Amazon’s Even Cross-Border Split Meets Chinese Players With a Domestic Focus of Over 90%

Cross-border eCommerce is at the center of international news right now, as talks about tariffs are making the rounds for months on end. In a globally connected world, selling online across national borders increases the number of consumers available as potential buyers.

It is rare that successful companies drive a one-market-strategy, but in some parts of the world it is more usual than in others. Even so, the paradigm is shifting. Examining ECDB’s extensive data on cross-border online sales, how do the top 10 eCommerce companies split up their sales over domestic and international markets?

How Are Cross-Border Revenues Measured?

First, a definition is in order. Cross-border revenues refer to the shares of revenue that were generated outside a company’s main country of operation. For Amazon, that would be revenues from outside of the United States, for Alibaba outside of China, for MercadoLibre outside of Brazil, and so on.

In ECDB another blog post on cross-border companies, the size of cross-border revenues was examined. The post went to show how Amazon is the leading company when it comes to revenues generated outside of its main country of operation.

This infographic includes domestic revenue shares on top of internationally generated ones. While Amazon may be the cross-border leader, another company towers over Amazon in terms of overall revenues. Because of Alibaba’s massive size, even a small percentage of cross-border sales is enough to place it among the top 10 in cross-border rankings.

Amazon and Alibaba: Two Cross-Border Leaders With Different Concepts

The two leading eCommerce companies in terms of cross-border sales, Amazon and Alibaba, rank respective first and second in terms of absolute revenues. But the underlying distribution of domestic and international shares runs different for both companies.

Amazon generated eCommerce revenues of US$801.3 billion in 2024, and its revenue split is at a rounded 50-50. With the resulting US$398.5 billion in international eCommerce revenues, Amazon leads the global list of cross-border companies. Alibaba generated total eCommerce revenues of US$1.1 trillion in 2024 across all its domains, only 12% of which are generated outside of China. Still, the resulting US$131.8 billion in absolute cross-border revenues are sufficiently high to render Alibaba second highest in the global ranking.

Together, the two eCommerce leaders run ahead of what others generate. However, the air for Amazon is becoming tighter as time goes on.

Are Chinese Players to Surpass Amazon Soon?

More specifically, Chinese players are making the run for the top spots. PDD Holdings, parent company to Pinduoduo and Temu, is starting to catch up with Amazon, closing the gap to a difference of a little over US$100 billion in 2024. The closure of this gap refers to total eCommerce sales though.

In terms of cross-border shares, PDD has only a small fraction of 2% generated outside of China. Due to its large number of total revenues, this places PDD in tenth spot. Temu is Pinduoduo’s international eCommerce domain, having made global headlines for its rapid rise. Compared to pinduoduo.com, Temu's revenues are insignificant, considered in the grand scheme of things.

Similar in that regard is ByteDance, parent to Douyin and TikTok Shop. ByteDance’s total revenues are remarkably high with US$587.2 billion in 2024. A large portion (95%) of them are made through homegrown platform Douyin, while TikTok Shop makes up the remaining 5%. Despite the global buzz and steep rise of TikTok Shop and Temu, the two international platforms are just minor contributors to overall revenues of their respective parent companies.

Smaller Cross-Border Players Indicate Varying Shares

Other companies in the top 10 cross-border ranking fall way behind the formerly mentioned. Walmart approaches US$250 billion in total eCommerce revenues, but with a cross-border share of 23%, it isn't among the most significant cross-border players. Sea Ltd., parent company to Southeast Asian leader Shopee, generates an overall lower figure of US$98.0 in eCommerce revenues, but has a high cross-border share of 74%.

The Amazon concept of a 50-50 cross-border split continues for the rest of the companies. They include eBay (cross-border share of 58%), Shein (53%), MercadoLibre (53%) and Apple (45%). Leading companies from the U.S. appear to have a more balanced distribution of cross-border to domestic shares, suggesting a stronger international outlook of these companies.