Nonstore Retail Industry Profile

Companies in this industry sell merchandise on retail websites, online auctions, mail-order catalogs, toll-free telephone numbers, television shows, or other business channels. Major companies include US-based Amazon, eBay, HSN, Newegg, and QVC as well as Alibaba Group (China), Argos and ASOS (UK), JD.com (China), MercadoLibre (Argentina), and Otto Group (Germany.

Nonstore sales mainly take place online. Global annual sales from e-commerce is nearly $5 trillion, forecasted to grow by 50% to nearly $7.5 trillion in 2025, according to Statista. Top countries for e-commerce sales include China, the US, the UK, Japan, and South Korea.

The US nonstore retail industry includes about 42,000 employer establishments (single-location companies and units of multi-location companies) with combined annual revenue of more than $520 billion.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand is driven by consumers’ personal income. The profitability of individual online retailers depends on effective marketing and competitive pricing to build a customer base. Larger firms enjoy central purchasing efficiencies and economies of scale in inventory management, customer service, and telecommunications. Smaller firms compete on outstanding customer service and providing niche products. The industry is concentrated: the top 50 companies account for about 60% of revenue.

Companies in the internet auctions industry, such as eBay and Taobao in China, generally compete with online retailers and physical retail establishments. Some companies do business in several of those areas, selling items through conventional e-commerce systems in addition to facilitating consumer-to-consumer bids. Online classified ...