As a US resident, it's easy for me to become Amazon-centric: I do a huge portion of my shopping on the site, I follow the company's stock price, and I read about the innovations the brand continuously produces.
And although Alibaba may hardly be on the typical American consumer's radar, as a marketer ignoring it is likely not a smart approach. Alibaba has a big footprint around the world, including corporate offices in 12 countries, and it accounts for over 11% of all retail sales in China.
That's according to an infographic by Ecommerce Platforms that compares the various elements of the two major retail brands.
For example, Amazon has a market cap of $427 billion, whereas Alibaba is at a "mere" $265 billion.
And though Amazon has 310 million customer accounts, Alibaba has 493 million monthly users. According to the graphic, Singles Day, an annual shopping holiday in China created by Alibaba, drives $17.49 billion in sales, dwarfing Cyber Monday and Black Friday in the US.
To see more about these major players, check out the infographic. Just tap or click to see a larger version.