In this article, we will take a look at the 15 biggest e-commerce companies in China. You can skip our detailed analysis of the e-commerce industry’s outlook for 2021 and some of the major growth catalysts for e-commerce stocks and go directly to the 5 Biggest E-Commerce Companies in China.
The COVID-19 pandemic has boosted an already growing e-commerce industry, thanks to various parts of the world going into lockdowns. Closure or limited access to in-person retail outlets forced a change in consumer behavior, and the consumer base for e-commerce websites increased drastically. As a result, the industry has seen an unprecedented 129% YOY growth in the US. China’s e-commerce industry is also thriving.
According to an eMarketer forecast, 52.1% of the country’s retail sales will come from online stores in 2021, up from 44.8% in 2020. The growth of the e-commerce industry in China is unrivaled. After China, the country with the highest e-commerce growth rate in South Korea, is projected to have 28.9% of all retail sales made online in 2021. That figure will be just 15.0% in the US, and the average among European countries will be 12.8%.
The growth of the e-commerce industry in China appears to be unstoppable over the past few years. China’s most recent e-commerce boom did not decelerate even after the country got a handle on the virus and the economy fully reopened. Last year, in-store sales declined by 18.6% and were projected to decline by a further 9.8% in 2021. By comparison, e-commerce grew by 27.5% in 2020 and will grow by another 21.0% in 2021.
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In November 2020, as the Chinese economy bounced back from the effects of the pandemic, Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) reported a 30% jump in quarterly revenue, as the demand for e-commerce remained high. As a result, Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) reported 155.1 billion yuan (USD 23.4 billion) revenues for the 3rd quarter of 2020 alone.
Alibaba’s (NYSE: BABA) shares saw a 60% increase compared to March when the pandemic first hit and managed to climb to a record high in October 2020. Sales for their Cloud-based services rose by 60% due to increased demand in the finance and retail sectors. This is the first time since commencement that the sector is expected to turn profitable, marking a milestone for Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) as it competes with other e-commerce giants such as Amazon Web Services (NASDAQ: AMZN), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and local competitors like Tencent Holdings Ltd.
We have already talked about the 15 largest e-commerce websites globally but seeing the astonishing growth of the industry in China; we should take a look this time at the 15 largest e-commerce companies in China.
With this context and industry outlook in mind, let’s start our list of China’s 15 biggest e-commerce companies.
Biggest E-Commerce Companies in China
15. Douyin Flagship Store, Owned by ByteDance Inc.
Revenue: US$35 billion, 2020
Douyin entered the e-commerce market in March 2021 by launching its flagship store, where brand accounts can create their own stores to launch on its platform. Douyin was initially just a way to promote new products and popular items to consumers. Companies could send vouchers to their followers and add links to other e-commerce platforms, but the uniqueness of these flagship stores is all about marketing. It ranks 15th in our list of the biggest e-commerce companies in China.
These stores will help brands increase their conversion rates. Besides creating campaign banners and sending them, users can also store information offline. Since the launch, more than 220 local and international brands (Huawei, Winona, Peacebird, and Perfect Diary) have already introduced their flagship stores. Douyin aims to reach 1 trillion yuan in revenue in 2021 and compete with top e-commerce players such as Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) and JD.com (NASDAQ: JD).
14. Yihaodan, Owned by JD.com Inc. (NASDAQ: JD)
Revenue: US$1.8 billion, 2020
Founded in 2008, Yihaodian (NASDAQ: JD) is an online grocery shopping e-commerce platform. It follows a business-to-consumer (B2C) model and connects farmers/distributors to consumers directly. Yihaodian (NASDAQ: JD) operates unique “virtual stores” which show pictures of groceries on surfaces in public spaces, and people can scan the codes on the images to add groceries to their cart for purchase. It ranks 14th in our list of the biggest e-commerce companies in China.
Initially, in 2011 Walmart (NYSE: WMT) bought a 51% stake in Yihaodan (NASDAQ: JD), but by 2015, they had acquired 100% ownership. In 2016, Walmart (NYSE: WMT) and JD.com (NASDAQ: JD) made a deal worth $1.5 billion, where Walmart (NYSE: WMT) sold all of its shares in Yihaodan (NASDAQ: JD) for a 5% stake in JD.com (NASDAQ: JD).
13. Autohome Inc. (NYSE: ATHM)
Revenue: US$1.33 billion, 2020
Autohome, Inc. (NYSE: ATHM) is based in Beijing and is a holding company that creates and maintains mobile applications and automobile websites. It is the leading e-commerce platform for automobile consumers in China, selling used vehicles and new cars. It ranks 13th in our list of the biggest e-commerce companies in China.
Autohome (NYSE: ATHM) allows sellers to showcase their products through dealer subscription and advertising services. This extends the reach of their physical showrooms to millions of internet users. In addition, Autohome (NYSE: ATHM) offers important services such as auto financing, auto insurance, used car transactions, and aftermarket services.
12. E-commerce China Dangdang Inc. (DangDang)
Revenue: US$1.37 billion, 2020
Dangdang is a Chinese e-commerce company founded in 1999. Headquartered in Beijing, its main competitors are Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and JD.com (NASDAQ: JD). The competition began a price war in 2010, with each retailer dropping prices on a wide range of items, especially books. It ranks 12th in our list of the biggest e-commerce companies in China.
Dangdang’s main product offerings are household merchandise, cosmetics, digital, home appliances, books, audio, clothing, maternal and child care products. DangDang gains over 10 million new registered customers every year, and more than 100,000 people purchase products from Dangdang each day.
The company is competing with major players like Alibaba (NYSE: BABA), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Walmart (NYSE: WMT), and JD.com (NASDAQ: JD).
11. Xingin Information Technology (Shanghai) Co, Ltd
Revenue: US$1.49 billion, 2020
Xiaohongshu, also known as RED, is an e-commerce platform with over 300 million registered users, with over 85 million of them being active monthly. It runs RED Mall, which sells international products to Chinese users. In addition, users can share product reviews, travel and lifestyle stories via short videos and photos. It ranks 11th in our list of the biggest e-commerce companies in China.
Xiaohongshu was originally founded as a platform for users to share reviews of products. Still, since 2014, it has focused on its own e-commerce platform where Chinese consumers can order directly from overseas.
Xiaohongshu had earned a revenue of CN¥ 10 billion by 2017, which made it one of the biggest community e-commerce platforms. In the same month, they began their international delivery service REDelivery. In 2017 they also held a shopping festival to celebrate their fourth anniversary, which drew sales revenue of more than CN¥ 100 million in just 2 hours.
10. Momo Inc. (NASDAQ: MOMO)
Revenue: US$2.30 billion, 2020
Momo Inc. (NASDAQ: MOMO) is a social networking and entertainment platform based in Beijing. Momo (NASDAQ: MOMO) earns revenue through mobile games, paid emoticons and stickers, paid membership subscriptions, and marketing services. It has 85 million users who use the platform to form connections based on location and interests. Users can discover people, groups, and message boards as well as events based on location. Users can also make short-form videos and do live streams through Momo’s (NASDAQ: MOMO) platform.
9. Jumei International Holding Ltd (NYSE: JMEI)
Revenue: Figure for 2020 unavailable
Jumei International (NYSE: JMEI) is based in Beijing and was founded in 2010. China’s leading online seller of beauty products has the highest volume of sold merchandise among its competitors. Jumei (NYSE: JMEI) sells branded and luxury cosmetics, skincare, fragrances, baby, children, and maternity products, and health supplements. They make use of three strategies: curated sales, online shopping malls, and flash sales. Jumei Global (NYSE: JMEI) allows Chinese consumers easy access to overseas products and makes payments simple and hassle-free. It also owns its own exclusive private label and sells products under it. It ranks 9th in our list of the biggest e-commerce companies in China.
The company is competing with major players like Alibaba (NYSE: BABA), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Walmart (NYSE: WMT), and JD.com (NASDAQ: JD).
8. Pinduoduo Inc. (NASDAQ: PDD)
Revenue: US$4.07 billion, 2020
Pinduoduo Inc. (Nasdaq: PDD) is the biggest agriculture-focused e-commerce platform in China. It directly connects farmers and distributors to consumers. Approximately 600,000 distributors sold farm produce through Pinduoduo (Nasdaq: PDD) in 2019. Pinduoduo (Nasdaq: PDD) has ambitious plans to increase sales to $145 billion per year by 2025.
It has introduced new trends to the market, such as social commerce and consumer-to-manufacturer (C2M), that have revolutionized e-commerce in China.
As of September 2020, Pinduoduo (Nasdaq: PDD) has 731.3 million active buyers (over the past year), and 643.4 million of them used the website monthly in 2020.
In August of 2020, they launched Duo Duo Maicai, a grocery service where consumers can place orders online and collect them the next day, in response to consumers needing a new way to buy groceries during the pandemic.
7. 58.com Inc. (NYSE: WUBA)
Revenue: US$11.29 billion, 2020
58.com Inc. (NYSE: WUBA) was founded in 2005 and operated out of Beijing. It runs China’s biggest online platform for classifieds and ad listings which helps local buyers and sellers to communicate, exchange information, and do business. 58.com’s (NYSE: WUBA) website has a wide variety of listing from approximately 380 cities that cover a diverse list of categories, including real estate, recruitment, used goods, autos, pets, tickets, yellow pages, and other local services. According to the firm, among all 58.com’s (NYSE: WUBA) categories, job listings grow the fastest over the year and are increasingly responsible for a large proportion of total revenues. It ranks 7th in our list of the biggest e-commerce companies in China.
The company is competing with major players like Alibaba (NYSE: BABA), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Walmart (NYSE: WMT), and JD.com (NASDAQ: JD).
6. NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTES)
Revenue: US$11.29 billion, 2020
NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES) was founded in 1997 and operated out of Beijing. It offers IT solutions and services. These include gaming, advertising, and e-commerce. NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES) offers a wide range of e-commerce solutions to Chinese consumers on both desktop and mobile. In addition, they provide a platform to sellers and offer a variety of products from e-readers, matchmaking services, online music, and social networking. It ranks 6th in our list of the biggest e-commerce companies in China.
NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES) launched Kaola.com in 2015, which has operations similar to Amazon.com and has approximately 15 million users. NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES) also runs Yanxuan, an international and private label e-commerce business.
The company is competing with major players like Alibaba (NYSE: BABA), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Walmart (NYSE: WMT), and JD.com (NASDAQ: JD).
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Disclosure: None. 15 Biggest E-Commerce Companies in China is originally published on Insider Monkey.
