Amazon and Shopify Now Control Nearly Half of U.S. E-Commerce
Amazon centralizes millions of buyers under one roof. Shopify hands merchants the keys to their own storefront. Two completely different models, and together they now account for 49.7% of the U.S. online retail market. With the total U.S. e-commerce market valued at $1.2 trillion, that concentration has real consequences for every brand selling online today.
How the Numbers Break Down
The U.S. e-commerce market share figures for 2025 show a significant concentration at the top. Amazon holds 35.7% of total U.S. e-commerce sales, generating roughly $440 billion in 2025. Shopify, through its network of merchant storefronts, claims 14% of the market, up from 12% in 2024. Their combined 49.7% share marks a significant increase from an estimated 43% in 2021, meaning the two platforms added nearly 7 percentage points in just four years.
The rest of the market splits among competitors, including Walmart, eBay, TikTok Shop, Temu, Shein, and Target. None of them comes close to matching the scale of either Amazon or Shopify individually, let alone their combined footprint. Walmart sits at 6.4%, Apple at 3.6%, and eBay at 3%. The gap between the top two and everyone else has grown, not narrowed, over the past four years.
Amazon's Position in U.S. Online Retail
Amazon's dominance in U.S. e-commerce is well-documented, and recent data reinforces it. According to Forbes, Amazon accounts for 37.6% of all U.S. e-commerce sales, making it the leading platform by a wide margin.
Beyond its market share percentage, Amazon's traffic numbers shows why so many brands prioritize the platform. Amazon draws over 2.8 billion annual visits across its domains, giving sellers access to a consumer base that no single platform replicates.
The broader e-commerce sector continues to grow alongside it. Retail purchases made online are expected to rise from 20.1% in 2024 to 23% by 2027. E-commerce sales overall are projected to grow 8.8% in 2024, and the global market is forecast to reach $6.3 trillion in 2024, growing to over $7.9 trillion by 2027. For sellers, these figures signal that the opportunity on Amazon is expanding year over year.
Amazon's 37.6% share is slightly down from 37.8% the previous year, but the platform's absolute revenue growth keeps it far ahead. Small percentage fluctuations at Amazon's scale still represent billions of dollars in sales volume.
Shopify's Growth Across Merchant Storefronts
Shopify operates differently from Amazon. Where Amazon centralizes the buyer-seller relationship under its own brand, Shopify gives merchants control over their storefronts, customer data, and brand identity. That model has attracted a wide range of sellers, from individual entrepreneurs to enterprise-level brands.
According to surveys, the platform now powers nearly 7 million live stores across 235 countries. Shopify controls 20% of the e-commerce platform market, placing it among the largest infrastructure providers in U.S. online retail.
The economic impact of Shopify merchants is substantial. Collectively, they generate over $490 billion in economic activity. The platform draws over 350 million monthly site visits, and its App Store has seen merchants install more than 25 million apps to support store functionality and marketing. Shopify Plus, the company's offering for larger businesses, extends that reach into enterprise retail, driving the platform's share growth from 12% in 2024 to 14% in 2025.
What This Means for Sellers
The shift in U.S. e-commerce market share carries direct implications for anyone selling online. When two platforms account for half the market, where you sell, how you allocate your ad budget, and how you build customer relationships all carry more weight than they did even two years ago.
Sellers who operate only on Amazon get access to billions of visits and a built-in purchase intent that is difficult to replicate elsewhere. What they give up is ownership. Amazon controls the customer relationship, the data, and the experience. A seller with 100,000 Amazon customers has no direct line to any of them if their account gets suspended or their listing gets suppressed.
Sellers who operate only through Shopify own their customer list, control their brand presentation, and keep more margin by cutting out marketplace fees. What they give up is discovery. Driving traffic to a standalone storefront requires consistent investment in paid advertising, SEO, and email, costs that Amazon's built-in audience offsets by default.
The brands seeing the strongest results are treating both platforms as complementary. A seller who builds their Amazon presence for volume and new customer acquisition, then drives repeat purchases through a Shopify store with email flows and loyalty incentives, uses each platform for what it does best.
The U.S. e-commerce market will keep expanding through 2027 and beyond. The question for any seller is how much of your strategy is built around the platforms where nearly half of all U.S. online spending already happens.
