Online retail websites have continued to grow in revenue and sophistication over the past few years. In spite of the volatile global economic conditions which have negatively affected many businesses, retail or shopping websites have continued to do well and have exceeded most expectations.

There are several different top retailer lists on the internet. However, each list focuses on slightly different selection criteria ranging from usability of eCommerce website to traffic, users and sales.

For this list we have researched several industry reports and retail websites and have chosen 10 that deserve a special mention. In addition to the top players such as Amazon and EBay, the list also features regional players such as John Lewis from the UK and Otto Gruppe from Germany.

You can learn from these websites and discover ways to improve sales on your website.

Global Retail Websites:

The following retail websites on this list have an extensive global market share.

 1. Amazon.com

Alexa Rank- 11

Amazon needs no introduction. In addition to the highest market share, Amazon.Com offers one of the best online shopping experiences and was ranked by consumers as the best online Internet retail shopping website in 2011 and 2012 (Readers’ Choice 2012 About.com). With almost 300 million visitors every month, Amazon reaches a whopping 20.4 percent of the entire Internet population in the world.

2. eBay.com

Alexa Traffic Rank- 21

eBay.com with 223.5 million visitors, or 16.2 percent of the global audience trail in the second place in terms of market share. From humble beginnings in 1995, the online auction website has turned into a multi-billion dollar business with local operations in over thirty countries worldwide.

3.  Alibaba Corporation

Alexa Rank- 75

Alibaba.com is the world’s largest online business-to-business trading platform for small businesses. It has more than 80 million registered users from more than 200 countries and regions.

The website is owned by Alibaba Corporation, a Chinese company founded in 1999, which also owns Taobao and Alipay. Nearly 170 million people visit its sites, giving it a total market reach of 11.3 percent of all Internet users.

4. Apple.com

Alexa Traffic Rank- 35

With over 134 million visitors, Apple.com reaches nearly 10 percent of the global online population. It is. It is the largest publicly traded company in the world by market capitalization, overtopping ExxonMobil as well as the largest technology company in the world by revenue and profit, more than Google and Microsoft combined.

5. Wal-Mart

Alexa Rank- 197

According to the Forbes Global 2000 list Walmart is the world’s 18th largest public corporation, and the largest when ranked by revenue. It is also the biggest private employer in the world with over two million employees.

6. Hewlett-Packard

Alexa Rank- 262

HP has been named one of America’s Top Organizations for Multicultural Business Opportunities for 2012 by DiversityBusiness.com. Founded by William Redington Hewlett and Dave Packard, Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is the world’s leading PC manufacturer. According to a Business Week Study, HP is currently the world’s 11th most valuable brand. It has also won the Cloud Innovation of the Year award in the 2011 Telecom Asia Readers’ Choice Awards.

Regional Retail Websites:

The following four companies have a primarily regional market share.

7. John Lewis

Alexa Rank- 3,248

John Lewis is one of the leading retailers from the UK. Its excellent online operations along with staggering 45% annual growth in online sales are some of the main reasons for including this site on this list.

As a company built on their reputation for quality and customer service, John Lewis have been great at taking everything they’re good at offline and implementing it online. It was named top retailer in both the Electricals and Service categories in Verdict Consumer Satisfaction Awards 2012

8. House of Fraser

Alexa Rank- 8,941

House of Fraser is an established British company  established in Glasgow, Scotland in 1849.  House of Fraser is a premium brand built on a reputation of quality, steeped in tradition but at the same time being at the cutting edge of the latest fashions.  House of Fraser was Nominated for Lorraine Fashion Award in 2011.

9. MercadoLibre

Alexa Rank- 553

MercadoLibre showed the strongest concentration of visitors from a single region with 93.3 percent of its audience from Latin America, where it ranked as the top retail player in the region.  It is eBay’s Latin American partner. Established in August of 1999 in Argentina and rapidly expanded to Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Portugal, Panama, Uruguay and Venezuela. Ebay currently holds a 18.37% share in MercadoLibre.

10. Otto Gruppe

Alexa Rank- 77,178

The German retail site Otto Gruppe is a regional website and focuses purely on the European market. It accounts for 92.3 percent of the European online audience. The website has won a number of awards including the PR Report Award 2012, and  the “Best Mobile Shop” award by Internet World Business awards .

The company also features in several industry reports and top lists e.g. No.2 in the Top Employers in the Fashion Industry, according to the trade publication “Working in Fashion 2012″.

Conclusion

Retail or shopping websites have grown exponentially over the past few years. The retail websites featured in the list above can be a great source of inspiration. If you are an online retailer, the retail websites above offer an opportunity to learn and discover what these companies are doing right to achieve a successful online presence.

You can also check out shopping comparison websites.