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.