Five of the Top Online Shopping Sites

Methodology

What we’re looking at in this article are the 5 top shopping sites in the world in terms of reach and traffic. To determine the most popular shopping sites, we looked at AlexaRank; more specifically we looked at Alexa Traffic Ranking.

Briefly, AlexaRank is a service used to monitor the traffic that a particular website attracts on a daily basis. Traffic Ranking is historical data aggregated over a three-month period which gets the mean of the number of users and page views per user over time. From these numbers it produces a global and US rank for any given period.

When you check a site’s traffic ranking, AlexaRank will also give you the bounce rate (percentage of users that visit just one page on a site and then leave), daily time on site, audience demographics (which is particularly import for niche markets), and a whole lot of statistical information. Suffice it to say, to top a category (such as shopping) in AlexaRank is a pretty big deal.

Let’s go for a ride, shall we?

1. Amazon

It may not surprise you a whole lot that Amazon is top banana in this list. It may be worth knowing that AlexaRank is a subsidiary of Amazon, but before that knowing look on your face appears, think about your own shopping habits.

If you haven’t visited Amazon ever, I’ll eat my hat. In all probability, you’ve visited Amazon many times, if only to check out what the prices are for products you are thinking of or already selling. Amazon UK also did pretty well (96^th globally) but for the sake of variety we won’t be featuring it here.

2. eBay

No surprise here either. eBay is like the Walmart of the online world. You go there for the auctions, which gives you at least a chance to get a really good deal. Most times, though, the instant gratification impulse makes us impatient over waiting for the auction period to be over, so we end up either buying fixed price items or going to Amazon (see #1) to compare prices.

Notice how there is a wide discrepancy over the global rank of Amazon (5) and eBay (26)? That’s because Alexa ranking isn’t limited to e-commerce platforms, but rather it ranks the authority of all websites, not just for the shopping category. The fact that two of the biggest shopping sites in the world appear on the top ten goes to show you just how much online shopping the world does.

It’s also worth noting that the bounce rate of eBay is considerably lower than that of Amazon. That means when people go to eBay they are more likely to go to other pages in the site and thus spend more time shopping.

This is an important statistic that you should keep your eye on. It inversely represents the level of engagement of the browser, and you want them to be as engaged as possible

Recommended reading: Dropshipping on eBay: 7 tips for guaranteed success!

3. Etsy

Not everyone’s cup of tea since Etsy caters to sellers who make their own stuff, but hey if you’re into that, then this is the best place to display your wares. This is a niche market you’d think would attract more women than men, and AlexaRank agrees with you.

4. Groupon

So it’s not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about what to buy, but Groupon has an excellent email marketing strategy that gets people to the pages whether they were thinking of buying or not. Groupon tugs at the bargain hunter in all of us. It takes impulse buying to a whole new level!

5. Newegg

Consumer electronics are the most popular items bought online, so it just makes sense that an online shopping site dedicated to computers and electronic gadgets should enjoy a lot of custom and inclusion in this list. If you aspire to be a consumer electronics dropshipper or retailer, this is where you want to be. The name is kinda cute too.

So there you have five of the top-ranked online shopping sites in the world, all of which are open to dropshippers and other retailers. There are many others that are quite good as well, and may eventually make this list at another time. At the time of this publication, though, these are the 5 sites you want to be on to start the road to becoming a top online store.

If you think we should include an online shopping site you don’t see here, give us a buzz and we’ll look into it. If not, give us a buzz anyway; it would be great to hear from you!