Daily ArchivesNovember 1, 2021

Ecommerce has seen a surge of new businesses and customers over the past few years.

In response to the pandemic, small business owners took their stores online, while consumers turned to online shopping to procure necessities and even relieve stress.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates U.S. retail ecommerce sales in the first quarter of 2021 to have reached $215 billion, up 7% from the last quarter of 2020 and up almost 40% from the first quarter of 2020. Sales from ecommerce platforms accounted for 13.6% of total retail sales. eMarketer projects that U.S. ecommerce retail sales will reach a trillion dollars in 2022.

If you’re interested in riding out this ecommerce trend, there is no better time to start an ecommerce business than today.

However, before starting your online shop, it’s a good idea to take a page from the top ecommerce sites in the U.S. to learn their secrets for success.

Read on to discover:

Top 10 Ecommerce Websites

Tips for Building Top Ecommerce Sites

Final Thoughts: Top Ecommerce Sites in the US in 2021

Top 10 Ecommerce Websites

These are the top 10 ecommerce sites in the U.S. If you want to learn
more about what makes them stand out, keep reading.

1. Amazon.

2. eBay.

3. Walmart.

4. Etsy.

5. Target.

6. Home Depot.

7. Best Buy.

8. Lowe’s.

9. Wayfair.

10. Costco.

1. Amazon

Estimated monthly traffic from the U.S.: 3.3 billion

The name Amazon is synonymous with ecommerce. It is, after all, the top ecommerce site by sales in the world.

Founded in 1994 as a humble bookstore startup, Amazon has undergone tremendous ecommerce growth to dominate the industry by offering one to two-day shipping with an Amazon Prime membership.

Besides allowing customers to shop for its branded products, Amazon also lets users sign up for seller accounts on its online marketplace.

2. eBay

Estimated monthly traffic from the U.S.: 884.89 million

Founded in 1995, eBay is also one of the pioneers in the ecommerce space. It is one of the success stories of the dot-com bubble in the late 1990s.

eBay started as an online auction website before offering ecommerce capabilities to its users, empowering them to buy and sell different goods online.

3. Walmart

Estimated monthly traffic from the U.S.: 541.58 million

An established name since the 1960s, Walmart is America’s largest multinational retail corporation, operating a chain of hypermarkets, department stores, and grocery stores in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.

It’s no surprise that Walmart is one of the top ecommerce sites in the world. With over 2.2 million employees worldwide, Walmart is the world’s largest employer and largest retail company by revenue.

Besides listing and selling items on its website, Walmart also has an online marketplace called Walmart Marketplace, founded in 2009.

4. Etsy

Estimated monthly traffic from the U.S.: 279.52 million

Founded in the U.S. in 2006, Etsy is one of the best ecommerce platforms for sellers dealing with handcrafted or vintage items. With over 2.5 million vendors selling to over 40 million shoppers worldwide, Etsy has made a good name for itself despite its very niche business.

5. Target

Estimated monthly traffic from the U.S.: 215.14 million

Target is the eighth-largest retailer in the U.S. and the second-largest department store after Walmart. It has over 1,900 stores in the U.S.

In 2019, Target opened its website to third-party sellers through its Target Plus program, an invite-only online marketplace designed to expand the product selection on Target’s website with goods from third-party sellers.

6. Home Depot

Estimated monthly traffic from the U.S.: 318.18 million

Home Depot is the U.S.’s largest home improvement retailer, making it the go-to website for home improvement supplies. The now-top ecommerce site started in 1978 and operates over 2,200 stores in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.

7. Best Buy

Estimated monthly traffic from the U.S.: 205.13 million

Best Buy is a multinational consumer electronics retailer. It started its business as an audio specialty store in the 1960s before focusing on consumer electronics in 1983.

Today, as one of the top ecommerce sites in the U.S., Best Buy offers a wide range of items across several product categories, including electronics, furniture, fitness, and baby products.

8. Lowe’s

Estimated monthly traffic from the U.S.: 191.24 million

Lowe’s is one of the oldest American retail companies. It started operating as a chain of hardware and home improvement stores in the 1940s.

With more than 2,000 stores, it’s the second-largest hardware store in the U.S. after Home Depot.

9. Wayfair

Estimated monthly traffic from the U.S.: 128.66 million

Founded in 2002 as CSN Stores, Wayfair, a company specializing in furniture and home goods, is on its way to becoming the Amazon of the home goods space.

Wayfair acts like a middleman, providing a platform for over 10,000 global suppliers to sell products to millions of customers via dropshipping. That quickly made it one of the top ecommerce sites for buyers and sellers alike.

10. Costco

Estimated monthly traffic from the U.S.: 98.04 million

Costco Wholesale Corporation is a multinational, membership-only chain of warehouse clubs in the U.S., Europe, Australia, and Asia.

Costco started in the 1970s and currently has over 800 stores in the U.S. It is famous for providing great pricing on bulk items.

Tips for Building Top Ecommerce Sites

As you can see on our top ecommerce sites list, online marketplaces make up the first five items, while custom ecommerce websites make up the remaining five.

However, no matter if it is an online marketplace or a custom ecommerce website, you’ll notice that top ecommerce sites have several website features in common.

Some of them you may not be able to spot immediately, but here’s the good news — we’ve compiled them for you.

So, if you’re ready to build your online store website, take note of the following website tips to design a top ecommerce site of your own:

• Focus on a user-friendly design. There is a lot of thought that goes into designing websites. The top ecommerce sites have modern web designs that are easy to navigate, fast-loading, and responsive on both desktops and mobile devices.

Because ecommerce sites have a lot of large files (like product images), they aren’t always the fastest. Page load speed is an SEO ranking factor that can affect how potential customers use your website and how it appears on search engine results.

Some website speed optimization tricks are to:

• Choose the right web hosting provider.

• Optimize images.

• Enable caching.

• Use a content delivery network (CDN).

• Learn how to create a one-page website.

• Build a beautiful homepage. A website’s homepage is the online version of a storefront. Create a homepage inspired by these beautiful homepage design ideas.

• Emphasize website security. Top ecommerce sites must be secure because they deal with customers’ sensitive personal information and financial data. Ensure that your ecommerce store has an SSL certificate and is PCI-compliant.

• Provide multiple payment gateways. Top ecommerce sites cater to customers from different countries. Although most shoppers are comfortable using PayPal or credit cards, other customers may have different preferred payment methods.

• Offer thorough product information. Customers can’t see the products in an online store firsthand. For that reason, top ecommerce sites must give users comprehensive information about the merchandise on their listings and product pages. The standard is detailed product descriptions and high-quality images.

Final Thoughts: Top Ecommerce Sites in the US

Ecommerce is growing and will continue to do so in the coming years.

If you’ve found inspiration in our top ecommerce companies list and decided you want to start an online business of your own, all you need is a solid foundation.

That’s where StoreBuilder by Hostdedi comes in.

StoreBuilder is an ecommerce solution that combines the ease of an ecommerce website builder with the customizability of an online store at an affordable price. Developed by WooCommerce experts, StoreBuilder’s intelligent technology lets you create an online store complete with:

• Storefront templates you can customize for beautiful, easy-to-navigate, and responsive page design and functionality.

• Reliable payment gateways.

• Free SSL certificates and domain name registration.

• Access to over 50,000 WordPress plugins for deep customization.

So, what are you waiting for? Create your ecommerce website and get more online sales with Hostdedi’ StoreBuilder today.

Related Ecommerce Resources

– How To Open an Ecommerce Store in 11 Steps

– Choosing a Profitable Product Niche for Your Ecommerce Shop

– How To Create a Data-Driven Sales Approach for Your Ecommerce Store

– 36 Ecommerce Terms to Know Before Starting Your Business

– How To Create an Ecommerce Business Plan for Your Online Store