Leading e-commerce sites in the U.S. 2021, by monthly visits

As of June 2021, Amazon was the most visited e-commerce site in the United States, recording approximately 2.45 billion monthly visits to Amazon.com. eBay ranked second, with more than 885 million visits per month, while Walmart came in third, surpassing 410 million.

Online retail in a nutshell

Online retail in the United States is a multi-billion dollar sector of business-to-consumer transactions where goods and services are sold via the internet. There are several business models at play here with the likes of Walmart, Home Depot, or Target based on brick-and-mortar stores whereas others such as Amazon, eBay, or Etsy are designated online marketplaces. It also includes eBay which allows third-party or private sellers to market their goods.

Online retail sites enable customers to browse through a range of products before placing them into an electronic shopping cart. Unlike their retail counterparts, online retail sites are not bound to a physical location or limited by store opening hours, and as such, have proven themselves immensely convenient for consumers. Apparel & accessories and computers & consumer electronics are some of the most popular e-commerce categories in the United States.

Fast-growing retailers

In addition to being the most visited retail site in the United States, Amazon also accounts for the vast majority of e-commerce sales. Over the past few years, Amazon’s retail sales in the United States have grown steadily, however, competition in this space is growing strong. Etsy, followed closely by Walmart and Target, are among the companies that recorded the fastest online retail sales growth in 2021.