Best 15 Amazon Alternatives to Shop Online, Best Deals, Worldwide Shipping

Amazon has been one of the best and most popular e-commerce platforms on the internet. Amazon has revolutionized the way of shopping for each and every one. The e-commerce platforms like Amazon offer the most convenient and smooth shopping experience. Amazon offers everything from ordering groceries to watching movies online.

If you are looking for an alternative to Amazon buying kinds of stuff, look no further than this guide, also have questions like what is the best alternative to Amazon? or which takes you through a lot of alternative online stores for shopping.

There are several great Amazon alternatives available online for shopping. Here is everything you need to know about other popular alternatives or apps like Amazon that you can try out. Let’s quickly dive into the list of the best Amazon alternatives to shop online:

Online Shopping Apps Like Amazon	Avg. Reviews
Thrive Market	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
AliExpress	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Instacart	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Walmart	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
eBay	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Etsy	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Target	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overstock	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Newegg	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Chewy	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Zappos	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Barnes & Noble	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rakuten	⭐⭐⭐⭐
QVC.com	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Best Buy	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thrive Market – Groceries Marketplace App

Thrive Market was launched in the year 2014 and is dedicated to the community. This online marketplace offers organic and natural groceries and other sustainable products at reasonable rates.

This membership-based online marketplace grants you access to more than 6,000 sustainable and organic products at a fraction of the retail cost. The membership plan starts at $5 per month.

We love using Thrive Market to stock up on grocery and pantry items, household goods, and everyday essentials.

Benefits of Thrive Market

• Shop from the comfort of your home.
• Never overpay for top organic brands.
• Try products for free through our sampling program.

AliExpress – Online Shopping for Popular Electronics, Fashion

AliExpress is run by Alibaba group (they’re actually Chinese, not Middle Eastern). Factory’s direct pricing is available for products available on AliExpress. Customers are provided with several guarantees and protections so that they are safe from all the scams and trust the platform. Your money is not given to the vendor until and unless you receive the ordered item(s) and approve it. There is a refund in cases when the product doesn’t reach the customer or it is not exactly what you thought you were told. In the year 2020, AliExpress had 150+ million buyers. AliExpress plans to increase its cross-border clientele to 30 million by 2030. AliExpress gained 528 million visitors by January 2021.

Benefits of AliExpress

• It has very low prices due to the lack of a middle man.
• expanded their offerings to bring you far more variety than in the past
• They also have many products that you may like for under $5.

Instacart | Grocery Delivery or Pickup from Local Stores

Instacart is an amazing alternative to Amazon Fresh. Instacart has made it really easy to deliver groceries to your door. It offers a wider range of offerings than Amazon Fresh along with super-fast deliveries. Instacart offers same-day delivery from almost 600 national and local retailers, like Sprouts Farmers Market, ALDI, Costco, Publix, Wegmans, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, The Fresh Market, Fresh Thyme Market, and more. Instacart now also delivers flowers, home accessories, and beauty products from Sephora in just an hour. You can sign up for free on Instacart. You can also go for Express membership with Instacart to get free deliveries. Instacart is valued at $13.7 billion and continues to increase. Instacart reaches 30,000 retail stores and more than 500 million products are listed on Instacart.

Benefits of Instacart

• A convenient option for people who use grocery delivery frequently.
• Free delivery on orders over $35.
• According to Instacart, Instacart Express members save $7 per order, on average, compared with nonmembers.

Walmart – Online Shopping & Grocery

It is one of the biggest companies in the whole world but is especially famous for its chain of supermarkets. Walmart is very famous for its low prices. You can purchase products on the website of Walmart and get them delivered at your door or pick it up from your nearby outlet. There are more than 11,000 Walmart stores worldwide and has approximately 2.2 million employees. More than 60 million items are listed for sale in the market. In 2020, Walmart generated revenue of $123 billion in the first quarter. Around $22.4 billion of the annual income in sales came from e-commerce

Benefits of Walmart

• Bargains are offered on each product every day.
• Offers free 2-day shipping on millions of items, and orders over $35
• You can find sold-out items from the store online and have them shipped to your local store.

eBay – Global Shipping Portal 

eBay is one of the most famous alternatives of Amazon. Amazon and eBay entered the market almost at the same time. It is a little different from Amazon as it does not sell its own products; it acts as a link between business or third-party sellers and consumers that are looking for it. For some specific products, you can directly buy them at a given price mentioned on its site or you can also go with an amazing feature offered by eBay which is bidding for that particular product when it is put for auction. The winner of the auction can buy that product at the second-highest bid. You can also get some overwhelming bargains with eBay’s “Best Offers. eBay has over 1 billion active listings, along with 180 million active buyers. In the past year, eBay generated revenue of over $10 billion. Transactions are done daily through eBay of 2 billion.

Benefits of eBay

• You can pay what you want by using its bidding feature. The bidding feature allows you to pay what you want
• You get frequent weekly and seasonal offers along with brand-specific discounts.
• You can also make an instant purchase using the “Buy It Now” feature.

Etsy – Marketplace Like Amazon

Etsy is a very good and unique alternative to Amazon. Items available on this platform are mostly handmade accessories, jewelry, clothing, furniture pieces, etc. They also have “vintage” items available that are almost 20 years old and it is quite difficult to find them on any other platform. You can find various creative items on sale that will make your home look elegant. They make unique and beautiful gifts, too! Etsy processed $10.28 billion in gross merchandise sales in 2020. Etsy generated $1.72 billion in revenue in 2020. Mobile transactions account for 61% of Etsy’s gross merchandise sales. Etsy has around 81.9 million active buyers and 1,209 employees.

Benefits of Etsy

• Handmade items are very unique and good in quality that will save you from mass-produced products.
• Money goes to artisans, not billion-dollar conglomerates
• Amazing customer service is offered as sellers need to please potential customers.

Target – E-commerce App

Target is a very famous supermarket chain in the United States. You can order products from its website online. You can choose whether you want your product delivered at your place or you can also pick them from a nearby brick-and-mortar Target store. Though not as committed to discount selling as Walmart, Target’s products tend to be on the cutting edge of trends. Around 75% of US residents live within a 10-mile radius of a Target Store. In 2020, 18% of the target’s total sales were generated by e-commerce orders. Target greets 2 million visitors each day. Target has around 409,000 employees at over 1,900 stores and 44 distribution centers.

Benefits of Target

• Lower prices just like Walmart but with better quality.
• Offers you free shipping on orders of 35$ or above.
• Offers great seasonal deals

Overstock – Selling Primarily Furniture

Overstock is an online shopping site that began as a seller of remaining goods from failed e-commerce sites. You can get amazing deals on this platform while shopping. There are new items available on the Overstock platform too. It offers amazing customer service. Overstock has a very unique program known as Worldstock in which hand-made items from different artisans are sold all around the world and 60% of the revenue is given back to the artisans themselves. Total revenue generated was US$2.549 billion in 2020. The operating income by Overstock was US$153 million.

Benefits of Overstock

• It has a Club-O-Gold rewards program in which you are given free shipping along with a cashback of 5% on each order.
• You can visit the “Deals” page where you can get to know about all the sales going on.
• It Is committed to community responsibility, including its Special Operations Warrior Foundation, and Best Friends Animal Society.

Newegg – Electronic Selling App like Amazon

Newegg is also an alternative to Amazon and it is specifically known for electronic goods like laptops, computers, televisions, digital cameras, etc. It offers fast delivery and amazing customer service due to which it has become a huge competition for Amazon. You can find a very good deal at a reasonable price on this platform along with free shipping within 3 days or even faster than that. In 2016, revenue generated was US$2.7 billion. Newegg had more than 1,500 employees.

Benefits of Newegg

• It has a specialization in electronic items.
• Offers you daily deals.
• Provides you free shipping within 3 days or even less.

Chewy – E-Commerce Company

Chewy keeps up everything in stock for pet owners to keep their four-legged family members healthy and happy. The online pet pharmacy and supply company offers over 2,000 pet brands that cater to dogs, cats, horses, fish, birds, reptiles, and other animals. You can save money by taking a subscription with the retailer’s Autoship Service. Free shipping within one to three days is also offered by the retailer on shopping of $49 or more. Net sales of $2.16 billion increased by 26.8%. A gross margin of 27.5% expanded 200 basis points. Revenue generated in the year 2021 was US$7.1 billion.

Benefits of Chewy

• Chewy offers high-quality consumer service which yields quite a high consumer satisfaction level.
• They also offer a 100% cashback guarantee in case you are not satisfied with the product you ordered.
• There are customer service representatives available to the customers 24/7 across phone, email, chat, and social media.

Zappos

Zappos is a good alternative to Amazon with specialization in the sales of shoes, accessories, and clothing. It provides you rewards along with every purchase you make. You also get an option of expedited shipping if you want your item to get delivered a little faster. Free shipping and free return are also allowed in many cases. It is also known for its excellent customer service as it does everything that could possibly be done to make sure that they provide the best from their side.

Benefits of Zappos

• Over-the-top customer service.
• They accept the return of a product even after a year.
• It guarantees you safe shopping as it makes sure that you don’t get into any sort of credit card fraud.

Barnes & Noble – Amazon Book Alternatives

Barnes & Noble is quite similar to Amazon, it was initially known as a bookseller but with time it included several other items for sale. It has almost 6 million books in stock which are ready to be shipped within 24 hours. It is one of the Best Amazon Alternatives to Buy Books Online. It has over 4.5 million eBooks that you can easily download. Several other things like magazines, games, textbooks, hobby equipment, etc. are available on the site on Barnes and Noble. Online sale of books has reduced overhead costs, and hence, you save a lot of money.

Benefits of Barnes & Noble-

• Specializes in sales of books, so it is perfect for you if you are mainly interested in books.
• Provides free shipping on orders of 25$ or more than that. Free shipping on orders of only $25 or more
• It provides you free shipping and also exclusive discounts in case you have taken an internship with B&N.

Rakuten – Electronic Commerce and Online Retailing Store

Rakuten was initially known as Buy, but later in 2010 it was purchased by the largest e-commerce company of Japan that was named “The Rakuten Group”. It is quite similar to eBay as it does not have its own stock, instead, it connects businesses with potential customers. It also includes features like video reviews of certain products, and the “Sugar Point” program in which you can earn credits after buying a few products, and then you can make use of those credits to save money while making a purchase in the future. The revenue generated by Rakuten was JPY 1263.93 billion in 2019.

Benefits of Rakuten

• Offers “Super Points” program which means you get rewarded for each purchase made– 1% back!
• A variety of departments are available for online shopping.
• Owns Ebates.com, which offers deals for online purchases you make, all over the web

QVC.com 

QVC is a short form Short for “Quality, Value, Convenience. It is a worldwide network for shopping on television. However, it has also made the transition to the Internet era, and now allows the products that it features to be bought through its website. Products are a bit expensive but they come from high-end brand names and are a little difficult to find anywhere else. In 2020, QVC generated US$11.47 billion across the globe. This marks an increase from the US$10.98 billion reported in 2019.

Benefits of QVC

• You can easily access “Today’s Special Value” available on the homepage to know about daily deals available.
• Offers payment plans over time so you don’t need to pay all at once
• Videos of products in use/on real people are available for a better understanding.

Best Buy – Online Store to Buy Products

Best Buy is an amazing online platform that provides you with the best deals on electronic items like laptops, televisions, computers, video games, and appliances. Prices at Best Buy are very low along with free shipping of the item. These things help Best Buy in offering a great user experience. It also has a feature where you can reserve the item you liked when it is in stock and then you can go and pick it up from a nearby Best Buy store. Return of items is much easier on this platform as compared to Amazon as you are just required to fill a form online and never worry about restocking fees. Best buy generated global revenue of over US$43.6 billion in 2020. Best Buy operated 1,779 stores globally.

Benefits of Best Buy

• Provides you great deals on home electronics, including laptops, computer accessories, TVs, and more
• Periodically offers small-window sales (for example, 3-day sales)
• “Geek Squad” helps you to fix your electronics, and gives fair warranties for every electronic device.

How much would it cost to build an app like Amazon?

It is quite challenging to estimate the exact cost of developing an app like Amazon. The app development cost varies depending on different factors. Still one can determine the closer estimation based on the careful evaluation. So, let’s have a look at some major factors responsible for overall app development cost.

Experts required in the Amazon Like App Development Team:

• Project Manager
• App Developers
• UX/UI Designers
• Back-end Developers
• Front-end Developers
• QA Expert

The cost of hiring hourly app developers ranges from $15-$50 in Dubai, the Middle East, India, etc. Also, the hourly price of an app developer in the USA and UK ranges from $100-$200.

UX/UI Design of the App

The cost of developing the design of an app depends on factors like features, complexity, and the size of an application. The price ranges from $10,000-$30,000; the price range might vary depending on the hourly charges of the UX/UI designer.

Backend and Frontend Development

This is the core structure of an application. The cost of backend and frontend development lies somewhere between $5000-$10,000. The charges may vary depending on the choice of your company and mobile app developers.

In Conclusion

Hopefully, with the blog post, you have got the best Amazon alternatives for shopping online and the estimated cost for developing an app like Amazon. So, if you are looking to develop your own shopping app, this is the right time. The cost for developing an eCommerce application is somewhere around $10,000-$15,000 for a single platform.

But the cost may vary depending on your requirements and the complexity of an application. Therefore, if you have a great app development idea, then it is worth hiring a mobile application development company to transform your idea into reality. Get in touch with us now!