A guide to the e-commerce companies changing the online retail experience.
It’s no secret that commerce has changed significantly over the past decade. The rise of experiential marketing and social media has transformed retail, granting brands greater access to consumers’ lives, and in doing so, a deeper understanding of the ways in which they make purchases online.
E-commerce has become one of the most fertile and fast-growing industries in the world, transforming the consumer journey into a digital, interactive one. The industry is advancing as rapidly as the technology — and it’s making a major economic and job opportunity impact.
In light of the industry’s evolution, it’s no surprise there has been a substantial increase in e-commerce companies. Whether they’re redefining the online grocery experience or making it easier for local businesses to connect with customers, e-commerce companies nationwide are ushering in a new era of online retail.
We’ve rounded up several e-commerce companies to give you a closer look into this fast-growing industry.
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Through Reverb’s website and mobile app, users can buy and sell drums, guitars, audio mixers, amplifiers and other instruments and music equipment. The company offers historic sales data to inform how sellers price their items and ensures they keep more than 90 percent of the profit from the final sale price.
Location: Fully remote
MagicLinks is a social commerce company. Video influencers on platforms like Instagram and TikTok can use MagicLinks’ tools to allow their followers to shop for products they feature on their accounts. MagicLinks also works with brands, matching them with creators who can engage with the right target audiences to drive sales.
Location: Denver, Colorado
Ibotta provides millions of consumers with cash back rewards for their in-store and online purchases. Ibotta users can either deposit their earnings into a bank account or put the money on a gift card. Brands work with Ibotta to offer digital promotions that encourage a vast network of shoppers to buy from them.
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Cox Enterprises supports e-commerce in the automotive industry under the umbrella of its Cox Automotive subsidiary, which produces billions of dollars in revenue each year through solutions for manufacturers, dealers, consumers, lenders and fleet operators. Its two major brands for online car buying and selling are Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book.
Location: New York, New York
Harry’s, a CPG company, came on the direct-to-consumer market in 2013 with its line of shaving products and accessories. Since then, it’s expanded the Harry’s portfolio to include a number of other DTC brands like Mando and Lume. During the pandemic, the company also launched a cat food and accessories brand, Cat People.
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Trustpilot’s online platform for posting and searching reviews furthers e-commerce for both consumers and businesses. Potential customers can see ratings on a scale of one to five stars and scroll through feedback to decide which businesses they’ll trust. On the other side, Trustpilot gives businesses tools to help them build and maintain a reputation that’s attractive to consumers.
Location: Paris, France
Mirakl offers digital products that are used by brands around the world to facilitate e-commerce across B2B and retail markets. Its solutions include the Mirakl Platform for setting up an online marketplace, Mirakl Payout for secure payments to sellers and Mirakl Target2Sell for personalized product recommendations enabled by artificial intelligence.
Location: Nantes, France
Akeneo, a product information management company, offers cloud-based software to the e-commerce industry. Its solution manages product data and offers a centralized space where information can be collected, used and enriched. This in turn feeds sales and marketing efforts. The French company focuses specifically on global multilingual commerce.
Location: Fully remote
Lily AI offers an AI-powered product that’s designed to support e-commerce. It applies “customer-centered language” throughout the retail ecosystem to make it easier for consumers to find what they’re looking for, ensuring a smoother online shopping experience. The company has worked with major retail brands such as Bloomingdale’s and J.Crew.
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Rue Gilt Groupe operates three members-only websites for buying designer apparel and other luxury goods at discounted prices: Rue La La, Gilt and Shop Premium Outlets. Its online shoppers have access to thousands of well-known brands, including Christian Louboutin, Stuart Weitzman, Coach, Nike, Adidas and Mulberry.
Location: Munich, Germany
Commercetools’ composable commerce platform features solutions for business-to-business, business-to-consumer and direct-to-consumer brands. The technology gives companies the tools to customize the online shopping experience, while also saving them money and providing the resources for them to expand.
Location: Austin, Texas
Tecovas is a Western wear brand that designs and manufactures staples like boots, belts and jeans under a direct-to-consumer model. Its manufacturing facility in León, Mexico employs artisan workers who hand make the boots and leather goods, which are then sold directly to shoppers via its digital marketplace. The company has also opened brick-and-mortar stores in several U.S. states.
Location: Fully remote
Machinio’s online platform lets users from industries like agriculture, construction, trucking and pharmaceuticals buy and sell equipment and heavy machinery. The company says its website gives sellers access to millions of buyers along with analytics that support their business growth.
Location: Fully Remote
StackCommerce is a product discovery platform with over 1,000 vetted brands in its marketplace. It also offers a collection of commerce, advertising and marketing tools for clients to choose from. StackAgency, its sponsored content branch, works with top publications and large newsletters to place inclusions and commerce content like articles and roundups on behalf of clients.
Location: Austin, Texas
FloorFound is a “recommerce company,” providing a sustainable return and resell service for furniture retailers. It picks up oversize items like couches, desks and beds that are returned to online stores, cleans them up as necessary, re-boxes and warehouses them and sells them on its own platform directly to consumers at a steep discount, keeping them out of landfills and offsetting losses.
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
By taking one of the more stressful consumer transactions and bringing it to a user-driven platform, CarGurus has made buying or selling a used car as simple as online shopping. Using digital retail solutions, proprietary search algorithms and data analytics, the CarGurus vehicle marketplace targets consumers with vehicles that align with their needs and connects motivated buyers with transparent sellers.
Location: Denver, Colorado
TurnCommerce is a web domain market that buys and sells domain names. It operates a collection of e-commerce sites that deal in domains, including DropCatch.com, which buys expiring domain names and transfers them to clients; NameBright.com, a domain registration service; and HugeDomains.com, a marketplace for branded domain names.
Location: San Mateo, California
Reebelo is an e-commerce marketplace for refurbished tech. Mission-driven to make tech devices like smartphones, laptops and wearables more accessible and to reduce electronic waste, it offers electronics at roughly 30 percent the cost of their brand new, out-the-box equivalents. For consistent quality of product, Reebelo works only with local sellers.
Location: Boulder, Colorado
Fanatics is a sports apparel retailer that sells clothing and accessories emblazoned with the logos of your favorite teams. It’s got an e-commerce shop, and it’s also an official partner of professional athletics organizations including the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer.
Location: Aliso Viejo, California
Since 1982, Metagenics has designed nutritional solutions in collaboration with health practitioners so customers can reach their health and wellness goals. Whether it’s general wellness or specific needs like glucose support, the company tries to offer a solution, which may include nutritional supplements, food and lifestyle programs.
Location: Fully Remote
Feedonomics gives companies more control over their product advertisements with convenient automation features. Businesses can depend on the platform to optimize and update their ads across various platforms while managing incoming orders. With Feedonomics’ suite of tools, teams spend less time performing data entry and more time addressing complex issues.
Location: Elmhurst, Illinois
An e-commerce company for industry, McMaster-Carr provides on-demand same or next-day delivery of products and parts for industrial design, building, repair and maintenance. When an architect, contractor or builder needs a specific tool, fastener or component, they request it online from McMaster-Carr and often have it in hand before the end of the workday.
Location: Fully Remote
Established in 2011, Addshoppers is the parent company of SafeOpt and Minty. SafeOpt is a free service that sends shoppers verified promotional offers from thousands of their partner brands, which span clothing, electronics and home goods sectors. Minty, which promises users a “fresh way to shop,” is a web browser extension that helps consumers discover new brands and e-commerce retailers get their promotions in front of shoppers.
Location: City of Industry, California
Hot Topic is a retail chain that sells merchandise focused on pop culture and music, and it also sells collector items like Funko POPs. Unlike many other major retailers, Hot Topic has an affiliate program for which consumers can apply.
Location: Needham, Massachusetts
Shark Ninja is an e-commerce company that builds and sells home appliances. To date, the company has over 150 products and nearly two-thousand patents. On their brand sites, sharkclean.com and ninjakitchen.com, consumers can register their warranty, discover troubleshooting guides and purchase products with Affirm.
Location: New York, New York
Tapestry is a holding company that owns luxury retail brands Coach, Kate Spade New York and Stuart Weitzman. The company implemented various features to elevate the experience of its e-commerce sites. As the resale for Coach bags increased, the Coach (Re)Loved program was established, allowing for used bags to be sold directly from the Coach website.
Location: Los Angeles, California
Thrive Market is a membership service for online grocery shopping. In addition to pantry staples, members can also buy supplements, plant-based cleaning supplies, beauty products and organic wine. The goods are delivered on each shopper’s individual schedule, and there are additional savings for having products autoshipped.
Location: New York, New York
The Farmer’s Dog is a subscription-based dog food service created in partnership with veterinary nutritionists. The company personalizes plans to meet an animal’s individual needs and sends pet parents human-grade food that’s delivered within days of being cooked so that it’s ready to serve.
Location: Pico Rivera, California
Million Dollar Baby designs and produces furniture for children. With over 30 years of experience, the company works to help parents reimagine nursery designs without compromising a child’s safety. The parent company houses several brands including Babyletto, Da Vinci and Nursery Works. The furniture can be found in retailers like Target, Amazon and Spoil Me Baby.
Location: Lehi, Utah
In one centralized app, Route empowers brands to provide premium post-transaction experiences. Customers can use the app to add package protection, search through independent brands and receive real-time shipping updates by connecting the app to an email account. For merchants, these features help navigate quality customer service, increase customer satisfaction and reach a new target audience.
Location: Los Angeles, California
SHEIN Technology powers the e-commerce giant that offers customers fashion, beauty and lifestyle products at low prices. To make this possible, SHEIN has a fully digital supply chain that fulfills orders quickly and seamlessly across the world. With the proprietary software, the company can track sales, communicate batch details to factories in real-time and reduce inventory waste, while still providing on-trend items.
Location: Hoboken, New Jersey
Snow Joe is an e-commerce company that specializes in winter weather tools and solutions. Founded in 2004, the company creates eco-friendly products that are both battery-operated and electric. Some of their products include snowblowers, ice melts and traction control. Snow Joe sells its tools through its own site as well as retailers like Amazon and on television shopping networks like HSN.
Location: New York, New York
Spot & Tango is reimagining pet health and nutrition for dogs, offering food without artificial additives and cheap preservatives. Through its subscription-based deliveries, the company offers personalized meals to a dog’s weight, activity levels and overall lifestyle. To get started, customers fill out a quiz regarding their dog’s needs.
Location: Seattle, Washington
eBay is used by both buyers and sellers of electronics, art, jewelry, clothing, sporting goods and other items in more than 190 markets. Sellers can price and list their items and negotiate with buyers by allowing them to make offers and countering if necessary.
Location: Ottawa, Ontario
Shopify is an e-commerce platform that lets users build their own online store. The company describes itself as an “all-in-one commerce platform to start, run, and grow a business.” It offers tools for branding, building an online presence and choosing which products to sell.
Location: New York, New York
Etsy is an online marketplace where users can sell custom, specialty goods, such as leather accessories, barware, doll making materials, wall decor and party supplies. Small businesses earned nearly $4 billion in 2021 by selling on Etsy.
Location: Denver, Colorado
Artifact Uprising allows people to turn their digital pictures into high-quality photo books, wedding albums, calendars, framed prints, holiday cards, invitations and more. Each item can be customized or chosen from pre-made designs, and the service offers different themes and styles for special occasions.
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Mention Me helps e-commerce businesses “harness the exponential power” of their biggest fans by making it easy for their customers to make referrals. The idea is that, by getting their most engaged customers involved in word-of-mouth marketing, they can acquire more high-quality customers more efficiently.
Location: Tempe, Arizona
Pivot Cycles was founded with one goal: to build better bikes. With over a decade of engineering experience, the company transformed into a research and development organization that designs and builds off-road bicycles. The company employs carbon layup innovation and suspension science to construct gravel bikes, full-suspension mountain bikes, full-suspension electric mountain bikes and more.
Location: Fully Remote
Beam Impact allows shoppers to donate a portion of their online purchase amount to a social cause or charitable organization at no extra cost to them. After downloading the Beam app, shoppers can browse a selection of brands to make purchases from, filtering by brand or social cause. Beam Impact also lets brands integrate their technology into the checkout process of their own e-commerce sites.
Location: Los Angeles, California
The female-founded bridal shop, Birdy Grey, is known for affordable bridesmaid dresses. The company sells all dresses for under $100, and each dress is ready to ship. Since Birdy Grey does not have physical storefronts, consumers can order three free swatches to find the “dream dress.” Other features from the company include free exchanges and used gowns that can be donated for proms.
Location: 26 offices
Brilliant Earth is an e-commerce company that sells sustainable jewelry by sourcing its diamonds from “ethical mines,” which are meant to protect against human rights abuse, maintain safe labor practices, minimize environmental effects, support communities and avoid funding rebel movements. It also uses blockchain technology to ensure diamonds can be tracked.
Location: Oakland, California
Babylist is a registry platform for expecting parents. The platform allows the registry to feature multiple retailers and services, like babysitting or chores, with the goal of making the transition into parenthood simpler. Parents can also buy products and browse editorial content on Babylist.
Location: Fully Remote
With hundreds of themes and templates, Mixbook allows people to edit their photos. The platform also sells photo goods — like photo books, cards, calendars and home decor — for consumers to display their personalized photos. For convenient editing, consumers can access Mixbook through the app too.
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Location: Fully Remote
In a world where connections are limitless, Whatnot brings together like-minded individuals with topic-focused spaces. Customers can navigate online and mobile formats to access the company’s marketplace, which features items like comic books, toys and NFTs. By buying and selling collectibles on Whatnot, consumers can create communities centered around their passions and interests.
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
When everyday consumers need more information to make a purchase, they can turn to the knowledge base of ConsumerAffairs. The company has cultivated an online marketplace where people can learn about the latest trends in auto, home, finance and other essential areas. Between buyers’ guides and customer reviews on the ConsumerAffairs site, consumers can find the insights they need.
Location: Fully Remote
Not everyone is comfortable navigating the healthcare system, so Hims & Hers brings various services to patients in a remote setting. Once someone creates their digital profile, Hims & Hers provides a network of experienced practitioners and convenient delivery of prescriptions. Whether it’s skin care or sexual health, people can gather advice and resources through the Hims & Hers platform.
Location: San Francisco, California
Wish offers a mobile e-commerce platform that connects consumers with a wide selection of products. Items purchased through the company’s platform are shipped directly from merchants, resulting in prices that are less expensive than they would be in stores. Wish’s platform offers a broad range of products, from fashion and accessories to home decor and appliances.
Location: San Francisco, California
Instacart operates an online e-commerce platform dedicated to grocery delivery. The company partners with retailers and pharmacies to offer same-day delivery and pickup services while providing consumers access to exclusive deals at their favorite local stores. Instacart currently offers its services in cities across North America, including Chicago, Austin, New York and Atlanta.
Location: Austin, Texas
BigCommerce aims to ignite a new era of e-commerce with its Open SaaS platform. It enables cross-channel commerce, integrating with top marketplaces like eBay and Google Shopping in addition to helping businesses capture more customers on social channels and keep in-store sales automatically updated with native point-of-sale systems. BigCommerce also allows businesses to offer discounts and promotions to customers who can make purchases using digital wallets such as Apple Pay and PayPal One Touch.
Location: Deerfield, Illinois
Founded over 100 years ago, Walgreens is a retail chain whose e-commerce presence spans a website and a mobile app. The company, well known for its pharmacy and clinic services, also sells photo-finishing products, food, household items and beauty products.
Location: Burr Ridge, Illinois
Double Good is a virtual fundraising platform that uses popcorn varieties to help kids. The funding campaign lasts four days, and Double Good mails the popcorn directly to buyers, keeping 50 percent of the sales. Through the platform, organizers do not have to distribute the popcorn themselves or fill out paperwork, making the process simpler than traditional fundraising.
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Grubhub offers one of the nation’s largest online and mobile food ordering marketplaces. The company’s app allows users to browse local restaurants and nearby chains and grants them access to reviews, coupons, special deals and a 24/7 customer care team. Grubhub has partnered with over 225,000 restaurants across 4,000 U.S. cities.
Location: Fully Remote
Boisson is a non-alcoholic wine and spirits shop with an e-commerce storefront and physical locations in New York City and Los Angeles. Through its website, customers can sign up for Boisson’s rewards program, which allows members to earn more rewards the more they purchase and engage with the brand.
Location: Boston, Massachusetts and Dania Beach, Florida
Chewy offers an e-commerce platform for pet products. The company’s marketplace has boasted over 2,000 brands, with a variety of products ranging from food and treats to supplies and medication. Chewy also allows pet parents to have certain products shipped automatically on a monthly basis.
Location: New York, New York
Yotpo has created an e-commerce marketing platform to help brands accelerate direct-to-consumer growth. The company’s platform lets businesses display reviews and ratings, create loyalty and referral programs and showcase consumers’ Instagram photos and videos. Yotpo seeks to help brands increase sales, boost site traffic, understand customer feedback and build a better buyer journey.
Location: New York, New York
LeafLink has created a wholesale ordering platform for the cannabis industry. The company’s marketplace is designed to help cannabis brands, distributors and retailers optimize ordering, simplify communication and save time. Brands and distributors can use LeafLink to increase brand exposure, manage relationships and oversee the order lifecycle, while retailers can benefit from the platform’s sample request and integrated messaging capabilities.
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Peapod Digital Labs aims to help local grocery stores offer better customer experiences. The company enables businesses to provide same-day delivery and pickup services while supporting their consumer engagement strategies such as digital and loyalty ecosystems. Peapod Digital Labs also provides e-commerce forecasting and demand planning, digital marketing and merchandising techniques, fulfillment models and route optimization.
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Location: Chicago, IL
Syndigo’s active content engine provides an accelerated, continuous flow of data and content for brands and manufacturers to review. The data often includes product information, digital assets and content analytics. With the engine, Syndigo allows companies to meet e-commerce demands in real time.
Location: Anaheim, California
Because supply chain issues have become more complex, Da Vinci helps companies adapt with all-around solutions. Organizations can depend on Da Vinci’s cloud-based software to compile inventory data, scan barcodes in remote settings and locate the best online shipping rates. With Da Vinci’s technology streamlining basic tasks, businesses can better command their supply chains and develop efficient workflows.
Location: Bentonville, Arkansas
The Walmart brand is synonymous with retail in the United States. In addition to the flagship site, the retail giant’s e-commerce portfolio also includes furniture site Hayneedle, outdoor gear and apparel seller Moosejaw and women’s clothing brand ELOQUII.
Location: Seattle, Washington
Amazon is perhaps the most well-known name in the e-commerce sphere. The site sells everything from clothing and electronics to fitness equipment and pet supplies. Free shipping is offered on many orders, especially for Amazon Prime subscribers.
Location: Palo Alto, California
Wing offers an on-demand drone delivery service in the United States, Finland and Australia. Through the company’s app, users can discover local businesses and place an order, which is then flown via drone to their doorsteps and can be tracked in real time. Wing’s zero-emissions aircrafts are capable of keeping items level and steady and boast a small wingspan, enabling them to fly further, faster and more efficiently.
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Location: Austin, Texas
SamCart allows creators to sell digital products and services with their very own e-commerce storefronts. The platform harnesses features like a customizable sales page, custom domains, digital wallets, pre-purchase ordering, cart abandonment and more. SamCart’s mission is to give creators personal freedom and growth without worrying about technical solutions.
Location: Fully Remote
Vista is an e-commerce company that enables small businesses to create custom marketing materials. Founded in 1995, the company started with only one product line — business cards — but has since expanded into packaging, clothing and more. The company even partnered with Wix to prompt businesses to create a free website through the platform. Vista also offers real-time assistance from design experts.
Location: Austin, Texas
Ooni Pizza Ovens is an e-commerce retailer selling a line of portable wood-fire pizza ovens, accessories and groceries. The unique pizza ovens are built for outdoor settings and can reach 932 degrees fahrenheit, allowing pizzas to cook in just one minute. One percent of Ooni’s annual revenue is donated to social and environmental causes too.
Location: Fully Remote
Nordstrom has been in the retail industry for over 100 years. The company not only operates department stores with apparel and beauty products, it also operates a chain of discount stores called Nordstrom Rack. Over the years, Nordstrom has focused on enhancing its customer’s online shopping experience — customers can receive updates about a product’s availability, receive free styling help and book tailoring appointments.
Location: New York, New York
BARK is the company behind dog-oriented monthly subscription boxes like BarkBox, Super Chewer, Bark Bright and Bark Food. The subscription boxes come with toys, treats and chews, and the quantity can be customized. Customers can make purchases directly through the BARK websites or on Amazon.
Location: Chicago, Illinois
ShoppingGives is a donation platform for retailers. Whether a brand is big or small, the company offers integration tools making it easier for brands and consumers to donate to nonprofits. The consumers simply make a purchase and brands make the donation through the ShoppingGives platform. Some of the nonprofits supported are the American Heart Association and SocialWorks.
Location: New York, New York
AB Tasty is dedicated to offering retailers access to customer experience optimization. The company’s AI-driven platform enables organizations to deliver their customers personalized, compelling experiences while providing product teams access to easy-to-use feature flags, progressive rollout features and server-side testing. AB Tasty’s client base has included L’Oreal, USA Today and Ashley HomeStore.
Location: San Francisco, California
The RealReal is an online marketplace for consignment of luxury goods. Members can buy from The RealReal, as well as hand their items over to the company for sale. The company has hundreds of experts and authenticators who inspect items to verify their authenticity and price them. The RealReal’s commission rate structure lets those who consign earn up to 85% of the selling price.
Da’Zhane Johnson, Sara B.T. Thiel, Margo Steines and Brennan Whitfield contributed reporting to this story.
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