market by taking advantage of your competitors’ flaws. This assessment helps you understand how to maneuver your way round the industry.
Below are a number of businesses that can be considered as Amazon Competitors:
#1. Alibaba Group Holding Limited
- Founded: April 4, 1999
- Headquarters: Hangzhou, China
Need to know
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd was founded in 1999 by Jack Ma and a group of 17 friends in a bid to explore and venture into the technological business space internationally by venturing into different trades, products and services through e-commerce. Although Alibaba started off as a china-based B2B marketplace site, it has now successfully developed into a multinational technology establishment that commands and operates a wide portfolio of businesses in a variety of industries around the world.
It operates largely as a retailing and e-commerce business, and can be considered a powerhouse in this sector. Alibaba generates revenue by creating a relationship between merchants and businesses (wholesalers/retailers) who trade various forms of products through provision of safe sourcing and online transaction services from China to over 200 countries amassing over a billion consumers in their ecosystem.
#2. Target Corporation
- Founded: 1902
- Headquarters: Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Need to know
Target Corporation was founded in 1902 by George Dayton as Goodfellow Dry Goods. Although its retail lineage dates far back to the dawn of the 20th century, the first store was opened in 1962 starting off as a retail company for general merchandise on a lower-scale.
It has since then grown become a source of influence and inspiration in the American mass market as it offers discount retailing for goods (such as clothing, appliances, housewares, groceries, beauty accessories and many more) on larger scale from its stores in United States to distribution centers in countries like Canada, United Kingdom and Japan. It is considered one of the leading brands within the retail industry with a significant number of discount retail stores operating general-merchandise and large-scale food sales.
#3. eBay Inc
- Founded: September 3, 1995
- Headquarters: San Jose, California, United States
Need to know
eBay was founded in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar initially with the company’s name being AuctionWeb serving the purpose of an online auction site. Due to its immediate success, it developed even further and became the first auction site on the internet to allow person-to-person transactions.
It generates revenue through a complex business business strategy by charging service fees for facilitating consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its platform.
#4. Walmart Inc
- Founded: July 2, 1962
- Headquarters: Rogers, Arkansas, United States
Need to know
Walmart was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton with a competitive strategy to catapult his business into the retail industry by selling products at lower-prices in a bid to attract more clients and generate higher volume sales.
Although the business experienced some initial setbacks, it has since set forth by degrees in the business world and manifested as a multinational American retailing business operating a variety of discount retailing establishments in over 20 countries.
#5. eWorldTrade
Founded: July 14, 2014
Headquarters: Dallas, Texas, United States
eWorldTrade is a leading global trade platform. They help buyers and suppliers trade more easily and efficiently by connecting them with one another. Connecting buyers and suppliers and doing business seamlessly is made easy with eWorldTrade. They are a leading marketplace for global trade due to the following aspects:
- Offering a wide range of services and products.
- A platform that is easy to use.
- Commitment to providing excellent customer service.
Customer service is their top priority for both buyers and suppliers. A support team is always available if you have any questions.
#6. JD
- Founded: June 18, 1998
- Headquarters: Beijing, China
Need to know
JD was established in 1998 by Liu Qiangdong as an e-commerce company to facilitate the sales of general merchandise and electronic products. Initially known as 360buy, JD has transformed one of the biggest technology-driven companies with a massive e-commerce platform diversified into the sales of not only general merchandise but also computers, electrical appliances, mobile devices and other closely related products.
It is renowned for possessing arguably the largest drone delivery system, infrastructure and capability in the world. The revenue generated by the company places on top of the market chain as the biggest internet company in China.
#7. Flipkart
- Founded: October, 2007
- Headquarters: Bengaluru, India
Need to know
Flipkart, the most prominent largest e-commerce platform out of India was founded in 2007 by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal. It started off as an online store for the sales of books before diversifying into other general merchandise products.
In 2018, it was acquired by Walmart Inc. With Walmart as its parent company, Flipkart also owns a number of subsidiary companies namely; Myntra, PhonePe, Ekart, Jeeves and Cleartrip.
#8. Netflix
- Founded: August 29, 1997
- Headquarters: Los Gatos, California, United States
Need to know
In 1997, Netflix was founded by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph as an enterprise for the sales and rental of DVDs via mails in the United States. Later on, Nettflix stopped DVD sales and only offered DVD rental services, and it is known for this as the world’s first online rental DVD store.
As of now, Netflix neither offers DVD rentals nor sales, but has developed into a platform that offers streaming services that allows access to numerous collections of entertainment media, documentaries, movies and TV shows with a service charge. Its expansion has also seen it evolve into film production internationally. Netflix has gone from being a pioneer to a powerhouse earning its successful acclaim with an unparalleled service that made a big shift in the industry.
#9. Apple TV+
- Founded: November 1, 2019
- Headquarters: Cupertino, California, United States
Need to know
Apple TV+ was established in 2019, another subsidiary unit of the parent company Apple Inc. It offers a unique approach to streaming services as it features Apple Originals.
Just like most streaming services, it also offers streaming services for a variety of dramas, TV shows and documentaries.
#10. Disney+
- Founded: November 12, 2019
- Headquarters: Burbank, California, United States
Need to know
Disney+ , which was originally known as DisneyLife, is a streaming service platform that was launched in 2019 by its parent company, Walt Disney.
It has a very impressive content library as it is known as the streaming home for Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic productions, amongst many others. It has over 100million users as it boasts of about 7,000 TV episodes and 500 films available in 61 countries across North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
#11. Hulu
- Founded: October 29, 2007
- Headquarters: Los Angeles, California, United States
Need to know
Hulu is an American streaming platform that was launched in 2007 with just about 67% of the company owned by The Walt Disney Company.
Aside from streaming its own in-house web series, Hulu also has huge content partnership deals with companies like; The CW, BBC, Showtime to name a few. Generating a revenue of at least a billion since 2018, and even having over 40 million users, its services are not available internationally.