eMarketer highlights Amazon US e-commerce dominance

Amazon is on track to claim $258.22 billion in US retail sales in 2018, according to eMarketer research.

That weighs in at 49.1% of all online US retail spend and 5% of all retail sales. eBay is a distant second with 6.6%, Apple is third with 3.9%, followed by Walmart, which, despite significant e-commerce investment, only has a 3.7% share of online sales in the US.

Key here is Marketplace, which currently accounts for 68% of all retail sales, working out to nearly $176 billion, versus 32% for Amazon’s direct sales. According to eMarketer, Marketplace’s share will by the end of 2018 be more than double that of Amazon’s own sales.

“The continued growth of Amazon’s Marketplace makes sense on a number of levels,” says eMarketer Principal Analyst Andrew Lipsman. “More buyers transacting more often on Amazon will naturally attract third party sellers. But because third party transactions are also more profitable, Amazon has every incentive to make the process as seamless as possible for those selling on the platform.”